The Cast

Comedians appearing in "Laughing Liberally: This Ain't No Tea Party"

LEE CAMP - Lee Camp is a contributor to The Onion newspaper and the front page of The Huffington Post. He has performed stand-up comedy at events featuring Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore. He was recently on Showtime's series "The Green Room with Paul Provenza" and he ran for president on Comedy Central's "Fresh Debate '08". He's done comedic commentary on PBS, E! network, SpikeTV, MTV, Al Jazeera English and ABC's "Good Morning America." He's featured in the new bestseller "Satiristas!" and provided a catharsis for millions of people when he went live on Fox News and called the network a "parade of propaganda and a festival of ignorance." Recently the Australia's Time Out Sydney had this to say - “This up-and-coming US star is already developing a reputation for fearless political comedy, with some calling him an heir to the crown of the late, great George Carlin. He gets our seal of approval.”

JIM DAVID - Jim David’s comedy has been seen on his special COMEDY CENTRAL PRESENTS JIM DAVID, ABC’s THE VIEW, HLN’s THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, Comedy Central’s TOUGH CROWD WITH COLIN QUINN, OUT ON THE EDGE, Bravo’s QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY and GREATEST THINGS ABOUT BEING..., BBC America’s THE WORLD STANDS UP and NBC's THE TONIGHT SHOW. Comedy CDs: EAT HERE AND GET GAS, LIVE FROM JIMVILLE, NOTORIOUS F.A.G.. He also performed on Comedy Central’s USO COMEDY TOUR, FRIARS CLUB ROAST OF ROB REINER, COMIC CABANA, NEW JOKE CITY, NBC COMEDY SHOWCASE, A&E's CAROLINE'S and EVENING AT THE IMPROV, MTV, VH1, SHOWTIME and USA LIVE. A headliner around the world, he is a three time winner of the MAC Award and the Backstage BISTRO Award for Outstanding NY Comedian. He has appeared at the Aspen HBO US Comedy Arts Festival, Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, Chicago Comedy Festival, and Manchester England Comedy Festival. His one-man comedy SOUTH PATHETIC was produced in 2010 to raves at the New York International Fringe Festival, and will be featured at the 2011 Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown, Mass. He is a regular contributor to Huffington Post, and is heard frequently on Sirius XM radio.

NEGIN FARSAD -Negin Farsad is an Iranian-American comedian, writer and actor based in New York City. She has also produced and directed feature films and television programming, most notably the documentary Nerdcore Rising, which follows around Damian Hess a.k.a. MC Frontalot, on his 2006 Nerdcore Risingnational tour. Farsad started Qualified Productions in 2005 when she decided to make Nerdcore Rising. Though Negin was raised in Palm Springs, California, her family is originally from Iran, a fact that is often featured in her comedic routines, in addition to political and sexual humor.
As a standup comedian Farsad has opened for the likes of Al Franken in venues ranging from the Laugh Factory in New York, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, and Town Hall on Broadway. Negin has provided original comedy content for Pacifica Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. As an active comedian she has earned a nomination for the Emerging Comics of New York Awards. Her solo show Bootleg Islam, which she wrote and performed, has appeared in the DC, Dallas, and Chicago Comedy Festivals among others. Her work has been called 'smart, funny, and fascinating' by the Wall Street Journal, a Critic's Choice by the Chicago Tribune, 'a shining exception,' by the Dallas Morning News and Backstage cheered that it 'doesn't get much funnier than this!' Her first ever musical, The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Romantic Comedy, recently premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival.

John Fugelsang- is a regular on Progressive Talk's 'The Stephanie Miller Show' & HLN's 'The Joy Behar Show;' & has been a contributor to CNN, NPR, PBS, FOX News, CNBC, Air America, Daily Kos, Huffington Post. He was one of the youngest regulars on 'Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher' where he debated everyone from Jerry Falwell to David Duke. Other credits include CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, BECKER, PROVIDENCE, 'Coyote Ugly,' hosting 'America's Funniest Home Videos' for ABC & working with 2 Beatles on ‘Paul McCartney’s Live Town Hall’ and’ George Harrison:The Last Performance’ for VH1. He's performed at Montreal's 'Just for Laughs' Festival and HBO's US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. The son of an ex-nun and an ex-Franciscan brother, his Off-Broadway solo show 'All The Wrong Reasons' was based on their story and nominated for the Drama League's 'Distinguished Performance' Award. He received the award for “Outstanding NYC Monologist” from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs at Lincoln Center. He's currently writing a book about Christianity & politics, just shot the indie feature 'Price Check' opposite Parker Posey, and recently performed for American Troops on their humanitarian mission to Haiti.

