Laughter Against The Machine presents: The Writers of Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell

As the host and star of the FX show "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell," Kamau is one of the fastest rising stars in the political comedy world. Praised by Punchline Magazine as “one of our country’s most adept racial commentators with a blistering wit,” Kamau was recently named “Comedian of the Year” by SF Weekly and “Best Comedian” by the SF Bay Guardian. His new stand up album, Face Full of Flour, just made the 10 Best Comedy Albums of 2010 list at both iTunes and Punchline Magazine. Kamau’s critically acclaimed solo show, “The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour,” has long sold out runs in San Francisco and enjoyed an extended in New York as part of this year’s soloNova Festival at PS122. Kamau recently performed at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, where his set was filmed for HBO Canada, at the New York Comedy Festival, where he was a critic’s pick in Time Out NY, who gave it “FOUR STARS” and offered that, “Bell finds comic gold in the wide range of material he mines, offering provocative insights into an ugly reality.” The SF Weekly has called Kamau “smart, stylish, and very much in the mold of politically outspoken comedians like Dave Chappelle and Margaret Cho,” though he was more excited that they called him “handsome.”

Currently a writer for FX's "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell," Janine Brito started doing standup comedy in St. Louis and has performed at clubs and theaters throughout the US and Hong Kong. A rising star on the San Francisco scene, she is a regular at the Punch Line, winner of the 2009 SF Women's Comedy Competition, recipient of Rooftop Comedy's 2010 Silver Nail Award, and was just named the 2011 “Best Comedian with a Message” by the East Bay Express. Praised by 7x7 Magazine as "one of SF's more daring voices" and one of "the 7 funniest people in town," this fall she'll head out on the road with fellow bay area comics, W. Kamau Bell and Nato Green, for their grassroots Laughter Against the Machine comedy tour to America's most volatile political hotspots. A sarcastic, snarky smart bomb of comedy funk straight from the 80's, Janine has been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle and The SF Weekly called her “a mean lesbian.” But she’s pretty sure that they meant it in a good way.

San Francisco native, who was named The SF Weekly's Best Comedian of 2010 for putting on "legendary" shows that keep audiences "doubled over." He continues the tradition of hard-hitting brainy Jewish comedians like Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, and Joe Lieberman. Nato is the creator of Iron Comic, the Iron Chef-spoofing hit comedy game show that packed houses at SF Sketchfest four years in a row and the Bridgetown Comedy Festival 2010 and 2011. The East Bay Express reported that onstage Nato "has a knack for pushing boundaries," the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Nato "had the hordes howling." Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket said, "Righteous and hilarious, bracing and a hoot, Nato Green is like finding a shot of bourbon at your co-worker's stupid vegan potluck."

Queen of that slightly cynical but innocent humor, Aparna Nancherla has been winning audiences everywhere she goes. You may have caught her on “Last Comic Standing”, The Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Aspen Rooftop or WTF podcast. Writer and player on W. Kamau Bell’s “Totally Biased” Aparna is sure to be soaking up the laughs. Look out for her on SF Sketchfest’s comedy lineup this year.

Kevin Avery is a writer and comedian originally from San Francisco, CA, whose high-energy brand of stand up has brought him to the finals of the San Francisco International Comedy Competition and earned him a spot on Metropolitan Magazines list of Top 99 People to Watch. A regular opener for Dave Chappelle and David Alan Grier, Kevin has appeared at the Vancouver Comedy Festival, the 2009 Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, the 2009 LA Comedy Festival and the 2008 and 2010 SF Sketchfest. Kevin just wrapped up a series of headlining shows at the Punchline in San Francisco with fellow comic and co-conspirator W. Kamau Bell, which the SF Weekly called “as rare and magical as a sparkle-unicorn doing West Side Story choreography under a liquid light show.” Kevin is currently the head writer on "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell" on FX.

According to the Seattle Times, Hari Kondabolu is "a young man reaching for the hand-scalding torch of confrontational comics like Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor." Like his comedic heroes, he wants to speak truth to power with confrontational and personal material. Unlike them, he does not want to die of a morphine overdose or set himself on fire.In 2010, Hari appeared on John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central. He has also performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Comedy Central's Live at Gotham and was featured in the 2007 HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. Hari will be recording his Comedy Central Presents special this November.