Vernon is back from his tour in Berlin and therefore the dynamical duo is BACK! For all of you who missed Vernon on the last episode this episode is back to regular. This episode features…
- Vernon’s beef with America’s radio sweetheart Jesse Thorn.
- President Barack Obama squashing his beef with Osama Bin Laden… literally.
- Vernon pitches his new religion, POI, to Producer Alex’s bemusement.
- Vernon has insider knowledge to the reign of NYC drug kingpin Nicky Barnes.
- Vernon makes it clear he’s not voting for Newt Gingrich. Surprised?
- Kamau sends Vernon a surprising E-mail. You’ll just have to guess what it is.
- And finally Urban Dance Squad gets some much overdue love from FNGTAC!
On this episode Vernon & me finally have our long awaited Obama conversation. It happened minutes after Obama’s second State of The Union Address and there was much to discuss: Obama & technology, Obama and Michelle, Obama and his new theme music, Obama and Black people, Obama and crazy white people, Obama Now vs. Obama Then. Yup, it’s Obama on and on until the break of dawn. (Say that last sentence out loud. It sounds really cool.) And on this episode, Vernon & me also have some special guests in the form of several other of America’s “first Black presidents.”
Back in 2005, a little-known San Francisco comic made a crack about a little-known Illinois senator, also black. Said W. Kamau Bell, “There will never be a black president named Barack Obama. Because that is too black.” Then the unthinkable happened: Obama actually became president, and Bell focused his comedy into a stand-alone show, The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour. He’s been performing and refining the act for years, adapting topics of his ire from George Bush to Michele Bachmann. And while he comes as the subject of race from a Bay Area liberal’s perspective, his jokes also range from Star Trek to kung fu movies to Macbeth. (“As a society,” says this Chicago-raised utopian, “let’s be the The Matrix part one, not The Matrix II and III.”) And, like the president, Bell has stripped the anger from his smart, genial demeanor—he’s like the funniest dude in your Ph.D. program. Though he’s a young guy, fluent in blogging, twitter, and Facebook, he’s also a bit of a throwback—skipping over the incendiary taunts of Pryor and Murphy back to the early humor of Cosby (before sweaters and sitcoms). Also note the ticket price: two-for-one if “you bring a friend from a different race.” It’s a great chance to save some money and meet someone not in your usual online dating profile. BRIAN MILLER
…
“Chicago-raised utopoian”
“the funniest dude in your Ph.D. program”
“the early humor of Cosby (before sweaters & sitcoms)”
Yup, that’s pretty much how I’ve always described myself.
This was the best radio interview I’ve ever done. Mostly because it was an hour focused all on ME! Dave Iverson, the host, asked probing and intelligent and thoughtful questions… which is certainly not always the case for radio. Afterward, I met all the black people at KQED… three. (Just kidding… I met three but I saw five.)
It was a lot of fun… the second half many people called in and they were all cool. Enjoy. And I understand if you don’t have enough interest to take the whole hour of KAMAU! It was like Frost/Nixon… but less jowl-ly and confrontational.
San Francisco-based comic W. Kamau Bell is known for telling the very first joke about President Obama on Comedy Central, when he memorably predicted in 2005 that Obama was not going to win the election. Bell joins us in the studio for a conversation on humor, and race.
Bell has been named best San Francisco comedian by 7×7 Magazine, The San Francisco Bay Guardian and SF Weekly. His new comedy album “Face Full of Flour” made the iTunes list of best comedy albums of 2010 — and he’s performing at the Phoenix Theatre in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve.
San Francisco-based comic W. Kamau Bell is known for telling the very first joke about President Obama on Comedy Central, when he memorably predicted in 2005 that Obama was not going to win the election. Bell is performing at the Phoenix Theatre in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve, and he joins us in the studio.
Bell has been named best San Francisco comedian by 7×7 Magazine, The San Francisco Bay Guardian and SF Weekly. His new comedy album “Face Full of Flour” made the iTunes list of best comedy albums of 2010.
Which begs the question… WHY DON’T YOU HAVE IT YET???
You can get it if you click right next to this blog. Look to the right of where you’re reading now.