JULIE GOLDMAN - "A master of irreverent cultural criticism" Julie throws punches at everything from politics, to pop culture, herself, her Jewish family, and all that is false and hypocritical in our modern society. "Charmingly deviant" and touted as "the most original and captivating comic giggin' today", Julie has been featured on FUSE TV, VH-1, QTV, AMC, BRAVO, and HBO's THE SOPRANOS. Julie's likeable, vulnerable persona combined with her explosive comic rage will leave you laughing, perplexed, and ultimately hopeful. (www.julie-goldman.com)

KATIE HALPER- Is an Artistic Director and Comedy Curator at The Tank, a space for emerging artists, where Laughing Liberally was initially developed. She performs her own monthly show, Red Diaper Baby Presents, and performs throughout the city (Stand Up New York, Mo Pitkins, Galapagos). Her award-winning documentary, La memoria es vaga, about historical memory in Spain, premiered at the Amnesty International Firefly Festival and has been screened at the Havana Film Festival and throughout Spain. Katie is currently developing a one-woman show, Mi Vida Meshugga(http://katiehalps.blogspot.com)

JAMIE JACKSON - Jamie is thrilled to be back with Laughing Liberally. He trained and worked as an actor in Australia for many years before moving to New York
to study writing at NYU. There he met his wife and collaborator, SoHee Youn, with whom he has written several theatre works. Favorite theatre roles include: The 39 Steps (off-Broadway), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (National Tour), Babes in Toyland
(Lincoln Center),Great Expectations (Goodspeed), Annie (Fulton Theatre), Treasure Island (Beef and Boards), TV: HBO’s The Flight of the Conchords,
Comedy Central’s Onion Sports Dome, New Adventures of Flipper. Film: The Girl Who Came Late, Portrait of a Whig, Chicken Punch. Love and thanks to SoHee, family and About Artists. www.jamiejackson.com

DEAN OBEIDALLAH - Born in the Great State of New Jersey, Dean's comedy comes in large part from his unique background of being the son of a Palestinian father and a Sicilian mother. Dean, an award winning comedian who was at one time a practicing attorney, has appeared on “The Axis of Evil” Comedy TV special which aired in the US on Comedy Central and in the Middle East on Showtime Arabia. He is the co-creator of Comedy Central.com’s critically acclaimed Internet series “The Watch List” featuring a cast of all Middle Eastern-American comedians. Dean has appeared twice on ABC’s “The View,” and was one of five comedians profiled in the one hour TV Special entitled: “Stand Up: Muslim-American Comics Comeof Age” which aired in the US on PBS and internationally on BBC World and Al Jazeera. Dean has appeared on numerous international and national television and radio programs including CNN's "American Morning" and “The Joy Behar Show,” “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen,” ABC’s “Nightline,” PBS’ “Newshour with Jim Lehrer,” HD’s “Dan Rather Reports,” Fox News” “Geraldo at Large,” Al Jazeera’s “Min Washington,” MBC’s morning show, “Democracy Now with Amy Goodman,” Alhurra TV, NPR’s “All Things Considered,” BBC World Radio, Japan’s NHK TV, and CNN International's "Inside the Middle East." In addition, he has been featured in various publications including Time magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times. Dean writes frequently for The Huffington Post and CNN.com.

BARATUNDE THURSTON -Baratunde Thurston is a comedian, author and vigilante pundit who successfully combines technology, politics and comedy. He co-founded the black political blog, Jack & Jill Politics in the summer of 2006. hosted Popular Science's Future Of on Science Channel and works as the Director of Digital at The Onion. Baratunde has contributed to Vanity Fair, The UK Independent and WNYC, and with over 55,000 followers he tweets very, very hard. Mr. Thurston, which he goes by in his bio, has often used satire as an expression of his activism and technology as a medium for that expression. He has self-published three books, including Keep Jerry Falwell Away From My Oreo Cookies and is currently writing some sort of book about black people which will be published at some point in time after the present moment.
Baratunde was nominated for the Bill Hicks Award for Thought Provoking Comedy, declared a Champion of the First Amendment by Iowa State University, and called “someone I need to know” by Barack Obama. His stage presence has earned him speaking duties at the National Conference for Media Reform, Netroots Nation, South by Southwest Interactive & Film and Web 2.0 Expo. He has been featured various media outlets including ABC, NPR, BBC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, C-SPAN and Comedy Central.

ELON JAMES WHITE- is a Brooklyn-based comedian, writer and host of the award-winning web series This Week in Blackness, a satirical look at race, politics and pop-culture in a so-called “post-racial” America. White has been a featured commentator on MSNBC, VH1's “Black to the Future” & “The Great Debate.”His commentary on race and politics has been featured on CNN.com and The Huffington Post. Praised as "The perfect comedian for the Obama era, talking race while exploding racial stereotypes" by Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry on Politco.com & as "Precise, thought provoking and hilarious" by Daily Show creator Lizz Winstead.
White was the recipient of four 2009 Black Weblog Awards, including Best Humor Blog, Best MicroBlog (Twitter), Best Video Blog and Blog of the Year. He has been featured in The NY Observer, NY Post, Gothamist, Newsweek and Gawker and has appeared on ComedyCentral.com and Sirius Satellite Radio. White’s festival appearances include the 2010 SF Sketchfest, 2010 Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, 2010 NC Comedy Arts Fest, 2009 LA Comedy Festival and more. He is currently on a Post-Racial College Tour and a featured contributer on Salon & Newsone.