W. Kamau Bell's Who's With Me? tour comes to Nazareth
Emmy and Peabody Award-winning host, filmmaker, and comedian W. Kamau Bell (CNN's "United Shades of America") has extended his nationwide comedy tour – Who's With Me? – through the end of the year with a stop in Rochester at Nazareth University Arts Center on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. The tour kicked off Feb. 13 at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. For tickets: Nazareth Arts Center Box Office – online or by phone: 585-389-2170.
Bell first gained recognition as a sociopolitical stand-up comedian who, according to Comedy Central, told the first joke about a man named Barack Obama back in 2005. In recent years, he's become known for navigating America’s most uncomfortable conversations. From meeting members of the KKK on the Emmy award-winning CNN docuseries, United Shades of America, to speaking with survivors of sexual assault in his Peabody Award-winning Showtime docuseries We Need To Talk About Cosby, and most recently, discussing racial identity with kids in his Emmy-winning HBO documentary 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed, Kamau consistently navigates challenging topics with empathy, insight, and humor.
"I thought I was done with stand-up after COVID," says Bell. “But with the world being what it is, I’ve realized I still have more to say – and the only place to do it is on stage.” Life has changed a lot since my last tour in 2017,” he adds. “My wife and I now have three daughters – a teenager with big dreams of being the next Alicia Keys, a tween I affectionately call 'Kamau Jr.,' and a first-grader who – after having no friends during lockdown – is … well, kinda feral. And it's not just the kids, my 87-year-old mom is also in the mix. So yeah, I'm definitely in the sandwich generation. As my kids might say, ‘The sandwich is sandwich-ing!’ They’re going to hate that I said that.”
Bell returns to the stand-up stage full of questions, thoughts, and a heavy dollop of silliness in these hectic times. He’s pretty sure the only way we make it through is if we face it together. So Kamau wants to know: Who’s With Me?
About W. Kamau Bell
W. Kamau Bell is an Emmy & Peabody Award-winning TV host, filmmaker, comedian, husband, and dad. He is on the road for his new comedy tour, Who’s With Me? He is the reigning champion of Celebrity Jeopardy!, where he won $1 million for DonorsChoose. He has also written a chapter in Michael Lewis’ newest New York Times bestselling book, Who Is Government? – The Untold Story of Public Service. Bell is also the host of the ACLU’s official podcast At Liberty. He writes weekly about current events on his bestselling Substack newsletter, also called Who’s With Me?
For seven seasons, he was the host and executive producer of the five-time Emmy award-winning CNN Original Series United Shades of America, available to stream on HBO. In 2023, he won an Emmy for his HBO documentary 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed. He also won a Peabody Award for his 2022 Showtime docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby. He is the co-author of The New York Times best-selling book Do the Work: An Antiracist Activity Book and the author of The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6' 4," African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-up Comedian. His comedy special, Private School Negro, is available on Netflix.
He is on the board of directors for DonorsChoose, a nonprofit that helps teachers raise money for class projects, and Live Free, a nonprofit dedicated to ending gun violence, mass incarceration, and mass criminalization. Kamau is also the ACLU’s celebrity ambassador for racial justice. In 2023, Kamau and his wife, Melissa Hudson Bell, co-founded Who Knows Best Productions, a media production company in Oakland, CA. He cares too much and sleeps too little.
Contact
Julie Long | Chief PR Officer | jlong2@naz.edu | (585) 389-2456 | (585) 781-8186 (cell)
Nazareth University is an inclusive community of inspired learners, educators, and changemakers who for 100 years have been driven by a bold commitment to action, empathy, equity, and leading innovation for the common good. Impact experiences are at the heart of a Nazareth education, preparing each student to discover within themselves the potential to cultivate positive change in their life's work, in any career field, and in a world that is constantly evolving and infinitely interconnected.
Our broad academic offerings present a range of study options typical of larger universities, yet achieved in our supportive campus culture. Nearly 2,100 undergrad and 600 graduate students enroll in degree and certificate programs and engage in collaborative, transformative learning experiences, preparing for the professions and society of today and tomorrow. In a learning community that purposefully integrates liberal arts and professional programs, Nazareth University graduates are able to launch a lifetime of impactful leadership in communities and workplaces near and far.
