W. Kamau Bell: Face Full of Flour
by Tom Keller
April 23, 2010
At first, I was excited, thinking that maybe this was related to The Bell Curve–a book that is essential reading for an Oreo thanks to its assertions about race and intelligence. **
But ’twas not my fortune. Turns out it was a comedy CD by a black guy. Obviously, I proceeded with caution. The last thing I needed anyone in the airport to hear bleeding from my earbuds was a Chris Rock-esque rant. The airport security scanner may not have gone off when my bag went by on the belt, but my Oreo scanner sure did!
Oreo Approved!
I would have kept it in its place in the bag, except that the inflight movies were all things I had seen a million times. Neverwas, Sound of Music, Match Point. I wanted something new to keep me company.
And so I listened.
And laughed. A lot.
Yikes.
Scary moment, my friends. And one that I highly recommend. I mean, how could I stop listening when I heard what he had to say about Tyler Perry, what his wife looks like and his justification for looser gun control??
You can find Face Full of Flour on itunes and Amazon. Get it and listen. Not only because it’s super hilarious funny, but also because if enough non-colors check it out, it definitely won’t be seen as an of color collectable and I can continue to enjoy it unafraid.
**W. gets points actually for having created a show called “The W. Kamau Bell Curve” that you should also check out if you can!
I hope I age as well comedically (& otherwise) as Dick Gregory.
Don't try to take this all in at once. I recommend bite sized pieces.
Booooooooooooooooots!
So the hits keep on rolling in. Legendary MC Boots Riley of The Coup ANNNNNNNNNNNNND Street Sweeper Social Club who just Facebooked all about me and my new CD Face Full of Flour. I've pretty much decided that if I can't get my CD to sell, I'm at least gonna get it in the hands of the people who I think would dig it. ANd Boots is DEFINITELY one of those people.
But don't take my word for it. Listen to Boots himself (umm... at least his Facebook page)
"Alright, everyone. All at once now. Go to Itunes and download W. Kamau Bell's new comedy album- Face Full Of Flour. Hilarious, with somethin' to say about the world. You like comedy? You like Dave Chapelle? You like Black People? You'll love this shit." --- Boots Riley, Street Sweeper Social Club
Well from the man who wrote "99 Ways to Kill a CEO" and "Fight, Smash, Win!", these are mighty words, so if I were you I'd quickly do what he said.
Although, feel free to get it from iTunes OR Amazon... That is unless you hate black people.
Now THIS is coooooooooool!
I just received one of the coolest things ever and it's not even my birthday.
And it is all thanks to mofunkin' Twitter.
"W. Kamau Bell is in the vanguard of a new era of American comedy for an unsettling, troubling, and strangely hopeful time. Firmly in the fearless tradition of Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, & Chris Rock. Comedy as common sense purged of the absurd hypocrisy that is Our America." --- Vernon Reid, founder & songwriter & guitarist of Living Colour.
If music is influential then I'm more than 50% Living Colour, cuz I've listened to them more than half my life. And I have certainly listened to them more than any other band. (Fishbone is a close second. Then 24-7 Spyz... Then Urban Dance Squad.. Oops! I forgot Hendrix... Dang!) Anyway, It may sound like an exaggeration but without Vernon and Living Colour, I wouldn't be anything close to the who I am today. If you like those things, thank them. If you don't, then blame me.
You probably remember Living Colour for THIS...
But make no mistake. They are still out there making the myths...
Sneak Peak... of Kamau's NEW CD!
Kamau interviewed on Citizen Radio podcast!
This is very cool. I was interviewed on Citizen Radio, a very popular political discussion podcast. It is run by Jamie Kilstein and Allison Kilkenny. Jamie is a brilliant, young, political comedian, and Allison is just plain regular old brilliant. They've had many major people on their podcast such as Noam Chomsky, Janeane Garofalo, the late Howard Zinn, Ralph Nader, Tariq Ali, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, and many, many, many more. I'm not sure why or how I managed to squeeze onto this but I think it's cuz Jamie and Allison both seem to think I'm funny. Whew!
Click the link below to check it out.
This clip is featured TODAY in RooftopComedy.com's Daily 8
Check it out below...
Once you watch the clip, you can pick up my NEW CD Face Full of Flour on iTunes or at Amazon.com.
So is this how Barack won the presidency?
"America, look at your president. Now back to me. Now, back to your president. Now back to ME..."
HARD COPIES of Face Full of Flour ARE IN!!!
