Prepare to have your brain squirt out of your head.
This is an ad that will appear on buses in NYC.
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So yeah… YUCK! YUCK! YUCK! YUCK!
And this is an interview with a spokesperson for American Freedom Defense Initiative, the organization that paid for it.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
In conclusion, the lesson here is just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
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…
Gearing up for another broadcast of Radio Free Brooklyn tomorrow night! In addition to having some tasty music treats from the new black imagination, I’ll also have a live, in-studio interview with SF-based comedian W. Kamau Bell.
Kamau is currently in town doing a standup show called The Bell Curve: Ending Racism In About An Hour. Cool thing is, the show’s been extended into early June. So, tune in tomorrow night from 9-10, and then check out Kamau’s show or his comedy album, Face Full of Flour, now available on itunes and Amazon.
As a reminder, the schedule for WRFB goes like this:
7-8pm YankeeZulu
8-9pm The Flying Perfect Parlor with Christian John Wikane
9-10pm Boldaslove.us/Sounds from the New Black Imagination
10-11pm Shelley Nicole and her dope themed shows
Guests this month include:
Chris Hayes – Editor of The Nation and fill in for Rachel Maddow
Joe Randazzo – Editor of The Onion
W. Kamau Bell – “Will be a legend in his own lifetime like Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce. Think Bill Hicks but slightly taller.” — Margaret Cho, comedian
Musical guest Anthony da Costa and Emilyn Brodsky (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkVkfECKlIo)
And big surprise guests!
And your hosts:
Allison Kilkenny – Writer for Huffington Post, The Nation, and True/Slant
Jamie Kilstein – The BBC, contributor to The Onion, famous in every country except America Read More…
To promote his one-man comedy show The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour, now running as part of the seventh annual soloNOVA Arts Festival at PS 122, stand-up comedian W. Kamau Bell is making a special offer: “Bring a friend of a different race and get in 2 for 1.”
Bell hopes that this bring-a-friend-for-free discount will help fill the theater with New York audiences who might not have heard of the San Francisco Bay Area comedian yet. “Although, I have selfish reasons for that, too,” Bell says. “It guarantees me a better crowd. You can’t end racism unless everyone is in the room at the same time.”
Yet to end racism, you have to discuss racism. And to discuss racism, you have to talk about race. And once the conversation turns to race, a lot of (white) people automatically worry about sounding racist. Or, as George Costanza would say, “I really don’t think we should be talking about this.”
Bell uses comedy, therefore, to broach a subject most people are simply too afraid to talk about. You might be thinking, The election of Barack Obama, our first black president, ushered in the era of “post-racial” America, right? Wrong. Bell utilizes a sharp mix of stand-up comedy, Powerpoint, audio and video clips, and theatrical solo theater to illustrate the ways racism just keeps making a comeback. “This show isn’t about post-racial America,” Bell says. “It’s about racial America.”
Even so, the idea of “ending racism in an hour” probably sounds like a joke. That’s because it is. Well, sort of. Read More…
So I’m trying something new at WKB Industries. I’m working hard to get people to come out to my NYC shows, so instead of just asking (ummm… begging) for your help. I thought I’d make it a little more fun for you! A CONTEST!!! If you tweet about my upcoming shows in NYC, you can win a copy of my new cd, Face Full of Flour, autographed by yours truly with some other swag thrown in for fun (stickers and maybe even an inappropriate picture or two). All you have to do is talk about my shows on Twitter (using the hashtag #TheCurve) and a link to my Facebook invite (http://ow.ly/1KjHJ). I’ll choose a winner at random on May 24, once the shows are over!
A few rules:
NYC! @WKamauBell Curve – Ending Racism in About an Hour is in NYC. Bring a friend of a diff race get in 2For1 http://ow.ly/1KjHJ #WKBCurve
If you have any questions, feel free to email me or my other people: info at whitesmithent dot com.
Thank you for all of the support!
Kamau's fantastic new album, Face Full of Flour, is now available!
Get it.
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