For those of you who've followed my career for a long time, this picture is probably blowing your mind. For those of you who haven't, hey - it's a picture of me and Sarah Silverman!
Free Tickets to Tapings of Totally Biased in NYC + 3 Things You Can Do to Make Totally Biased a Hit!
So this is really, really happening. Tonight we tape a small test show, and then on Monday we tape a full rehearsal show and then on Thursday we go out to America, nay the World, nay the Universe, nay the Multiverse.
FREE TICKETS TO NYC TAPINGS
If you or anyone you know lives in the New York area, or will be in the New York area, here's how to get FREE audience tickets.
I really want to get as many of my people as I can into these tapings so that they feel like any other show - just one that will get me a lot more twitter-hate than normal.
THREE THINGS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW TO HELP!
There are THREE things you can do to help me make this show a hit. Try all three, or pick your favorite!
1. Tweet or Facebook this: Check out my friend @WKamauBell on @TotallyBiasedFX produced by @ChrisRock 8/9 at 11PM after @LouisCK #TotallyBiased http://bit.ly/NR53cu
(If you're too cool for those social networks, feel free to email something like that to everyone you know, plus 1.)
(If you're too cool for email and the internet, like Dwayne Kennedy, HOW ARE YOU READING THIS?)
2. Host a Premiere Night Viewing Party: a lot of people that you probably know have never heard of me. Or maybe they don't have FX and can't watch the show. You can help them out and be the coolest person on your block by hosting a viewing party where you invite all of your friends and get cool prizes! Someone could bring bean dip, another person could bring the drinks...well, you can figure all of that out! Just GO HERE to sign up to host a party, and enter to win a trip to NYC to see a taping!
3. Last but not least...tune in to watch the show! Did I mention that "Totally Biased" premieres on August 9th at 11PM on FX, right after "Louie" ??
Pretty much my entire career has been a grassroots movement and I need all of you to help that grass root like never before. Is that an expression? It is now.
FUN EXTRAS
Here are some fun things to check out, and to also help convince your people to tune in! Watch the "Totally Biased" writers discuss what they're totally biased about:
Maddie Oatman at Mother Jones wrote an article on "Totally Biased" that you can read here.
Sheerly Avni at San Francisco Magazine also did a piece about the show that you might want to pass on to your people. Check it out here!
As always, thanks for your support. I could not do this without all of you.
Want to help make Totally Biased a hit? + LATM in NYC 7/23 + Chris Rock + Return to Austin!
Hey all! So I am hard at work on putting together a TV show that I know (umm... hope) that you will LOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
Many of you have asked what you can do to help make this whole TV show thing happen. Well, I have something for you. And it is quick and easy and hopefully a lot of fun.
If you want to be a member of my digital street team, which means you get to hear the updates on everything first AND then you can share them with your peoples. You'll be on the inner circle of this craziness. And trust me, I could use some help sorting all this out. And you don't even need to go out onto the street... unless you want to.
CHRIS ROCK PROMO FOR TOTALLY BIASED
Here is my boss, Chris Rock, letting you know that "Totally Biased" is coming your way. Watch it. Re-watch it. Send it to friends and enemies. Pretty cool.
And here is our first "Behind the Scenes" video, produced by Alex Thornton, who many of you know as the producer of my "Field Negro's Guide to Arts and Culture" podcast with Vernon Reid:
NEW YORK
Monday, July 23 7:30pm - My socio-political stand-up comedy trio Laughter Against The Machine will be performing in Brooklyn at Union Hall for the low, low, price of ten bucks. I won't be doing much stand-up while "Totally Biased" is in production so if you are in NYC here's your chance to come say hello before I disappear into TV land. Get your Tickets here!
AUSTIN GETS ME TWICE IN 1 YEAR!!!
I'll be appearing at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas from November 2-4. Tickets are available now! According to their website, "Fun Fun Fun Fest is a fest that is custom booked for the most passionate underground and progressive musicians, comedians and fans around the world." This sounds like it's going to be a lot of... ummm... fun.
Thanks for your support.
Kamau
Totally "Totally Biased"
Hey all,
I hope you had a very happy fourth day of July. I had the day off from work... Yeah... I have a job now. Weird. You do comedy because you don't want to work for a living and then one day if you work hard enough ANNNNNNNND you get extremely lucky you get presented with a job. I even have a flippin' office. AN OFFICE!? Well that's where I'm at. Well, literally right now I'm in Brooklyn with my wife and baby.. umm... toddler. I just thought I would take moment and send you an update because things are moving fast and furious around here... but in a good way.
Me and my crew are deep into pre-production of Totally Biased. For the record my crew of creative types is...
Nato Green, Janine Brito, Hari Kondabolu, Kevin Avery, Dwayne Kennedy, Kevin Kataoka, and Danny Vermont.