Check it out. You can order it from Rooftop Comedy if you click on the picture below. Pick up a copy of the CD, pop it in your Discman, strap on your rollerblades, throw on a flannel and laugh your cares away.
My buddy Hari Kondabolu interviews me at RooftopComedy.com
AN INTERVIEW WITH W. KAMAU BELL
“W. Kamau Bell is the most important guy doing comedy right now. He’s got the most astute, hilarious and completely righteous material going and he’s going to be a legend in his own lifetime like Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce. Think Bill Hicks but slightly taller.” — Margaret Cho
It’s praise like that has made W. Kamau Bell’s “Face Full of Flour” one of the most anticipated comedy albums of 2010. Recorded live at the San Francisco Punchline and produced by Rooftop Comedy Productions, the album features comedic meditations on Barack Obama, the wrongness of the Right, interracial mating, and why Black + White = Black.
Kamau was nice enough to take a break from his busy schedule to answer a few questions from fellow comedian Hari Kondabolu.
Hari Kondabolu: Why did you name your CD “Face Full of Flour” and how does it and you differ from your last album “One Night Only?”
W. Kamau Bell: First of all, my first CD wasn’t named “One Night Only” It was named ONE NIGht ONLY,” which is very funny joke if you get it. Most people didn’t. And secondly, how come you didn’t listen to my CD before the interview, Hari? I thought we were supposed to be cool. I’m going to go unfollow you on Twitter… There. It’s done.
This CD is called Face Full of Flour because there is a joke on it that was inspired by a Rice Krispies commercial from way back the 80’s. In the commercial a mom throws flour on her face to convince her family that she’s working harder than she actually is. My joke recommends Barack do the same thing.
Dammit. Now the joke is ruined. Nothing is less funny than a joke explained.
HK: Why make this album now?
WKB: I was very much aware that for like two years I was one of the only comics talking about Barack Obama. My first joke about him was in 2005, and I did it that year on Comedy Central, which according to Comedy Centrla is the very first Barack Obama joke. Don’t believe me? Google it. (I’m talking to the “YOU” who is reading this right now. Go ahead and Google it. Hari knows this already.)
Anyway, now that Barack is President there has been a ridiculous media story going around that it is impossible to make jokes about Barack Obama. I know this is ridiculous because I haven’t stopped telling Barack jokes since 2005. I kind of wanted to be on record again as being ahead of this nonexistent curve. Also the country is in such incredible transition it is great to be able to release a CD that addresses the transition while it is still transitioning… transitorially.
HK: You’ve told me that there are things on the last record that you no longer stand by. Did you have any fear when recording this record about making that particular moment permanent?
WKB: First of all, allow me to go very public with the first part of what you said. I had a joke on the first CD about Condoleeza Rice, which I also did on Comedy Central. It was a very funny joke to me when I wrote it… because I was so angry at Condoleeza at the time and at her stature as a such high ranking Bush cabinet member, but very soon after I had done it, it became clear to me (actually it was made clear by many, MANY women in my life) that the joke was not helpful to the struggle of women as a group… no matter how evil I perceived her to be at the time. And as my friend and main co-conspirator Martha Rynberg said so eloquently to me at the time, “You can’t talk about ending racism and then go out and create more sexism.” (KAMAU’S NOTE: This has now beccome OFFICIALLY the most unfunny interview in the history of Rooftop Comedy.) And unfortunately for me, the joke is forever out there on the Internet so occasionally people discover it and GO OFF on me. Recently when a dude on a website went off on me on his blog, I commented on the blog that I agreed with him, which I’m pretty sure shocked him. People don’t realize that us comics spend about 45% of our days Googling oursleves.
On some level I’m always thinking about how people will take something I have said. But I can say that right now I stand by the things on this record. I’m still progressing as a writer and performer, and as much as I love it, stand-up comedy can be a pretty poor way to communicate subtle ideas. And I’m certainly not above rethinking things I have said if new information comes in. As Muhammad Ali said, “A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.” (KAMAU’S NOTE: Is this the first Muhammad Ali quote in Rooftop Comedy history?)
HK: Margaret Cho said you were the most important guy doing standup right now and compared you to Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce and Bill Hicks. That’s a huge statement. What do you do with that?
