Comedian W. Kamau Bell recommends getting a mixed-race baby. “Everybody is getting one, all the cool kids are doing it,” he says. (Easy for you to say, Bell—he already has an 18-month old mixed-race baby.)
Bell will be stopping at the Firebird December 11, on his nationwide tour to promote his show, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, which was just signed on to its second season on FX.
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Bell is a socio-political comedian from San Francisco. Not much escapes his comedic eye—sensitive topics such as race, politics and social taboos are a comedic playground for him.
“What foods do you eat when you’re angry about racism?” Bell jokingly asks St. Louis. “We’ll sit down with some pizza and some toasted ravioli and we’ll work out our racial differences.”
During this current tour, Bells says his topics will range from President Obama, to his personal life, to “a conversation about America vs. ‘Amurica.’”
Whatever the topic, one thing is sure—Bell will not go lightly.
“I feel like when you do the type of comedy that I do, if you’re not getting some hate speech, then you’re not doing a good job of it,” Bell says.
Bell says he grew up in a very socially aware and involved household.
“My mom felt like black history was like vitamin C,” Bell says. “You literally couldn’t have too much of it. If you had too much, you would just pee it out.”
For Bell, his comedy just comes from his life. He has no agenda to push, no advocacy—he’s just a man joking about what he finds funny.
“I think every comic just talks about the things they talk about, and I think if you start to think your things are somehow more important than other people’s things, you become a little bit less funny,” Bell says. “The goal is still laughter.”
Coincidentally, what Bell finds funny are some of the most important issues Americans face today.
He says it’s “mission accomplished” if his audience is still discussing his jokes after a show.
“We don’t even have to agree,” Bells says.” It’s just starting a discussion.”
But not everything that Bell finds funny has so much bite. He has his goofy side. He says he will be watching Sesame Street or Tom and Jerry with his daughter and find himself cracking up.
Opening for Bell on Tuesday is Janine Brito, who is also a writer on Bell’s FX show. Brito’s career in comedy started here in St. Louis, but she and Bell met in San Francisco and Bell took her under his wing as his “comedy daughter.”
“Except I’m a 6-foot-4 straight black dude, and she’s a probably a 5-foot-6 half-Cuban, all-lesbian,” Bell adds.
W. Kamau Bell’s performance at the Firebird is Tuesday December 12, Doors open at 8 p.m., show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 and available at firebirdstl.com.
