Laughter Against The Machinists (LATM), a tour documentary armed with political comedy, will travel all around America’s hot spots and polarized places with jokes to bring humor to those who need it most.
The LATM trio—“a Black” (W. Kamau Bell), “a Jew” (Nato Green) and “a Cuban Lesbian” (Janine Brito)—pushes the envelope with their material in order to test their audience’s tolerance.
“We’re like Michael Jordan in the 90s, you can’t stop us,” said Bell.
“Comedy has a role to play in our lives,” said Green. “A new movement is born when you make your own jokes.”
LATM is performing and taking time talking to people on the streets.
“It’s not just about us on stage making our jokes, but about us meeting the people on the front lines fighting to save freedom and democracy and hope for America,” said Green. “We want to provoke a discussion.”
A San Francisco native and former union organizer for 12 years, Green is a liberal Jewish stand-up comedian and was voted best comedian by San Francisco Weekly in 2010. He performs regularly with other acclaimed political comedians.
As a kid, Green always talked about things that were considered taboo. Having role models like George Carlin and Will Durst, he is very direct.
“When I tell jokes, I’m not kidding,” said Green.
Bell is a fast-rising, socio-political comic in the United States and is best known for his critically acclaimed solo show, “The W. Kamau Bell Curve – Ending Racism in About an Hour.”
Voted San Francisco’s best comedian by three different publications over the years, his new stand-up album, Face Full of Flour, was named one of the ten best comedy albums of 2010 list on iTunes and Punchline Magazine.
In 2009, Bell performed at CSU East Bay and will start a European tour this August.
Though he was quiet and shy as a kid, he loved making his close friends laugh. Bell has been in the Bay Area since 1997 and credits Bill Cosby and Malcolm X as role models.
In 2004, Bell centered his jokes more around race and politics than ever before.
“I can’t expect everyone to like what I’m doing,” said Bell, “but I’d like to create a relaxing campfire environment where there’s understanding and we dialogue about what we fight for.”
“People are more willing to share your view with comedy,” said Brito, winner of the 2009 San Francisco Women’s Comedy Competition and recipient of Rooftop Comedy’s 2010 Silver Nail Award.
Brito started doing standup comedy in St. Louis, performing at clubs and theaters throughout the U.S. and Hong Kong before settling in the Bay Area.
“It’s a great place for comics to grow and develop as artists, it is the place to take risks – the Bay Area is queer friendly,” she said.
“For me it’s who I am, Latina and lesbian, it’s my identity,” said Brito, who does not refer to herself as a political comedian. “We (LATM) are a group of comics who actually care about what we are talking about.”
In addition to LATM’s tour, filmmakers Mike Paunovich and Evan Donn, M.A., join forces with the trio to make a documentary out of the upcoming tour.
“I’m involved because the show empowers people to re-think social constructs and challenges you to look deeper,” said Paunovich. “America could use a little self-reflection in the midst of all the craziness.”
The LATM tour starts in September.