WKB: I continue to thank her profusely and also realize that I haven’t accomplished one million of one thousandth of a percent of what all those geniuses did. I think she was just trying to say that she liked what I do a lot, and one way to do explain to people outside comedy how much you like a comedian is to invoke the legends. Admittedly those are the legends I would want to have my name associated with. And me and Margaret have had long conversations about the comedians we like and those names have certainly come up. I think the comment really speaks more to a tradition of comedy that I am trying to engage with… the agenda driven / socio-political / social critic comedian. I think those names — Pryor, Bruce, & Hicks — are also a shortcut for someone who reads that quote to decide if they might be interested in what I do. She’s basically saying, “If you like these comics, you might like Kamau.” It would be different if she had compared me to Bill Cosby, Jonathan Winters, and Carol Burnett. Those three are also geniuses but I don’t do ANYTHING like they do.
HK: Do you see this as a record that is very much informed by San Francisco? Could you imagine being somewhere else the past 5 years and still be able to make this record?
WKB: I don’t know. There is certainly a freedom of expression thing that exists in San Francisco — and other major cities — that I don’t feel when I travel in most smaller cities. But San Francisco is not perfect. Far from it. In fact much of the frustration in my act comes from the difference of perception of San Francisco and the reality. People percieve SF as being as liberal and lefty as can be, but San Frnacisco can be just as conservative and especially racially fucked up as any place in America. SF is like 6% black… and falling. This city is literally chasing diversity out of it to make room for condos. I do have great audiences in the SF and all around the Bay Area, and the media here has been very supportive of me. especially The San Francisco Weekly & The East Bay Express, but at this point I find myself much more at home in Oakland, but as Tony Bennett said, I’ve left my apartment is in San Francisco. Add a rimshot here.
HK: You are one of the elder statesmen of the San Francisco scene. I’ve met so many comics with such drastically different styles that cite you as an influence or pivotal figure it their development? Why are you so great?
WKB: First of all, just because I’m older than you, Hari, that doesn’t make me an “elder statesman.” Come on, I’m tying to convince Hollywood that I’m 22! And I don’t know who these unnamed comics are that you are talking about. If anything I’m an example of what happens when you go your own way. I could’ve (and maybe should’ve) moved to LA years ago, but I really wanted to create something of my own… that I had ultimate control of, and that has happened through my solo show. (KAMAU’S NOTE: I’ve read ahead and I’ve seen that Hari is going to ask me about my solo show later, so I won’t go into my show now.) The San Francisco Bay Area is awash with a history of GREAT COMEDIANS. Comics who grew up here like Margaret Cho, Greg Proops, and Jake Johannsen… to comics who transplanted themselves here to grow their acts, like Marc Maron, Patton Oswalt, Robert Hawkins, Jim Short, Tom Rhodes, Dana Gould, Janeane Garofalo… I believe. And when you look through that both of those lists you’ll notice something: Again, I haven’t accomplished any part of what ANY of those comics have done. And those are mostly just comics from the recent era. We’re not talking Mort Sahl, The Smothers Brothers, Paul Mooney, some dude named Robin Williams. I have a looooong way to go before I make The SF Comedy Hall of Fame.
HK: You really refocused your energy from doing pure standup to your one-man show, the “W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism Within An Hour. Do you still love doing standup? How does your standup (and specifically the content of this album) differ from the content of the one man show? Does the show inform your standup now?
WKB: I LOOOOOOOOVE stand-up. When I’m killing in stand-up, no feeling is better. The difference between stand-up and solo for me is that when I do solo I feel like I am using a scalpel to get my point across. When I do stand-up I feel like I am using a two by four… with a rusty nail in the end of it. (KAMAU’S NOTE: I may have taken this metaphor too far.) I feel like a great stand-up set is like beating someone up in a dark alley. The6 don’t know where the blows/punchlines are coming from and they can’t stop you. (KAMAU’ NOTE: I have CERTAINLY taken this one too far.) The solo show is much more crafted and I am trying to build an arc, so that by the end you feel like there was a reason that you showed up besides just laughter. However, differences aside, in both formats I’m trying to get body-doubling over laughter.
The solo show also incorporates video, audio, slides and stories that are far more personal than I get in stand-up. As far as the stories go, to me it feels like what I would imagine it was to do stand-up in the 70’s, when audiences allowed you to take your time more. Although the by product of this is that solo has DEFINITELY made me a better stand-up.