You probably recognize most of those names if you have been with me for any serious bit of time. Obviously Nato and Janine are members of Laughter Against The Machine with me. Hari was a founding member of LATM. Kevin and me have gotten into all kinds of comedy endeavors in our time together. And Kevin Kataoka was one of the more seasoned comics when I moved to the Bay Area back in the days. I've known Dwayne since like week two of my comedy career. Danny is a true veteran comedy writer who has written for many people including Bill Maher, which means I am often turning to him saying, "How did you guys do it?" I also managed to snag Alex Thornton, the producer of the Field Negro Podcast to handle the digital element. And Mr. Vernon Reid on music.
And I of course still have Chuck Sklar and Keri Smith guiding me through this process as the always have. And yes, we are getting input from Mr. Chris Rock.
Man, this better be funny. So far I think it is.
I have included a couple treats for you to see (and hear) how this is coming along. We shot a promo reel that should be hitting your screens in bits and pieces soon. And here is the ten second graphic trailer.
Also if you are interested, there is a Totally Biased Facebook page and a Totally Biased Twitter feed.
You will soon have Totally Biased coming out of you ears just like me.
Take care and tune in August 9th at 11pm.
Thanks.
Kamau
A little something extra...
And while you are anxiously (I hope) waiting on the show, here's a clip from me at Max Fun Con in Lake Arrowhead. Enjoyerate and pass it around.
Today I made my CNN debut!
For my people from the Bay Area, CNN is like the Current TV of New York. Ashley Banfield was incredibly hospitable in the literally four minutes we shared space.
Also, I met Soledad O'Brien. I'm pretty sure the next Black in America is gonna all be about me.
Teaser image for my upcoming FX show...
So this happened today...
A Little Bit of Big News
As you read this, it is being announced to the press that I will have a six episode run of a late night comedy show on The FX Network. I will write it, produce it, and host it. And it will be executive produced by none other than Chris Rock.
Yes, THAT Chris Rock.
You can read about it here in Laughspin Magazine.
I head to New York City today to go to the upfronts where the networks announce their upcoming schedules. No, I’ve never been to anything like this before. Yes, this is a huuuuuuge deal. I’m guessing it will be like the talk show from The Hunger Games, “Hello, my name is Kamau. I come from District 14, San Francisco. We make progressive politics, gay people, burritos the size of your head, and medical marijuana.”
Anyway, things are pretty surreal right now and sure to get more so. I’m gonna work hard to make a good show. And I’ll need your help to do it.
Thank you for all you interest and support.
Kamau
Latest KKK Blog - Mad Men Keeps Up With the Kardashians, Thanks to Jon Hamm
The new season of the runaway hit Mad Men premieres Sunday on AMC. One of the major reasons -- if not the reason--- for the show's success is the dreamy Jon Hamm. He is full of charisma, a great actor, funny, and "worst of all," he doesn't take himself too seriously.
He's like a young Alec Baldwin without all that other brothers baggage. And he even has something else in his back pocket. He is beloved by the alternative comedy community. He's been on WTF with Marc Maron, Between Two Ferns with Zach Galfianakis, and in the movie Bridesmaids. All of this basically means he has been certified cool.
The War Room - On Trayvon Martin and Being a Black Male in America
Here's a clip of my segment on The War Room with Jennifer Granholm on Current TV, about what it is to be a black male in America. A conversation nobody was interested in until the tragedy of Trayvon Martin. I have certainly been funnier on TV than I was during this segment, but maybe it is good just the same.
New KKK Blog - Standards of Truth Apply to Performers -- Ask Mike Daisey and Ira Glass
Mike Daisey got busted. BBBBUSTED! He was called on the --- I'm assuming --- lush carpets of This American Life on Friday by Ira Glass himself. Mr. Daisey, who is to solo performance what Louis CK is to stand-up comedy (that is, The Gold Standard), had been on an episode of TAL in January where he told an exceptionally compelling story (an excerpt from his solo play, The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs) about going to China and inspecting Apple computer factories and uncovering corruption beyond anything any one journalist had ever discovered. But unfortunately it wasn't exactly ... ummm ... errrr ... true.
Daisey says he stands by his story. And he certainly has gotten people talking about important issues. But that's not the point of This American Life. The show wants truth. I take no pleasure in Daisey's bust. The retraction episode on TAL was brutal. BBBBRUTAL. I do think Mr. Glass did a remarkable job of walking the fine line between, "Just tell me the truth and everything will be okay." and "NEGRO IS YA CRAZY?" (No, Ira Glass would never say that. No, Mike Daisey is not black. That's just what a Defcon 1 level of interrogation sounds like in my head.)
