(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Stand-up comedian Hari Kondabolu brings his incisive, sociopolitical commentary to Club B-10 at MASS MoCA on Saturday, December 13, at 8pm. The son of Indian immigrants, Kondabolu grew up in Queens, N.Y., with a first-hand look at what it means to feel like an outsider in contemporary America, an experience that fuels his work and has made him a regular on late-night TV (Letterman, Conan, Kimmel, Comedy Central) and at festivals from South by Southwest to Bumbershoot to Sasquatch.
“Smart, analytical and rising” is how Time Out NY describes Brooklyn-based, Queens-raised Kondabolu, who earned a Master’s Degree in Human Rights from the London School of Economics. Known for his uber-intellectual stand-up that takes on race, class, gender, and culture, Kondabolu’s background in activism combined with an instinctive talent for making people laugh has made him a rising star in comedy in these essentially political times.
Kondabolu employs traditional stand-up style as a platform for incisive and illuminating observations about the society we live in, earning him a reputation as a “brainy comedian who cuts through the polite talk” (NPR). In 2014, he released his debut comedy album, “Waiting for 2042,” the title of which satirizes the extensive media coverage that followed the Census Bureau’s prediction that white people will become a statistical minority in the United States in the year 2042.
Kondabolu has done stand-up on Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with David Letterman, and John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show. He has a half-hour Comedy Central Presents special, and is featured regularly on public radio programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Studio 360, and Fresh Air with Terry Gross. After a stint as a writer and correspondent on W. Kamau Bell’s FX show Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, Bell described Kondabolu as “the comedy equivalent of a punk rock concert that breaks out at a human rights rally.”
Dinner and snacks are available from Lickety Split before and during the show. A full bar serves Berkshire Brewing Company beers and Berkshire Mountain Distillery spirits. Tickets are $10 for students, $12 in advance, $18 day of, and $22 preferred. Tickets for all events are available through the MASS MoCA box office located on Marshall Street in North Adams, open 11am – 5pm Wednesdays through Mondays; closed Tuesdays through spring 2015. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during box office hours or purchased online at MASS MoCA. All events are held rain or shine.