INTERVIEW: Comedian W. Kamau Bell Returns To Chicago

By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 4, 2012 7:00PM

Photo by Matthias Clamer Courtesy of FX

Comedian W. Kamau Bell is on his first major national standup tour called "The Kamau Mau Uprising," and he chatted with Chicagoist about activism, burritos and examining American culture through the lens of pie.

The Hyde Park native cut his comedic chops in San Francisco, and his weekly standup news show Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell was just renewed for a second season on FX. As the title suggests, Totally Biased and Bell's other work is largely socio-political, covering serious topics through a variety of comedic formats including standup, sketches and interviews.

"The Kamau Mau Uprising" with Bell and Janine Brito (also of Totally Biased) is at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave., on Friday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets on sale now.

Chicagoist: Let's start by discussing your upcoming standup appearance at Lincoln Hall. What is this tour all about?

W. Kamau Bell: It's entitled "The Kamau Mau Uprising." It's my first major standup tour. It's really just about what it is to be a black dude with a mixed race baby and a white wife living in the 21st century with a black president. My act is very socio-political, and I talk about the world and the stuff that puts us all together. The tour is really about, you know, I have been in San Francisco for over 15 years, so I have a different vision of America than lots of other parts of America, and I think Chicago shares that vision. It can be a little bit of everybody getting a little bit of what they want, so that's basically where my act is coming from and what I plan to talk about when I get back to Chicago. Also, I went to high school in Chicago, too. I'm coming to a high school reunion.

Chicagoist: Oh, great. Which one?

WKB: U of C Lab. I grew up in Hyde Park.

Chicagoist: Oh wow, I did not know that. So you're a standup, a TV host and an activist. Which one comes first?

WKB: Activist is probably number three because the people who actually are activists, that always comes first, so I don't want to piss those people off. I've been a TV host for only the last three months, so standup is definitely where all comes from. I wanted to be a comic before I wanted to be anything, so from doing standup comedy, I've been involved because my act is a lot about the world and a lot of activists find me to be funny. Basically, I am the campfire for the revolution. It all comes from standup. If the standup comedy doesn't work, then the rest of it will fall apart.

Chicagoist: Now Totally Biased is on FX, which is sort of known for taking a hands-off approach to content. How much leeway and creative control does the network give you?

WKB: They are known for that, and they are still known for that. We send them a show every week, and they maybe give us some notes. The notes aren't about content, it's about, "it seems like this could be working better" or "this seems like it could work." It's never — I can't see them ever saying, "Don't do that." I mean, there are certain things you can't do in television, but the SEC sets those things. I haven't had any issue with them at all. FX is great. I think of it as a collaborator on the show.

The President of John Landgraf is becoming a legend in the industry. He's like, "Just make a good show." We're like, "what do you want us to do?" and he's like, "Just make a good show. I believe in Kamau. I believe in Chris (Chris Rock, the Executive Producer). Just make a good show." You can't compare working at FX to working with anybody else in TV, as far as I know.

Chicagoist: It appears that the show has played around a little bit with format, since it has interviews, standup and sketches. Is there sort of a formula that you decided is working best?

WKB: I think we're stepping in the right direction with FX. They haven't pushed us to come up with a format. Right now we're sorta doing whatever the material demands. I mean, last night we had a puppet show. We're just doing whatever charges us up comedically.

Chicagoist: In one episode you joked that you have smartest audience in television when they applauded a Nate Silver joke. Do you think that's generally true of your audience?

WKB: You know, as soon as I said that, I thought to myself, "Jon Stewart might get mad." (laughs) I think probably what I should've said is, "I have the best audience for me." I'm glad to be able to be in a room and say Nate Silver and not have to explain who he is. Not that I shouldn't explain who he is for people at home watching, but it was just cool that everybody in the room clapped when they saw his face, and it's like you have to be kind of a geek to recognize Nate Silver's face. I felt like I've been in San Francisco for 15 years building up an audience, and I have a real shorthand with the audience in San Francisco. It's fun to feel like I'm coming up with that with an audience of people at Totally Biased

Chicaogist: Now your first season focused a lot on the election. Where is the second season going to go? Will it stay focusing on current politics, or will you venture more into cultural commentary?

