That’s Laughter Against The Machine for you who are uninitiated. We wrecked maximum shop in Portland & Seattle this past week. Don’t believe me? Look below at these pictures by Saman Maydani.
Archive for June, 2010
Photoraphic Evidence of a Job well done by LATM
Thursday, June 24th, 2010The Field Negro Guide to Arts & Culture: Episode 1… or 2.
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Yup! It’s me and Living Colour’s Vernon Reid — who if you now me then you know how big a deal he is to me — are starting a weekly podcast called The Field Negro Guide to Arts & Culture. It’s a rambling, off-roading conversation by tow black dudes who have been outside the “black box” for so long that we’ve both built homes there.
This 1st episode, we talk Gary Coleman, Comic book adaptations and Vampires… Of course. Enjoy!
Listen or Download it here: http://thatfnpod.libsyn.com/webpage
Connect with Vernon on Facebook, Twitter @vurnt22, and www.livingcolour.com
Laughter Against The Machine kicked Northwest BOOTY!
Monday, June 21st, 2010Laughter Against The Machine kicked MAXIMUM BOOTY this weekend over 5 shows in Portland & Seattle! Me, Hari Kondabolu, & Nato Green are STILL packing shows everywhere we go. And Check out this picture to see who we just added as an OFFICIAL NEW MEMBER! (Hint: IT’S Janine Brito!)
Laughter Against The Machine 2010 Edition photo by Saman Maydání
Alvin Greene is a dead ringer for John David Stutts. Hmmm?
Monday, June 14th, 2010So apparently this Alvin Greene situation is even more insidious than the media has even reported. Alvin Greene is clearly the return of John David Stutts. Stutts was assumed to be dead after he was very publicly assassinated on television in the early 80’s, but clearly he is BACK! And causing a ruckus again.
Alvin Greene
John David Stutts
Alvin Greene had a recent controversial victory in South Carolina’s Senate Primary. He spent less than $2000 campaigning, yet won in a landslide. Democrats are apoplectic while Republicans laugh. Watch him get Olbermanned!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
This doesn’t bode well for Alvin Greene. He might have to organize another conspiracy and disappear again like he did when he was using his AKA “John David Stutts.”
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO JOHN DAVID STUTTS???
Check out this news clip about John David Stutts from Ted Koppel on Nightline in the 80s.
As Paul Mooney says, “KNOW YOUR HISTORY!”
I rest my case.
My Interview on The Sound of Young America
Friday, June 11th, 2010
I met Jesse Thorn waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day when he was a student at UC Santa Cruz and he would have comics on his college radio show. He put on a few live comedy shows and I got to be on one. He is also responsible for blowing me up on the Internet one time when he reposted a blog that I had written on MySpace (Remember Myspace?) about Sarah Silverman being a racist. (Don’t ask.) It even got posted on Okayplayer.com. (I said, don’t ask.)
Well years later Jesse is now the next big thing in public radio, and I’m… basically a more focused version of what I was back then. Here’s our discussion about all that. And Thanks, Jesse for putting me on the show, even though you are HUGE now.
W. Kamau Bell is a San Francisco-based comedian who soaks up politics and pop culture and filters it through a racial lens, using his irreverent thoughts and critiques as fodder for his comedy.
He’s released several comedy albums, including Face Full of Flour and One Night Only.
He recently ended a run of his one-man show, The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour. His television appearances include performances on Comics Unleashed and Comedy Central, and he is a co-founder of The Solo Performance Workshop.
VIDEO: Me performing LIVE on Citizen Radio
Thursday, June 10th, 2010This is footage of my doing stand-up on CITIZEN RADIO LIVE at UCB in New York. The story about the T-shirt had just happened that day. They told me to feel free to do whatever I wanted to do. Luckily my hair was puuuuuurfect. TADAAAA!
Thanks Jamie & Allison!
Make me the SF Bay Guardian’s BEST COMEDIAN! VOTE!
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010I have never really campaigned for this kind of thing before but I figure why not? So if you have a minute, go ahead and vote for me. The Best Comedian spot is on the 2nd page of categories. You have to scroll down a bit. I mean, you could vote fore me as Best Tacqueria, but I really don’t think I have much of a chance with that one.
OUR 2010 BEST OF THE BAY READERS POLL
Be a local hero! Share your knowledge of everything outstanding in the Bay Area. Vote now!
It’s that time again! In 1974 we blazed a trail by being the first paper to present “best of” awards. Every year since then we’ve given Best of the Bay recognition to the people, places, and things that make the Bay Area great.
Our 2010 Best of the Bay issue hits stands July 28 and will include our annual Readers Poll. This is your chance to give a shout-out to what you love best about the Bay Area. Categories this year are: Food and Drink, Arts and Nightlife, Shopping, City Living, and a special section where you can tell us about your very own “Best of the Best.” Voting ends at 5 p.m. on June 23. One entry per person, please. Have fun!
Lusty Lady Review of The W. Kamau Bell Curve (spolier alert)
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010Review: The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About An Hour
Putting together race and comedy can and sometimes is a recipe for disaster (side note: I think Hitler needs to be retired as comedy fodder, having heard a few too many of them last night), but in The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour, on now at PS 122 as part of the SoloNOVA Festival, W. Kamau Bell not only makes his points funny but uses media clips, storytelling and crowd work to get people thinking about race, and laughing.
I saw it on Sunday at 6, during a gorgeous day, so the theater wasn’t full. I walked in and showing on the screen were Bell’s thoughts on some modern films, like why Jake Gyllenhaal was cast in Prince of Persia. Bell then comes out and shares some thoughts on race and racism, and the difference between the two. Bell is noted for telling the first joke about Barack Obama back in 2005, a clip he shows.
At one point, after seeing some horrific clips where John Stossel and others basically defended the government staying out of racism in the workplace, those of us who are white were led to chant, “Say it loud, I’m white and I’m proud.” Yes, it was funny, but it was also a very surreal and disturbing feeling (speaking for myself) to say that, let alone think it, but I believe Bell’s point was that being proud of who you are doesn’t only belong to the crazy white people, and that white people who don’t want to be associated with racist white people need to also recognize that being white in and of itself isn’t something to be ashamed of. That was my takeaway, anyway. Read More…
