May 23, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Thomas, Auditorium 003

Moderator:

Pat Rounds ’15
Arts Program Coordinator, Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students

Panelists:

Luke Strathmann *19
Comedian, Writer; Communications Officer, Department of Economics, Yale University

Robin Epstein ’95
Associate Arts Professor and Area Head of Episodic Television, NYU-Tisch

Nikki Rosario Muller ’05
CEO, Nikki Muller Inc

Zach Zimmerman ’10
Comedian

Chris Murphy ’15
Staff Writer, Vanity Fair

Sponsored by the Alumni Association of Princeton University

Participants:

Pat Rounds ’15
A graduate of Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs and Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Rounds serves as an administrator and mentor for all arts-affiliated student groups on campus. A 2024 Tiger Award recipient, he is the current Class of 2015 president and serves as treasurer of the Princeton Area Alumni Association. In his free time, he performs as an actor at the Kelsey Theatre and corrals his rambunctious poodle, Marcel.

Luke Strathmann *19
A comedian and writer, Luke Strathmann also runs the communications team at Yale’s Department of Economics. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker and McSweeney’s, and he performs comedy all over New York City. He is the proud host of “EconLOL,” the world’s first, best and only economics-themed comedy variety show. He has also worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, the United Nations, Omidyar Network and the AI Now Institute. He has a B.A. in economics from Bates College and an MPA from Princeton’s School for Public and International Affairs.

Robin Epstein ’95
After beginning her career as a stand-up comedian, Robin Epstein worked on sitcoms with Al Franken, Dan Aykroyd, Joan Cusack and James L. Brooks. She was the head writer for “Clued In,” a game show for teenage girls, and lead writer on several video games, including “Tycoon City: New York” and “The Barbie Diaries: High School Mystery.” Epstein is the author of the award-winning YA novel “God Is in the Pancakes,” “H.E.A.R.” and books in the “Groovy Girls” series and co-author of several books in the best-selling “Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook” series. She also co-authored the novel “Shaking Her Assets” with Princeton classmate Renée Kaplan ’95. Epstein has contributed to “This American Life” on NPR and freelanced for the New York Times, Quartz, Medium and other publications. She’s currently an associate arts professor and area head of episodic television at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Nikki Rosario Muller ’05
As a writer, editor and performer, Nikki Rosario Muller splits her time between creative projects and renting out her brain as a consultant. While living in Los Angeles, Muller garnered national news coverage for her viral music video, “The Ivy League Hustle,” co-wrote two Hollywood Fringe Best Musical nominees and co-created the award-winning “Definition of Man,” a genre-defying work of theater integrating text with acrobatic counterbalancing. (She wrapped shooting the play’s cinematic adaptation last year and is harassing her editor through post-production.) Now in New York, Muller has returned to her comedic and operatic roots, joining the Peoples Improv Theater’s musical improv house team, Nero’s Fiddle, and proving her comp lit degree’s value by penning “Robocopera,” an adaptation of the 1987 action film into arias in German (and a little Italian). The show’s workshop debuted at SOLOCOM ’25 and hopefully will enjoy a full run soon.

Zach Zimmerman ’10
Zach Zimmerman is a stand-up comedian, TV writer and author. Zimmerman has appeared on TV a few times — “The Late Late Show,” “Watch What Happens Live,” “After Midnight” — and written for TV once — Peacock’s “Love Undercover.” As a stand-up, Zimmerman’s first comedy album, “Clean Comedy,” debuted on the Billboard Top 10 and Zimmerman released their first stand-up special, “Surprise Me,” in April 2025. Their first book, “Is It Hot in Here? (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth?),” was named a Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2023 and was optioned by Sony Pictures Television where Zimmerman has a development deal. Zimmerman’s humor pieces and essays have been published by McSweeney’s, Vulture, The Washington Post and The New Yorker.

Chris Murphy ’15
Chris Murphy is a writer, actor and comedian living in Brooklyn, New York. Murphy is a staff writer at Vanity Fair, covering entertainment and popular culture. He recently wrote the magazine’s November cover story on Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, and has appeared on CNN, Hulu and ABC. Prior to joining Vanity Fair, he wrote for Vulture/New York magazine. As an actor, Murphy has performed at Atlantic Theater Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Flea Theater, 54 Below, New York City Children’s Theater, Theatre Row, The Tank and Joe’s Pub. As a comedian, he’s performed in New York at The Bell House, Caveat, Club Cumming and Union Hall, in Hollywood at the Netflix Is a Joke Fest and on The Real Housewives of New York City. He was a 2023-2024 Vision Resident at Ars Nova. You can follow him on Instagram @christress.