WKB: We did focus on the election. That was a big story. I think we're gonna focus on what interests us. I mean, the great thing about the election being over is now we can focus on Barack being a bad president again. Because of the race, it was like, "Well I don't want Romney to be president," but now we can build it on things like, "Here's what Obama can do better."

We've had a lot of fun at Totally Biased dealing with social issues as small as sweet potato pie versus pumpkin pie (Eds. Note: Video below). The thing that we're not doing is we're not a parody of the news. I only want us to talk about things that we actually really have a stake in. Some of those things can be gay marriage or some of those things can be sweet potato pie versus pumpkin pie.

Chicagoist: So while you're in Chicago, what Chicago things are you going to do? Will you head back to Hyde Park?

WKB: I hope I have time to go back to Hyde Park. My best friend still lives in Oak Park, has a bookstore in Oak Park that I always go to, The Book Table. I'm sure I'm going to try and get to Eduardo's. I think that's the best deep dish in Chicago. I probably started a war just by saying that. We have some deep dish pizza in San Francisco, but I would like to get some old school Chicago pizza.

Chicagoist: When is the last time you came through Chicago?

WKB: I was actually there earlier this year with the Just For Laughs festival.

Chicagoist: So what else do we have to look forward to in this second season?

WKB: In the world? (laughs) I think that the great thing about getting this show and getting the extension of this show is I get a chance to get better at doing this show. I'm really looking forward to that. I think all of these late-night talk shows have humble beginnings, and when they stay around, they get better and better at it. I feel glad that if people dig the show now, I think that the more chances I get to do it, the more they'll dig it as we go forward.

As for "The Kamau Mau Uprising," you know I come from standup, I'm excited to return to standup and I've got a lot of things to talk about since I've been living in New York for a few months and doing Totally Biased, and I got heckled by Barbara Walters on The View, so a lot of things have happened to me. I'm excited to be back on stage, just me and a microphone and an audience of cool people.

Chicagoist: I did love that sweet potato pie piece. I've never had a sweet potato pie, and now I really want to.

WKB: Did you have a sweet potato pie?

Chicagoist: I ate like half of a pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, so I should go ahead and try it.

WKB: We had the official taste test and sweet potato pie won. I've had both, and I think what's funny about that piece is through the lens of pie — black people all know sweet potato and pumpkin pie, but it's clear how many white people didn't know there was such a thing as sweet potato pie. As much as we think the internet is there, and we have all this information in front of us, and you see TV, and you know everything. It's really interesting to find little cultural corners that still have gone unexplored. And that's why that piece is really interesting to me because it seems like on the surface that it's just about pie, but it's actually about sort of how culture is still divided up.

Chicagoist: Any other foods you think you'll be able to do that with?

WKB: Hmm... Well, coming from San Francisco, this doesn't affect my culture, but there's clearly a burrito war going on all over the country. When I go back to Chicago, I look forward to being able to get ground beef in a burrito because that doesn't exist in California.

Chicagoist: Really?

WKB: Yeah, it's funny in Chicago, you say beef, and you get ground beef. If you say beef in California, you get steak. See, we think we know everything about America, we think we know the world, but it's actually the little things that make a difference.

Chicagoist: You know when Nate Silver lived in Chicago, one of his earlier projects was a burrito bracket, but he got big and moved to New York before he finished it.

WKB: Yeah, you don't want to make a burrito bracket in New York because they do not know how to make burritos here. I don't know if they just don't come all the way here, I don't know it's just weird. I've been burrito-less for my time in New York. I look forward to ... this place is next to Kingston Mines. I can't remember the name of the place on the North Side that I will get my burrito from.

Chicagoist: Oh, I think I've been there, and I can't think of the name of it.

WKB: It's shitty to give them a plug and not know. Like, I don't know what your name is, but you make great burritos!

Chicagoist: I'll be sure to look that one up. (Eds. Note: It's Taco & Burrito Express at 2540 N. Halsted Alright, anything else you want to add before we finish up.

WKB: It's funny people don't realize it, but I lived in Chicago for a lot of years. I graduated from high school there, and every time I come back, it's like a little bit of coming home, and it's funny to not feel like I'm coming home because nobody remembers. I guess what I'm trying to say is if you remember me from Chicago, come out to the show and say hello, so I feel like I'm coming home.