HK: Has Barack Obama’s presidency made it easier or harder to talk about race for a general audience in America? It is still possible to tell jokes about Obama? (You know I know the answer to this question, Kamau. I mean, c’mon! I’m asking this for the kids)
WKB: Before Barack began campaigning, occasionally there were crowds that made me feel like, “HEY! GET OVER IT! THAT RACISM THING IS LONG OVER!” But ever since the campaign up through today. racism has become so much a part of America’s daily discussion that now, that I don’t have to spend as much time fighting to get people to understand that racism exists. Although there are definitely still times when crowds who didn’t come to see me specifically feel like, “WE DIDN’T COME TO A COMEDY CLUB TO HEAR ABOUT RACISM! WE CAME TO A COMEDY CLUB TO GET DRUNK!”, but every comic deals with that. And THAT is a big reason I started my solo show. I’d rather fifty people who wanted to hear what I want to talk about vs. 200 who would rather eat nachos and drink Bud Light in peace.
HK: You have become a beloved and respected commentator on issues of race in San Francisco? Does this add a responsibility and pressure when you write and perform? Do you ever feel handcuffed by a sense of responsibility?
WKB: “Beloved and respected”??? Next question. The only people I feel responsible to are my good friends and my family. They are the only ones that I want to make sure can stand behind what I am saying. And as I have said, many of my friends will call me on my shit when they believe I am going in the wrong direction OR if they think my message is confused. Hari, I believe you have called me out on stuff on more than one occasion. And I appreciate that, because my friends want me to succeed as much… if not more than I do. I don’t feel handcuffed at all. I feel supported. But having said that, I do heartily support a comedian’s need/inalienable right to go up onstage and fall flat on their faces and also to go over the line in an effort try to find out where their individual line is. I also don’t try out many jokes out on people before I do them onstage, because I have a fear that if I get input too early that it will somehow negatively affect the jokes chances of succeeding.
HK: You’re one of the most prolific comedy writers I have ever met. Why did you choose the jokes you did for this record?
WKB: These are for the most part jokes that have been created in the Obama Era, so they feel very current for me, and I think that material that feels alive makes for a great comedy CD. There is of course a danger that topical jokes may not hold up over time. There’s some Lenny Bruce stuff that might as well be in a different language, becasue the references are so specific to that era. You’d be best off with Wikipedia open to get through some of it. Although it is amazing how much of Bill Hicks stuff is still relevant today… not that I’m comparing myself to Hicks.
Even the some stuff on my CD that isn’t topical is still newer jokes for me. For example, I did just get married so those jokes about my relationship are fresh. I think George Carlin and Bill Burr are great examples of how to be a comedian. A comedian is supposed to be constantly writing and trying out new material, and therefore you should have a new hour every year or so. I’m not there yet, but I’m trying. My first CD was basically all my best jokes at the time, this one is more the stuff I was really thinking about on the night I recorded it. The goal is to have a stack of comedy CD’s a foot high when it’s all said and done. Although by the time I’m done, CD’s will be obsolete, so I guess the goal is to have a stack of mp3’s a foot high. Can you stack mp3’s?
HK: How have your friendships with Nato Green and Hari Kondabolu affected you as a writer and performer?
WKB: I’ve never met them. BUT SERIOUSLY… As you know, the three of us — you, Nato, and myself — have a comedy tour called Laughter Against The Machine which we have done to sold out audiences in the Bay Area and will soon be taking to Seattle. And the entire reason for LATM is so that we can do shows surrounded by comedians that inspire, challenge, and most of all entertain us AND the audiences that we perform for. It is opinionated comedy for times that need opinions. Nato is a political comic in the truest sense, in that HE is political onstage and off. He’s not just attacking both sides equally. He has a group of ideas that he wants to put forth AND he truly believes that the world would be a better place if he was in charge. I think of the three of us, he actually represent most what LATM is supposed to be. And you, Hari… and it pains me to say this to your Internetic face… are one of my favorite comics of all-time, and I know that because the moment I first saw you it made me want to be a better comedian. And I tell you this even though I know you will one day use it against me. Probably tomorrow. Face Full of Flour is available on iTunes. Keep up with Kamau on www.wkamaubell.com Hari Kondabolu is a standup comedian based in Queens, NY. He has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham and John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show. www.harithecomic.com
Check out the COOLEST flyer I've ever been on.
I'll be a small part of CounterPULSE's May Day Fundraiser on April 30th @ 8pm. Check out that line-up. YUP! That's Annie Sprinkle on the same show as yours truly. I'll try to keep my clothes on.
