Tim Regan of Northern Virginia Magazine interviewed Fox Business Network reporter Rich Edson, who has won a number of stand-up comedy competitions.
Here is an excerpt:
TR: Does that sense of humor ever conflict with the kind of things that you as a journalist do?
RE: If you’re a street reporter, and you’re writing an article, and you try to be witty or fun … it’s sometimes a little more difficult to achieve if you’re doing print. In television, we do conversations. That’s what we’re trying to achieve on the air. … When appropriate, if there’s something funny or witty that you can come up with … there are openings for that. But there’s a real challenge, because … there’s a lot out there where it’s inappropriate. So it’s a matter of identifying.
TR: Have you ever been goofy at an inappropriate time?
RE: Not that I recall. … Whenever I’m not sure, I just play it straight.
TR: You co-won this event in, I believe, 2010, with a journalist from Military.com. How did that happen?
RE: They gave you a decibel score on the crowd reaction, and then there were three judges. And the judges voted two-to-one for him, I think, and I won the crowd reaction. … So I got the embarrassing photo op with the clown.
Read more here.