Comedy, Video and Advocacy
Starts: Saturday, Jun. 22 6:00 PM (Eastern)
Ends: Saturday, Jun. 22 7:15 PM (Eastern)
The other side will always have the money and guns. But we will always have the jokes — and the right joke at the right time can have a bigger impact than 1000 beautifully-argued op-eds. As Monty Python’s Michael Palin says, laughing at the 1% is a “brilliant form of subversion,” and “modern revolutionaries” should understand it throws fear in their hearts and undermines their authority like nothing else. This panel will look at the success progressives have had in the past from Egypt to George W. Bush to Occupy Wall Street by mocking every genre of authoritarian — and how we can have much more success via the power of jokes in the future.
Moderator
Andy Cobb
Andy Cobb’s satire has recently been seen on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, FOX News, NPR, Newsweek, Huffington Post, Nightline, Moveon.org, Current TV, Al Jazeera, and over 25 million times online. He’s written sketches for Comedy Central’s “Key & Peele,” and makes videos called “genius” by Andrew Sullivan and Chris Cillizza, “brilliant” by Huffington Post, and “intrinsically awesome” by Rachel Maddow. Andy has written, performed and directed satirical advocacy projects for Brave New Films, SEIU, AAEI, Courage Campaign, and Healthcare For America Now. He started as an ensemble member at Chicago’s Second City, where he recently developed shows on the “Art Of Satire” with Economist Magazine, and made video as Political Director for Second City Online. He directs the satirical video groups Heavy Crude Video, The Partisans, and Public Service Administration, and performs live with The 313. He sometimes blogs with the fine folks at Crooks and Liars.
Other sessions: Can Online Video Still Change The Debate? Facebook, Social Graphics and Political Video
Panelists
Alison Dagnes
Dr. Alison Dagnes is Professor of Political Science at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. She is the author of “Politics on Demand: The Effects of 24-Hour News on American Politics” (2010) and she frequently speaks on the topic of the modern media. She has also edited two books on political scandal, and her current research examines ideology and political satire. Her book “A Conservative Walks Into a Bar: The Politics of Political Humor” was published in 2012. Prior to receiving her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Dr. Dagnes was a producer for C-SPAN in Washington, DC which was not as boring as it sounds.
Will Durst
sworn enemy to all tyrants, foreign and domestic.
stand- up comic. author. columnist. commentator. margarine smuggler.
cheeseburger acolyte. big fan of 1st amendment.
Justin Krebs
Justin Krebs is political writer, organizer and entrepreneur. He is a campaign director at MoveOn.org, with a focus on economic issues. He is a founder of Living Liberally, the network of progressive social communities across the country and around the world, including Drinking Liberally happy hours, Laughing Liberally comedy shows and Screening Liberally films. He is also the author of “538 Ways to Live, Work and Play Like a Liberal” and an upcoming book with the New Press. This is his 10th Netroots Nation.
Other sessions: Filmmaker Caucus
Elon James White
Elon James White is a Brooklyn-based comedian, writer and creator 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 and the award winning podcast Blacking it Up! White has been a featured commentator on MSNBC’s The Melissa Harris Perry Show, VH1’s “Black to the Future”, “The Great Debate” and HLN’s “The Joy Behar Show.” His commentary on race and politics has been featured on CNN.com, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Giant Magazine, Salon, Alternet & The Root. 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 continues to win accolades from critics, academia and audiences alike