W. Kamau Bell

 

Wednesday, February 8
W. Kamau Bell
Location: 7:30 - 10 pm at EJ Thomas Stage Door

Ending Racism in About an Hour

Way back in 2005,  W. Kamau Bell told the very first joke about Barack Obama on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend. Unfortunately, the joke predicted that Barack would never be President (oops!). Comedy Central later invited Kamau to bring his critically acclaimed solo show, The W. K amau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour, to their stage in Los Angeles. The Curve had enjoyed a three month run in San Francisco (SF Weekly named  Kamau, “Comedian of the Year!”), had continued success in Oakland and Berkeley, and played to full houses in 2009 at the New York International Fringe Festival. This past May, The Curve returned to New York as part of terraNova Collective’s 7th Annual SoloNova Festival at the historic PS122 Theater, where it was extended by an additional two weeks.

Just like skinny jeans, superhero movies, and celebrity weight loss, racism continues to make a comeback. Whether it’s tea parties that look like casual Fridays at KKK rallies, or Henry Louis Gates getting arrested for having a sticky door, or the state of Texas deciding that the only good history book is a  whites only version, or the continued broadcast of  bet, or the one-two-three cinematic punch of The Blindside, Avatar, and Precious, racism hasn’t run this rampant since Martin Luther King, Jr. had that dream. Meanwhile the 2010 Census  still wants to know how many “negroes” are out there…and all the while black people wonder, “Did we get a black president or a president who is black?”Thankfully,  W. Kamau Bell is here to make (non)sense of all of it all.  The Curve is a comedic exploration of the current state of America’s racism, combined with a little (unknown) history, a little Powerpoint, and a whole bunch of Kamau. And because racism is always attacking in new ways and from new angles, Kamau attacks back by constantly adding new material. The Curve is a seamless mix of stand-up comedy, video and audio clips, personal stories and solo theatrical performance.

“W. Kamau Bell is the most important guy doing comedy right now. Do yourself a favor and go see him. 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  

“Smart, stylish, and very much in the mold of politically outspoken comedians like Dave Chappelle and Margaret Cho…” “Comedian of the Ye a r !”— The San Francisco Weekly

“Happily, Bell finds comic gold in the wide range of material he mines, offering provocative insights into an ugly reality. ★★★★”— Time Out New York 

“The personable, quick comic skewers racism, stereotypes and an assortment of iconic taboos with provocative wit.— ★★★★”— The San Francisco Chronicle 

“Tall, dark and hilarious... Bell’s solo show is daring, insightful, challenging, sometimes interactive, upto-the-minute—and did I mention hilarious?”— NYTheatre.com

“W. Kamau Bell plays against type and comes with not only the insights you wish you had spewed first but also the wit.”— San Francisco Bay Guardian 

“By making no subject off limits, keeping no discrimination too taboo, and leaving no room for selfdenial, Kamau’s Bell Curve is not only a powerful comedic performance but an outlet for a necessary dialogue.”— Flavorpill.com

“One of our country’s most adept racial commentators with a blistering wit… he is relentlessly intelligent.”— Punchline Magazine