Hoot Brooks is a stage name for storyteller James Higgins—a retired code monkey and parental caregiver living just underneath the first ‘N’ in North Carolina.

After speaking at open mics in bars and clubs for a few years he discovered he wasn’t a comedian. Instead of jokes he was sharing nuggets of science and history as five-minute bits for the drinking public. And they liked it. He had found his people.

Now the audience favorites of those bits are in a book, so you can experience Hoot’s stories anytime — even if the bars are closed.