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KBell is also proud to be the ACLU’s Ambassador of Racial
Justice, although he’s pretty upset that they didn’t give
him a badge along with the title. Bell sits on the advisory
board of Race Forward, a racial justice think tank, and
Hollaback, a non-profit movement to end street harassment.
The New York Times
called KBell “the
most promising new talent in political comedy in many
years,” and Salon.com listed Bell on their “Sexiest
Men of 2012” list, calling Totally Biased
“surreptitiously revolutionary in its effortless diversity
and humanism.” The New Yorker said, “Bell’s gimmick
is intersectional progressivism: he treats racial, gay, and
women’s issues as inseparable.” The San Francisco
Chronicle raved, “it makes The Daily Show seem
like something your dad watches.” In its brief time
Totally Biased was nominated for both an NAACP Image
Award and a GLAAD Award. Totally Biased was executive
produced by Chris Rock, who became a fan after seeing a
performance of Bell’s one man show, ‘The W. Kamau Bell
Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour.’ Bell still performs
The W. Kamau Bell Curve at colleges across the country.
Bell recently released his third comedy album,
Semi-Prominent Negro, which is the audio from his Morgan
Spurlock-produced comedy special of the same name. Bell
released two other standup comedy albums: One Night Only
and Face Full of Flour. Face Full of Flour
was named one of the Top 10 Best Comedy Albums of the year
by iTunes and Punchline Magazine. Kamau’s first book,
The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6' 4",
African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning,
Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama's Boy, Dad, and
Stand-Up Comedian, came out on May 2nd, 2017.
Bell has appeared on various Comedy Central programs
including @midnight and John Oliver’s New York Stand-up
Show. He has also appeared on HBO’s Real Time with Bill
Maher, Chelsea, Conan, WTF with
Marc Maron, The Rachel Maddow Show, The View, Fresh
Air with Terry Gross, Henry Louis Gates Jr’s
Many Rivers To Cross, Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, The
Treatment with Elvis Mitchell, The Nerdist, and
This American Life, among others. And yes, he will do
your podcast if you ask him nicely and if he has the time.
His writing has appeared in the New York Times, VanityFair.com, Salon, MSNBC.com, Buzzfeed, and
The Hollywood Reporter.
These days Bell might be most excited about his budding
podcast empire. Bell is the host of
Kamau Right Now!, a public radio talk show that
airs on KALW in San Francisco. Kamau Right Now! is a
live – and lively – talk show that Bell has described as "a
three ring circle of relevance". Bell is also excited about
his political podcast, Politically Re-Active, on
which he and his co-host, friend and fellow comedian, Hari
Kondabolu try to make sense of the nonsense. Bell's labor of
love is his podcast with his friend, comedian Kevin
Avery, entitled Denzel Washington is The Greatest Actor
of All Time Period. On the podcast, they are reviewing
every Denzel Washington movie in (mostly) alphabetical order
in hopes of proving… well, you read the name already. The
podcast has featured interviews with guests including Spike
Lee, Ava DuVernay, Ryan Coogler, India Arie, and many more.
The podcast has been listed on Entertainment Weekly’s ‘Must
List, ‘and it has been featured several times in the AV
Club. Fast Company Magazine put Kevin and Kamau
on their list of ‘Innovative Podcasters.’ Essence
Magazine included DWITGAOATP on their list of
‘Top Ten Podcasts Every Black Woman Should Hear.’ All three
of these shows are available every place that you find
podcasts.
Praised by Punchline Magazine as “one of our nation’s
most adept racial commentators with a blistering wit,” Bell
was voted San Francisco’s best comedian by the SF Weekly,
the SF Bay Guardian, and 7×7 Magazine. Robin
Williams called Kamau “ferociously funny,” and The New
Yorker said, “Bell’s gimmick is intersectional
progressivism: he treats racial, gay, and women’s issues as
inseparable.” The SF Weekly called Kamau “smart,
stylish, and very much in the mold of politically outspoken
comedians like Dave Chappelle,” though he was more excited
that they called him “handsome.” |
