‘Daily Show’ co-creator brings Justice to Louisville

As a co-creator of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” Lizz Winstead’s politics changed the TV world. She tried to do it again in the radio world as co-founder of the short-lived Air America network.

Winstead recently co-founded the Lady Parts Justice League, which uses humor and information — both online and live in concert — to raise awareness about efforts to restrict safe and legal health care for women. She brings her stage show to Headliners on Thursday May 12.

A Minnesota native influenced early on by George Carlin, Winstead has learned how to target her appeal to a crowd during her three decades as a comedian, writer, producer and activist.

“We’re so psyched to come to Louisville, because I know from my travels — I have family from Mississippi — that there’s cool, progressive people fighting all these crummy laws,” Winstead tells Insider. “People in the North, we’re quick to write off these areas, but I’m, like, ‘Nooo! We have to support these people. They’re excellent, and they make excellent music and there’s bourbon!’”

The LPJL live show merges stand-up comedy and pre-taped videos, including ones targeting Gov. Matt Bevin and Sen. Mitch McConnell. Politics is an obsession for Winstead, and she delights in tailoring material based on local laws, lawmakers and customs, like our occasional cockfights.

“Every state now, there’s a Matt Bevin or a Michelle Bachmann or a Sarah Palin,” she says. “You give me a state, and I’ll give you their nutbag.”

The LPJL website features videos about every state and includes five “scary” facts about each. One thing they hope you know about Kentucky, for example, is: “If a woman is impregnated by rape, Kentucky allows the rapist to sue for custody and/or visitation.”

“It’s not the people of Kentucky” who are the problem, Winstead clarifies, “it’s the people who get elected because lazy people don’t vote in midterm elections almost all the time — and that is almost universally true.”

She doesn’t think this year’s national election will create a more cooperative environment.

“If a Democrat becomes president, I don’t see the rabid Congress being overtly warm … they’re just going to remain as obstructionist as ever,” says Winstead. “When you look at these discriminatory laws, any LGBTQ stuff or any reproductive rights-related stuff, all that stuff is coming out of the states … I’m hoping we can raise awareness to get people to the polls.”

The LPJL runs an event each fall called “V to Shining V,” where supporters nationwide are encouraged to get together and throw parties. Winstead says it’s a way to “have fun, remind people of what’s at stake, and to vote every single time.”

Winstead learned about choice as a 16-year-old, when her first sexual experience led to an unwanted pregnancy. She will tell anyone who asks that she is glad she was free to do what she thought was best, adding, “I don’t believe a pregnancy is a baby. I think we need to be talking about what terminating a pregnancy means, why it means what it means … if we lose the science battle, then we lose all the battles.”

The current biggest hope for Winstead, whose work has helped Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Rachel Maddow become mainstream voices, is that the next Supreme Court justices will be “a little bit more … umm, humane?” she says while laughing.

Her mission is to use comedy to inspire people to become more active in their communities — and to teach some “to trust women when they tell you what they need.”

“I will fight like hell for whoever the nominee is, on the side of whoever supports equality for women, reproductive health, people who are undocumented, people of color,” says Winstead. “People woke up surprised Matt Bevin won, but people aren’t voting in these crucial races. If we just put that much more oomph in, maybe we can find better outcomes.

“If you laugh, you still have hope,” she continues. “If you can’t laugh anymore, you’ve lost it, and I never want to be in that space.”

The Lady Parts Justice League appears live at 8 p.m. at Headliners on Thursday, May 12. Tickets are $25. Joining Winstead on stage are Helen Hong, Leah Bonnema and Joyelle Johnson.

photo by Michael Young.

c. 2016 Insider Louisville

Funny ways to cheat on your partners: Louisville Improvisors and friends team up for one-person shows

Louisville Improvisors Alec Volz, Brian Hinds and Chris Anger

Stand-up comedians are solitary animals because their parents didn’t show them enough love, say those who have studied funny people in their element, while sketch and improv performers come from happy families where their parents were maybe a little too supportive.

