Scientist turned stand-up comedian Ben Miller’s new comedy hour “Volcano” has announced a tour.

What happens when a comedian walks into a volcano?

In February 2023, Ben Miller was the artist in residence at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the first stand-up comedian ever selected. The program typically selects painters, poets, Grammy-nominated musicians — you know, real artists. But somehow a silly joke boy managed to secure this coveted spot.

He spent the entire month on the Big Island, exploring the national park, learning from volcanologists, entomologists, archaeologists and Hawaiians about the science, culture and history of Hawaii.

Almost every night, he gazed into the fires of Halema‘uma‘u crater — and also wrote some jokes. Incredibly grateful for the opportunity provided to him by the National Parks Arts Foundation, Miller decided to take this comedic residency very seriously and turn it into an hour of stand-up comedy.

Building off his experience with his previous science comedy hour that had a 50-city tour across the U.S. and Europe, “Volcano” continues to develop Miller’s nerdy yet approachable style.

This multimedia science comedy hour drills deep to the core, delivering explosive laughs with fire-tested jokes.

Miller will perform in Hilo and Kona:

— 7 p.m. Friday at the Palace Theater in downtown Hilo. Tickets are $20 ($25 at the door). Get tickets at hilopalace.com.

— 7 p.m. Saturday at Kona Elks Lodge in Kailua-Kona. Tickets are $20 at https://tinyurl.com/bddtu55s.