Satire and Progressive Politics
From Jonathan Swift to the Daily Show, comedy and satire has long been used to shine a light on corruption, scandal, and the absurdities of politics. With the advent of the internet and YouTube, the use of satirical videos by comedians, videographers and every day citizens has never had more potential to impact the national dialogue. This panel of professional satirists will explore the use of comedy to advance a progressive agenda. Featuring Andy Cobb, Elon James White, Sara Benincasa and Lee Camp; moderated by Matthew Filipowicz.
Sara Benincasa has been called a lot of things. Some of the nicer ones are "utterly hilarious" (NYTimes.com), "freaking hilarious" (Newsweek.com) and "delightfully loopy" (ChicagoTribune.com). She's a Webby Award-winning comedian, blogger, and radio host who recently began spewing propaganda daily at Wonkette.com and Comedy Central's IndecisionForever.com. She's writing a book for William Morrow/HarperCollins about panic attacks, agoraphobia, and her many other liberal weaknesses. Check out SaraBenincasa.com for more info.
Most of the liberal community became familiar with comedian Lee Camp when he went live on Fox News and called them a "parade of propaganda and festival of ignorance." The clip went viral, garnering millions of views. Camp also writes humor and produces videos for the front page of the Huffington Post as well as contributing to The Onion newspaper. He’s also a prolific stand-up comic, having headlined over 500 colleges across the country and performing regularly with Laughing Liberally.
You might have seen Lee Camp on Comedy Central, PBS, SpikeTV, E! network, ABC’s “Good Morning America,” or Showtime’s “The Green Room.” He is also featured in the new bestselling book Satiristas! by Paul Provenza. George Carlin’s daughter Kelly recently had this to say: “Since my dad died, I’ve been concerned about who’s going to keep the torch alive, who’s going to keep it lit. And I saw Lee, and I was completely f*cking blown away by the balls he has. I thought ‘Hey, that’s like my dad.’ Three things about Lee really remind me of my father. One of which is that he’s a thinking person’s comic. Secondly, he may just piss you off a little. But the most important thing is that he’s really f*cking funny.”
Check out www.LeeCamp.net for more info, videos, and writing by Lee Camp.
Andy Cobb started writing, directing, and performing satirical video while performing with Second City in Chicago. His topical sketch videos have since been seen over 7 million times online, and shown recently on CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, NPR, Al Jazeera, Newsweek, Huffington Post, Nightline, and of course, Daily Kos. As a comic he's recently made studio appearances on CNN, MSNBC, The Young Turks, and FOX News. His satirical videos were recently called "genius" by Washington Post's Chris Cillizza, "brilliant" by Huffington Post, and "must-see TV" for beltway journalists by Politico.com. Andy has created or helped create satirical advocacy projects for Courage Camapaign, Healthcare For America Now, MoveOn.org, Brave New Films, SEIU-UHW, Current Television The Second City Network, and AAEI. He recently has written and performed with Second City for shows on the "Art Of Satire" with Economist Magazine, sketch shows at the Democratic National Convention, and a new Second City revue to be produced and developed in Laguna Beach, California. He teaches improv and writing at Second City Los Angeles, directs the satirical video groups Public Service Administration and The Partisans, and performs with Detroit comedy veteran all-stars The 313. As an actor he's worked for FOX, MTV, ABC, Current TV, and in many, many commercials, on-camera and voiceover. He's recently blogged on occasion with the fine folks at Crooks And Liars. www.AndyCobbOnline.com
Matthew Filipowicz is a comedian, cartoonist, and satirist whose work has been featured on CNN, NPR, PBS, HBO, BBC, Ain’t It Cool News, Salon, the online versions of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic and the London Times, as well as the Thom Hartman Show, the Young Turks, Ring Of Fire and great deal of sites in the liberal blogosphere including Crooks & Liars, DailyKos, Brave New Films, and many more. He has created cartoons for the Nation, VoteVets, the ACLU-SC, Mother Jones Magazine, Netroots Nation, MoveOn.org, the Center for Media and Democracy, and the National Conference for Media Reform. He is a regular correspondent and sometimes guest-host for Ring of Fire Radio, blogs at the Huffington Post, and is the chapter head of Chicago’s Drinking Liberally and Laughing Liberally chapters where he performs with his comedy group, the Accountants of Homeland Security. His work can be found at http://matthewf.net
Elon James White, Editor in Chief of ThisWeekinBlackness.com, is a Brooklyn-based comedian, writer and is the host of the award-winning web series This Week in Blackness, a satirical look at race, politics and pop-culture in a so-called “post-racial” America. White has been a featured commentator on Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC and on VH1's Black to the Future &The Great Debate. His commentary on race and politics has been featured on Salon.com, The Huffington Post, Alternet and The Root. Praised as "The perfect comedian for the Obama era, talking race while exploding racial stereotypes" by Dr. Harris-Lacewell of Princeton on Politco.com and as "Precise, thought provoking and hilarious" by Daily Show creator Lizz Winstead, White continues to win accolades from critics, academia and audiences alike. White was the recent recipient of four 2009 Black Weblog Awards, including Best Humor Blog, Best MicroBlog (Twitter), Best Video Blog and Blog of the Year. He has been featured in The NY Observer, NY Post, Gothamist, Newsweek and Gawker and has appeared on ComedyCentral.com and Sirius Satellite Radio. White’s festival appearances include the DC Comedy Festival, the NY Underground Festival, 2009 LA Comedy Festival, the 2010 NC Comedy Arts Fest, and 2010 SF Sketchfest, where he headlined with The Just-Us League of America.
As co-creator and former head writer of The Daily Show and Air America
Radio co-founder, LIZZ WINSTEAD is one of the top political satirists
in America. As a performer, LIZZ brought her political wit to The
Daily Show as a Correspondent and later to the radio waves co-hosting
Unfiltered, Air America Radio's mid morning show, where she brought on
board Hip Hop legend CHUCK D and political big brain RACHEL MADDOW.
LIZZ’S talents as a comedian and media visionary have been recognized
by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly's 100
most Creative People issue and has brought numerous television
appearances, including Comedy Central Presents and as a regular
contributor for MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” and "The Joy Behar Show."
Most recently, Lizz wrote and produced an independent pilot of her
Off-Broadway hit, “WAKE UP WORLD, a show Rachel Maddow called, “The
funniest thing I have seen in years.”
