February 6th, 8pm
$20
Just like skinny jeans, superhero movies, and celebrity weight loss, racism continues to make a comeback. In 2007, The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About An Hour opened big and came out swinging against big targets. Back in 2007, it was celebrity racism that was all the rage, but three short years later, amazingly, America has elected the first black president…of the Republican National Committee!!! Oh, and we also elected the first black president of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama. This MUST mean racism is over. Right? We’re officially in Post-Racial America… Right? Right? WRONG! Racism has redoubled — no, re-quadrupled — its efforts. Because now that a black man – or a half black/half white man if we want to split not so nappy hairs – is leading the free world, the stakes have gotten much higher, especially for the really racist racists. While the economy fails, racism is thriving. Whether it’s Rush Limbaugh’s & Glenn Beck’s daily treason, OR tea parties that look like casual Fridays at Ku Klux Klan rallies, OR the state of Texas deciding that the only good history book is a WHITES ONLY history book, OR the state of Arizona saying, “Good point, Texas! But how do you propose that we get rid of all these Mexicans?”, OR the continued broadcast of BET, OR Tyler Perry… being Tyler Perry, OR the one-two-three cinematic punch of The Blindside, Avatar, and Precious, racism hasn’t run this rampant since Martin Luther King, Jr. had that dream. Meanwhile the 2010 Census STILL wants to know how many “negroes” are out there. And all the while black people wonder, “Did we get a black president OR a president who is black?”
The Curve is a comedic exploration of the current state of America’s racism, combined with a little (unknown) history, a little Powerpoint, and a whole bunch of Kamau. And because racism is always attacking in new ways and from new angles, Kamau attacks back by constantly adding new material. The Curve is a seamless mix of stand-up comedy, video and audio clips, personal stories and solo theatrical performance.