In improv, the comedy family that plays together stays together. So it’s surprising to hear that the latest production by the long-running Louisville Improvisors group is “Single Shots,” a two-evening festival of solo theater. The shows take place Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20-21, at The Bard’s Town, a home away from home for the troupe. Why solo, Improvisors?

“Actually, this is a total group effort,” clarifies Chris Anger, the artistic director and a co-founder of LI and the star of one of this weekend’s shows, the hour-long “Animal Farm.” This vehicle is the finale of his trilogy of autobiographical shows.

“Animal Farm” is directed by Alec Volz, another LI member and co-founder. Volz, who directed Anger’s earlier solo shows, will direct two other shows during this festival. Third member Brian Hinds stars in the 20-minute-long “Karen.” Even when they go solo, the LI can’t get away from each other.

“We’re very much about staying busy and creative,” Anger tells Insider. “We don’t ever want to get locked in or boxed into just doing one thing. One of the best ways to avoid that is to generate your own work, which is what we are all about.”

From this festival to other ventures, he says, including their podcast “What Happens Next” or live fake radio show “The Buddy Gilm Show” or “Late Night Shakes,” their improvised Shakespeare show, when they’re inspired, they apply improv’s golden rule of agreeing with what’s been presented and continuing down that path: “Once we find an idea we like, we ‘Yes, and’ the hell out of it,” says Anger.

“Chris, Alec and I have improvised hundreds of scenes together over the past four years,” says Hinds. “In that time, we have developed a hell of a trust and chemistry, which ideally comes out of longtime collaboration. These solo pieces are a great way to expand and enhance that collaboration. We won’t be on stage together, but Alec is directing us both, and Chris and I have sat in on the other’s rehearsals and offered feedback.”

Volz adds, “We’re still team players. It’s just that our roles have changed. We’re still all in the same rehearsal room … each of us has a lot of input into each piece.”

For the trio, one exciting aspect of this event involves bringing other partners into their intimate relationship. Comedian Raanan Hershberg revives his show “Crying Behind 3-D Glasses,” which explores his love of pop culture as an adult, while “Karen” is an original commission by playwright Tad Chitwood (directed by Volz) about a man reacting to a break-up. And just when you thought it was all about men, there’s “Agatha,” written and performed by Melinda Beck (and also directed by Volz).

“I love the chance to work on new scripts and to work with playwrights,” Volz adds. “Chris and Tad have both written amazing pieces for this festival. With Chris, it’s been the chance to see the culmination of what I’ve been calling ‘The Green Chimneys Plays.’ He is an extremely insightful writer and has a great eye for detail. And our wives think we’re really married to each other.”

“From working together for the last 16-plus years, Alec knows me really well,” says Anger. “He knows my voice and how I write, so he can tell me if I’m heading in the right direction. If I tried to bring someone else in, we certainly wouldn’t have the history and trust that Alec and I have built up over the years.”

When the trio devised their festival, they wanted to do different things without asking an audience to stick around for too many hours, so they’ve divided the mostly short shows up, with two performances at 8 and 10 p.m. each night. The Bard’s Town’s Doug Schutte liked their idea immediately and signed on as a co-presenter.

It’s clear that while our world may be filled with strife in many ways, there are a few folks in Louisville who have found a happy home together.

“It’s a great little intimate theater where everybody can tell their stories intimately,” says Volz. “It’s about as close as you can get to having Raanan, Chris, Melinda or Brian sitting in a booth with you telling you such an interesting, involving story that you forget to pick up the dog from daycare.”

“Single Shots” runs at 8 and 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20-21, at The Bard’s Town, 1801 Bardstown Road. Tickets are $15 for each time slot, or $25 for both. Click here to see a schedule and/or buy tickets.

c. 2015 Insider Louisville