Don’t believe I’m #7? See below OR click here to read the entire list. Many of my friends are on it, like Glenn Wool & Hannibal Buress, and Kyle Kinane.
Enjoy…
#7 – W. KAMAU BELL – FACE FULL OF FLOUR Though not everyone knows it quite yet, San Francisco-based W. Kamau Bell is one of our country’s most adept racial and political commentators; he’s got a blistering wit and a willingness to say what you quickly realize you’ve always thought. He’s relentlessly intelligent, fusing references to create a rich expression of incredulity in a post-Obama world. Note to working comedians: despite what’s been said time and again, it’s possible make fun of our current president and mean it. Kamau is an Obama supporter but deftly takes the piss out of him when necessary. And all of that is there for us to play – and re-play – on Face Full of Flour, a masterful, thinking man’s album. Buy Face Full of Flour
And if you like it then pick up a copy of my CD Face Full of Flour for the holidays. They make great Secret Santa presents for that racist at work! Or a great present from Hanukkah Harry. Or for Kujichagulia (That’s Kwanzaa!) Or for (next) Ramadan! It’s also a prefect to wrap up you early Lohri (Hindu) shopping because it’s BLAZING HOT! We got my album in digital OR real-ical.
I’ll see you next week Thursday, October 21st @8pm for another edition of my show, The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour. And this time it is a New York’s premiere comedy spot The Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater — or UCB, if you’re nasty… and if you don’t already associate UCB with The University of California at Berkeley.
The best part is that it is only a recession busting FIVE BUCKS!!! WOOOHOOOO! What a bargain! Click here for details.
Racism will be ended for less than the cost of a vente mocha with an extra shot of espresso! I hope to see you there. And if not I hope you let your NYC people know. Thanks!
I’ll be in NYC for s couple of weeks and I’m booking other shows, stand-up and otherwise, so there will be many other opportunities to see me there. if you know of any, forward them along. Thanks again.
Any artist who promises to end racism in about an hour will earn his fair share of cynics. Comedian W. Kamau Bell was well aware of that when he launched his solo comedy show, “The W. Kamau Bell Curve,” in fall 2007.
During a run at The Shelton Theater a few months later, Bell watched from the corner of his eye as a middle-aged couple shuffled out of the room. He was roughly 15 minutes into a well-honed comedy set that lampooned the idea of “post-racial” America. He resisted his knee-jerk tendency to heckle the man and woman as they quietly left their seats.
“They weren’t making a huff or anything,” he said. “In my mind, I’m just like, ‘Oh, they gotta go to the bathroom.’ I didn’t think anything of it. They never came back, but I also never noticed.”
After the show, Bell’s producer, Bruce Pachtman, looked somber. “That couple left,” he said. Apparently the man was repelled by Kamau’s material. He was white and characterized himself as a progressive.
“I feel like I’m being blamed,” the man told Pachtman. “I don’t have to listen to this; I’ve done a lot for black people.”
Bell was unruffled.
“If I’m a straight white guy and I go to a show about racism, I would expect to get something on me — that they’d start flinging the s— stick my way,” he said. “I thought, ‘That is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious.’” Read More…
Citizen Radio interviews Congressman Alan Grayson about standing up to Republicans (including describing the GOP healthcare plan as “Don’t get sick, and if you do, die quickly,”) Wall Street, party opposition – even from his fellow Democrats, and what makes him happy.
Next, blogger Marcy Wheeler AKA Emptywheel talks about the role of bloggers, and her groundbreaking article on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that forced the establishment press to acknowledge the important roles bloggers can play in journalism.
Marcy, along with many other excellent bloggers, writes at Firedoglake, so check out that site.
W. Kamau Bell returns with his segment “I’m Sorry, Black People” in which he highlights yet another injustice inflicted upon black people. This week’s subject is Shirley Sherrod.
Citizen Radio airs every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on Breakthru Radio. Subscribe to the show’s FREE podcast at wearecitizenradio.com. Join us on Facebook.
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Vernon is back from his tour in Berlin and therefore the dynamical duo is BACK! For all of you who missed Vernon on the last episode this episode is back to regular. This episode features…