New KKK Blog - The Academy Awards Program Loves Comedy But Hates Comedians
At some point during Sunday's Oscars, the announcer mentioned that Saturday Night Live comedians have been nominated for nine Academy Awards and have won a grand total of zero. That's right. Zero. When my wife heard that she was shocked. "Not even Bill Murray?" Nope, not even Bill Murray. It is truly a testament to his talent that my wife was so offended for him. I had no idea she thought about him one way or another. Don't get me wrong. Mr. Murray is a genius. He should be allowed to come pick up any Oscar any time he sees one to his liking. I, however, wasn't shocked that he didn't have one, because I know that The Academy doesn't respect comedians.
Members of the Motion Picture Academy like comedians. They enjoy having us around. And if you think they don't need us then just try to rewatch last years ceremony hosted by Anne Hathaway and ... I can't remember ... Was it Joaquin Phoenix? Comedy is the lifeblood of the Academy Awards. And without comedians the blood can run dry. (I felt so sorry for every documentary filmmaker who had to wait through Robert Downey Jr.'s low-jinks so they could see whether their whole life had changed or not.)
Laughter Against The Machine Tour: Day 1... Sorta.
Here's what I'm up to the next little bit.
I just figured I would put it into one post because I'm starting to confuse myself so here goes...>
Sept 6 San Francisco, CA Stage Werx Theatre - Me & Boots Riley in Conversation - A Benefit for Laughter Against The Machine
Laughter Against The Machine's Tour & Documentary Sept 10 Phoenix, AZ Space 55 BUY TICKETS Sept 14 Chicago, IL Greenhouse Theater BUY TICKETS Sept 16 Dearborn, MI Henry Ford / Adray Auditorium BUY TICKETS Sept 17 Madison, WI Bartell Theatre BUY TICKETS Nov 9-10 Washington, DC DC Arts Center BUY TICKETS Nov 11-12 New Orleans, LA La Nuit Comedy Theater BUY TICKETS Nov 14-15 Oakland, CA New Parish Theater BUY TICKETS
And we only have days left to raise the money we need to make the documentary about all this nuttiness! Can we borrow 5 bucks to make it happen? Thanks!
Margaret Cho & Hal Sparks make appeals for Laughter Against The Machine!
While I was in Edinburgh I got my friends Margaret Cho (1st video) & Hal Sparks (2nd video) to make appeals to their peoples and beyond about Laughter Against The Machine's Kickstarter campaign. Watch 'em. Enjoy 'em. Spread 'em around 'em!
Latest KKK Blog - Stars Over Edinburgh
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival has made me obsessed with stars. Not the famous kind. Although there are famous stars as part of the festival, Margaret Cho, Henry Rollins, Michael "That Dude From The Police Academy Movies Who Makes Crazy Sounds With His Mouth" Winslow, Al Murray The Pub Landlord. (He's super famous here.) I also don't mean the stars in the night time sky. Especially since it doesn't get dark until after 9pm ... which is awesome.
I'm talking the kind of stars reviewers give to shows. One thing I've learned in my first week at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is that it's all about stars! Preferably lots and lots of them, like a hotel in Dubai.
So many posters here -- I've never seen so many posters in all my life -- are littered with stars proving each show is the most awesomest of any show. I came up to the Fringe with no poster stars at all. All I had was a quote from some regional American publication. And my quote withers next to these...
Interview with The Scotsman
I did an interview with The Scotsman's Chitra Ramaswamy. It is one of the most fun interviews I've had in a long time. And it features one of my favorite quotes I've ever said.
I think I like this interview so much because she took everything I said and then re-calibrated it make it more British-y, which makes me sound more intelligent to me... because I'm a self-hating American.
Posted by my friends at Afro-Punk.com
Comedy: W. Kamau Bell & Friends To Launch 'Laughter Against the Machine' Tour
Do you like your comedy seasoned with spicy social and political commentary? AP friend W. Kamau Bell is a part of the 'Laughter Against the Machine' (LATM) tour and documentary film project. Also on the bill: comedians Nato Green and Janine Brito. The tour starts Sept. 10 in Phoenix (see schedule below) and will be filmed for a documentary (click HERE if you'd like to help fund the production). To give you an idea of the madness they have in store for you, here's the promo trailer. Racism, gay rights, feminism, you name it! Check it. - L C-D
Is I am or Is I Ain't Jimi Hendrix? - KKK Blog
In the back of my mind, I've always thought I could be Jimi Hendrix. I'm not saying I could be as good a guitar player. Nor am I saying that I would make as iconic a rockstar. My Afro could never compare to his. But I always thought I could do the thing where I went overseas to make my name and then come back A STAR! And people would ask me questions like, "How are you enjoying your first time in the States?" And I'd be like, "I'M FROM HERE BUT YOU DIDN'T GET ME SO I WENT TO WHERE I WAS WANTED!" This pretty much already happens whenever I go back to Chicago.
