W. Kamau Bell

W. Kamau Bell

W. Kamau Bell in 2010
Birth name Walter Kamau Bell
Born Palo Alto, California United States[1]
Medium Stand-up comedy
Nationality American
Spouse Melissa Hudson Bell[2]
Notable works and roles Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell
Website wkamaubell.com

Walter Kamau Bell (better known as W. Kamau Bell) is an American stand-up comic.[3] Prominent within the San Francisco stand-up comedy scene, he is best known as the former host of the FXX television series Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.[3] Bell is currently the host of United Shades of America, a CNN Original Series that will debut on April 24, 2016.[4]

Career

Bell graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and attended the University of Pennsylvania before dropping out to pursue a career in comedy.[5] After establishing himself as sociopolitical comedian and community activist based in San Francisco, Bell became a founding member of the comedy collective "Laughter Against the Machine" and has been featured in a number of prominent podcasts and publications, such as WTF with Marc Maron, Citizen Radio, and Current TV's The War Room with Jennifer Granholm, on which Bell is a regular correspondent.

In 2010, Bell's stand up album Face Full of Flour was named one of the Top 10 Best Comedy Albums of the year by iTunes and Punchline Magazine.

In 2012, Bell was voted San Francisco's best comedian by the San Francisco Weekly, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and 7×7 Magazine.

In October 2013, Bell was named the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador on racial justice.[6]

That year, Bell also began to host a weekly television series on FX, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.[7] The show, which provided comedic commentary on social and political issues in addition to celebrity interviews, ran until November 2013 before being cancelled[7] at which point he moved back to California[8]

Bell currently co-hosts the podcast The Field Negro Guide to Arts & Culture with Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, writes the blog "Kamau's Komedy Korner" for the San Francisco Weekly, and sits on the board of The Applied Research Center.

Bell currently co-hosts the podcast "Denzel Washington Is The Greatest Actor Of All Time, Period" with comedian Kevin Avery.

Controversy

On January 26 2015,[2] Bell and his wife Melissa were allegedly involved in an incident of racial prejudice at the Elmwood Cafe on College Avenue,[2] a Berkeley, California restaurant.[2] A woman who worked at the cafe asked Bell, who is black, to leave when he was outside talking at a table with his wife, their baby daughter Juno, and three of his wife's female friends and their babies, who were all white.[9] The incident sparked a controversy in the media[2] and eventually was featured in an episode of the radio series This American Life entitled Birds & Bees.[9] Bell narrated his portion of the episode.[9]

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Tedder, Michael (2013-09-12). "W. Kamau Bell Is Trying To Become A Thing". Buzzfeed.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Taylor, Tracey (March 16, 2015). "At community forum in Berkeley, W. Kamau Bell and Elmwood Café launch ‘implicit bias’ training initiative". Berkeleyside.
  3. 1 2 Huston, Warner Todd (10 Mar 2015). "CNN Adds Reza Aslan, W. Kamau Bell to Cable Line Up". Breitbart.com.
  4. ↑ "W. Kamau Bell on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  5. ↑ Avni, Sheerly (August 6, 2012). "Local Comedian W. Kamau Bell Lands His Own FX Show". San Francisco.
  6. ↑ "ACLU Ambassadors - W. Kamau Bell". Aclu.olrg (American Civil Liberties Union). Retrieved 2015-01-05.
  7. 1 2 Braxton, Greg (November 13, 2013). "Chris Rock's 'Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell' canceled". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ↑ Sale, Anna. "W. Kamau Bell Wonders How Much Is Enough". Death, Sex & Money. wnyc.org. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 "557: Birds & Bees Transcript". This American Life. May 15, 2015.

External links

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