Anti Nigger Machine: feat. every black rock band minus Living Colour
24-7 Spyz, Fishbone, King's X, and lots of other Black Rock Folk come together for (maybe) the 1st Black Rock Super Group. Maybe I can get in on Tambourine. Seems like they coulda dug up Muzz Skillings from Living Colour to get some double bass action. :-)
ME, Marga Gomez, & Lots o' Partying on April 1st
Where you gonna be April 1st? Don't be a fool! Come to Cafe Du Nord & check out this madness! ONLY TEN BUCKS!!!
5Across: Smartphone Etiquette, and Our Lack of Civility
I'm on this show, MediaShift's 5Across, with a panel of experts talking about Smartphone Etiquette. If you can't tell, I was the one trying to be funny. And since I'm not an expert I was speaking for the people... the people like me... who will pull their Smartphones out in the bathroom. I had fun, although I think there were time that made some of the people a little sad, especially Fernando. They were all good people. Me and Nicole (who is on my left) were basically on the same page. She's just smarter than me, so she says it better. :-) I haven't watched the episode yet, since I was there. You know how I am. Thanks to Heather Gold for hooking this up.
If you just want to watch sections of the show go to their website here. It is broken down into subjects.
Guest Biographies
W. Kamau Bell is a comedian that told the very first joke about Barack Obama on Comedy Central's Premium Blend waaaaaaaay back in 2005. Unfortunately, the joke predicted that Barack would never be President. (Oops!) Comedy Central also invited Kamau to perform his critically acclaimed solo show, "The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour," at their theater in Hollywood. "The Curve" enjoyed a long run in San Francisco, had continued success in Oakland and Berkeley, and played to full houses in 2009 at the New York International Fringe Festival. His new CD, Face Full of Flour is now out on iTunes.
Fernando Castrillon earned a masters in sociology from the University of California and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). He currently serves as core faculty in the Community Mental Health Department at CIIS and is the director of CIIS's "Clinic without Walls." His clinical, teaching, and research interests include, among other things, the impact of hypervelocity technological change on human psychology and intersubjectivity. Currently he is working on a book based on his dissertation research, in which he examines the cultural, psychological and intersubjective consequences of the hyper-digitization of contemporary Western culture.
Nicole Lee is an associate editor for CNET.com. She reviews all manner of mobile devices, from cell phones to Bluetooth headsets. She is a co-host on Dialed In, CNET's cell phone podcast, and she also writes a bi-weekly Q&A column on CNET about cell phones called The 411. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Wired Magazine, and TechTV (now-defunct cable network about technology).
Daniel Scherotter is executive chef and owner of Palio d'Asti, an Italian restaurant in downtown San Francisco. Scherotter brought with him not only an appreciation for the lavish table of Emilia Romagna, where he worked for two years, but also an affinity for the exotic fusion of Sicily, where in 2003 he married his wife, Nina. Now that he's married, he's started working on his first book, "The Bachelor's Guide to Cooking," and serves on the board of directors of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association.
Syndi Seid is an authority on business protocol and etiquette and has appeared on "Good Morning America," CBS' "Eye on America," Fox's "Trading Spouses," HGTV's "Party At Home," and Discovery Channel's "Picture This." Major companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Sprint, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and the Miss Universe Pageant trust her to train their employees to avoid social faux pas that could lead to major business and political blunders. She founded Advanced Etiquette worldwide to help executives and employees overcome their fears and insecurities to find poise, confidence, and authority in any social situation. Her own book, "Etiquette In Minutes is now available at EtiquetteInMinutes.com.
I'll be on C.O.W.S. an Internet Radio show today at 4pm PST.
I'll be on the Internet Radio show C.O.W.S today @ 4pm PST. And for those of you that don't know, an Internet radio show is different than a podcast because YOU can call in. The number is 347 215-6071. Here's the description of what I'm gonna do straight from the website...
"W. Kamau Bell will share his views on the System of White Supremacy. W. Kamau Bell is a stand-up comedian who makes Racism his central theme. He talks/jokes about notorious Moments in Racism - Michael Richardson's nigger eruption, Dr. Henry Louis Gates' incarceration and Kelly Tilghman forecasting the lynching of Tiger Woods. W. Kamau Bell is married to a White woman and heavily integrates his interracial experience into his routine. We'll discuss his latest release - Face Full of Flour - and his perception of the legacy of black comedians such as Richard Pryor, Dave Chappelle and Eddie Murphy."
WHEW! That's kind of A LOT! Luckily the show is two hours long.
Call in and keep me company! 347 215 6071