But that is exactly kinda what happened with Jimi Hendrix, and right now I am on a plane hoping it kinda exactly happens to me. I'm headed to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the original, biggest, and greatest fringe festival in the world. There are more than 2,500 shows and 1,300 premieres, more than 500 of which are X-rated. And guess what? Fringe audiences love --- and love to love --- comedy. They think it's as valuable a form of artistic expression as dance, music, or theater. Silly, huh? Many American comics have made their bones in Edinburgh: Rich Hall, Demetri Martin, Doug Stanhope ... others. And I'm hoping -- maybe even desperately and furtively praying -- that it will happen to me. TO READ MORE CLICK HERE
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| Zees is Jimi in Sweden. Borgy borgy borgy! |
Ebony and Ivory Live Together... But Off-Key
The following Facebook exchanges --- with the weird period spacing and you're/your violation --- occurred between myself and a fan... an ex-fan. In my knowledge we had never conversed before. Friday Ex-Facebook Fan User: Have to drop you from facebook . Your just not funny . Try just being a full on militant or something . Or there is , of course always welfare . Friday W. Kamau Bell: Well, we had a good run. I'll miss what we had together. Friday EFFU: Parting is such sweet sorrow my nubian prince . Friday W. Kamau Bell: Are you hitting on me? Friday EFFU: LOL Bastard . Now the laughs . Fucking black people . Friday W. Kamau Bell: Hopefully you have learned a valuable lesson. Good luck in everything you do. Friday EFFU: I have not and will never learn anything . Good luck to you as well . WHITEPOWER ! Friday W. Kamau Bell: Fair enough. Then I hope you feel that you have accomplished what you wanted and also that you got what you needed from this. Friday EFFU: I SAID GOOD DAY SIR !
And then all was quiet for 48 hours until...
Sunday EFFU: I miss you so badly . sigh
Laughter Against The Machine Wants to Make the World Better with Your Help.
For a couple years now we Laughter Against The Machinists (W. Kamau Bell, Nato Green, and Janine Brito) have been doing shows in Northern California with a few toe dips into the Pacific Northwest. Warm, familiar, liberal places (except Sacramento) where we were pretty sure most of the audience would welcome us with open arms (except Marin). But the time has come for us to leave our creature comforts and to put our money where our mouth is and wade into the most polarized quagmires in the US, the flashpoints of American ignorance and upheaval. To roam the country bringing humor to the people who need it the most, and trying to answer the age-old question: can they take a joke?
We’ve got Mike Paunovich and Evan Donn, some amazing filmmakers, to follow our journey, but we can’t do it alone and absolutely need your help. Filming this documentary won’t be easy or cheap. There are multiple plane tickets, hotel accommodations, safe houses, camera crews, best boys, riot gear, and bail bonds to be bought! The tour is planned, but we can’t afford to set foot out the door without your support up front. As we said in the video we’re hitting six hot spots (with potentially more to be added):
Madison, Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker’s attempts to eliminate union rights for public workers have galvanized a student-labor movement to save the state. Governor Walker’s hubris may turn Wisconsin into the Waterloo of the Tea Party. But first the Tea Party will have to look up the word “Waterloo”.
Phoenix, Arizona From Sheriff Joe Arpaio, to banning ethnic studies, to the fact that it’s now so illegal to be Mexican that people are putting ketchup on their tacos, Arizona is now the heavyweight champion of crazy. Arizona has gotten too weird for people from Florida. Even Alabama is keeping its distance.
New Orleans, Louisiana Remember how New Orleans was destroyed by a hurricane and everybody said it would be rebuilt so college kids could keep getting drunk for Mardi Gras? And then remember how Kanye West called George W. out on TV? And then we got a black president? Everything must be back to normal down there now right? Hey, what’s that black spot in the ocean?
Dearborn/Detroit twofer, Michigan Dearborn is home to America’s largest Muslim community. LATM will prove once and for all that Islam is no scarier than Christianity...OK, good point. It’s probably way less scary. Meanwhile, is Detroit a decaying carcass of a rusty metropolis, or is something being born here more exciting than Eminem’s kids?
Washington, DC We’ll visit the people who live in the seat of our democracy, the denizens of the capital of the world’s last superpower...ok most recent superpower, until China decides to collect. DC is where even baristas have lobbyists. PS – Let’s see if we can get that President guy to show up. He’s supposed to have such a good sense of humor...
And finally...
Oakland, CA Here we’ll perform for people who have a nice view of the most liberal city in the country, while experiencing crushing poverty, crime, and that rapid displacement of black people known as gentrification. LATM comes home to Oakland, bringing back the wisdom of our travels and lessons from the American heartland.
Like Doctors Without Borders, but with jokes instead of penicillin, LATM roams the country bringing humor to the people who need it the most.
Welcome to Laughter Against The Machine: Guerrilla Stand-up Comedy.
