W. Kamau Bell starts spring lecture series

Alyssa Elso/Staff Writer

Biscayne Bay Campus welcomes famous stand up comedian to kick off the spring lecture series.

The first lecture series for the spring semester will host socio-political comedian, and former late night TV host, Walter Kamau Bell.

The Student Government Association will host Bell on Wed. Feb. 5  at 6 p.m. where he will perform his one-man show “The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About An Hour.”

Every semester, the lecture committee discusses possible guest speakers that students would enjoy.

“The committee let us know that Bell was available on certain days and we thought he would be someone interesting students would like,” said Rafael Zapata, associate director of student affairs.

Like “The Colbert Report” with Steven Colbert and “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart, Bell hosted his own late night television show on FXX titled “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.”

Until its cancellation in November, “Totally Biased” discussed topics in politics, pop culture, race, religion, sex and media.

“His [Bell] show is similar to “The Daily Show,” but a bit different,” said Zapata. “He has political commentary and skits and the show is very much satirical.”

After dropping out of the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a career in comedy, Bell became a member of the comedy collective “Laughter Against the Machine.”

In 2011, after raising funds through Kickstarter, the group traveled to different cities across america and put together a documentary based off their shows.

In 2007, Bell released his first stand up album, “One NIGht Only.” That same year he also developed his one-man show “The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About An Hour.”

Chris Rock became a fan of Bell’s after watching a performance of his one-man show and became the executive producer of “Totally Biased.”

A few years after releasing his first album, Bell released his second stand up album titled “Face Full of Flour,” which was named one of the Top 10 Best Comedy Albums of the year by iTunes.

In addition to Bell’s comedy shows and albums, he also co-hosts the podcast “The Field Negro Guide to Arts and Culture with Vernon Reid and W. Kamau Bell,” in which they discuss various topics: from award nominated films to Colombian coffee to Lance Armstrong and Miley Cyrus. He also writes his own blog “Kamau’s Komedy Korner” featured in the San Francisco Weekly.

At least two other guest speakers will be hosted in this semesters lecture series, but they have yet to be verified.

 

-bbc@fiusm.com