The Coexist? Comedy Tour

Atheist Church July 4th, 2009 One Nation Under God

2009-07-04T13:49:00.001-07:00

Coexist Comedy at SF Comedy College

2009-07-03T12:32:00.001-07:00

Our Jew Rules!

2009-06-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

Oh man, Moshe Kasher got Best of the Fest at The RoofTop Aspen Comedy festival.
We TOLD you we were bringin' you the best comics around!

Coexist? Comedy Tour Youtube Contest

2009-05-17T11:51:00.001-07:00

Hi! Want to win $100, get 4 VIP tickets to see The Coexist? Comedy Tour and earn the LOVE and ADORATION of all? Of course you do. So, enter the Coexist? Comedy Tour Video Contest.
You can down load audio directly from the youtube clip, if you know how to do that, or get it here in .wav and mp3 formats:
http://www.coexistcomedy.com/cct_contest_audio.wav
http://www.coexistcomedy.com/cct_contest_audio.mp3

Then you can find lots of pictures of us. Start with the ones here: www.CoexistComedy.com/press
You'll see our big logo and beneath it our headshots. Click the images for larger versions.
And, if you need more google Coexist Comedy and/or our individual names in google images. You'll get LOTS of stuff. Heck you can find lots of video of us online too.

Or, get out the crayons, or spray paint or colored pencils and puppets!

Have your video up by May 22nd. Every entry (that isn't super lazy, or insulting, etc.) wins one free ticket to The Coexist? Comedy Tour.

Here is the script if you want to redo the audio yourself:
The Coexist Comedy Tour story starts with Tapan Trivedi, an Indian.. No, the kind from India.
Just think of that kid from Slum Dog Millionare only Tapan had a home, and parents, but he grew up around real live monkeys and that is way cool.
So he leaves India to study business or technology or something boring like that and he chooses to do so in America because he loves Bruce Springsteen, no really.
Once here he discovers Stand Up Comedy, much more fun than studying. Actually he discovers blonds and red heads, much much more fun than studying, but he discovers that the best way to meet said blonds and redheads is stand up comedy.
As a Hindu Tapan has many, many Gods and he is surprised to meet his spiritual opposite. Atheist comedian Keith Lowell Jensen. Keith has no gods, not one.
The two immediately hit it off as they LOVE making fun of each other's religion and lack there of. In fact it's too much fun to keep to themselve's so they bring in
A JEW, A Christian, A Muslim and a Buddhist and The Coexist Comedy Tour is Born heading out across this great land, by van, no airline on earth is going to let this bunch past security.
In your town soon.
Come out for a night of Sacred Cow Tipping!
www.CoexistComedy.com"

We're Back

2009-05-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

Yeah, We're back on the road. with shows booked from LA to Seattle.

You'll see some new faces and there are more new faces to come so if you've seen us before, come see us again. New jokes, some new comics and you'll have forgotten some of the old jokes anyway ya drunken louse.

Very excited about 2009. I'm going to pick up one them cool digital cameras and do a better job of documenting our adventures on the road.

Oh, and dig the new artwork. Thanks to the amazing Tom Working for that. Visit him here: www.fal.net/tomworking/ and give him work. He likes work. He'll give you a good deal on a tattoo.

See you all soon...

Religious discussion is good for the brain

2009-03-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

Come to the Coexist Comedy show! It's good for the brain! Check it:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090309/sc_livescience/scientistsseegodonthebrain

OMG

2009-02-03T22:37:00.000-08:00

OMG I just ran into the Gene Simmons atheist guy AGAIN. AGAIN!!! This time in Union Square. And once again, I couldn't remember his real name.

So, I know some people/religions believe in the powers of the universe, in destiny, in the hand of fate, and all that other mystical cosmic stuff. I have now run into Gene Simmons atheist guy on the street twice in the span of a few weeks. Is the universe trying to tell me something? What do atheists think about these types of coincidences? Keith?

Gaza protest

2009-01-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

I went to the Gaza protest in San Francisco yesterday, and guess who I saw? The Gene Simmons atheist guy! I was like, wait, it's him, it's the Gene Simmons atheist guy. I wanted to get his attention but I realized I didn't know his real name. So I yelled out, "Hey, Gene Simmons atheist guy!" And it turns out he doesn't respond to that name. Who knew?

Things I learned yesterday:

1. Israel is a brutal terrorist state.
2. Learn people's real names.

Under God....

2009-01-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

So there is a lawsuit filed by none other than Michael Newdow to remove the 'Under God' to remove the phrase "so help me God" from the oath because the Constitution does not require its statement and the phrase possibly violates the Establishment Clause.

Now the populi en-masse has the cringed reaction to this. Should Mr.Obama be ostracized by pulling the phrase and offend most of the country ? Or should he dedicate his time and talent trying to save the value of our money that the God we trust in hasn't been able to save ? I would rather have him do the later. We can save the lawsuit for the second term. Let the guy do what we elected him for.

The gut reaction that many God fearing people have is that if we remove Under God then what should we replace it with ? Canada ? One nation under Canada ? Sounds OK by me.

Or alternatively the atheists should insist that we take not just the pronoun God but the actual name of God as given in the Bible (lets give the Christians this one since Christianity is the most popular religion in the U.S. of A.). What is the name of God you say ? Its Jealous. The Bible is the actual word of God and if God says ,like he does in

Exodus 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God .

Note that the Hebrew translation, for once, is accurate. Look up the words 'shem' and 'qanna' for more information.

I think I just made you go GODDANGIT. Or rather JealousDangit !

Would You Rather Be Hilariously Funny or Drop-Dead Gorgeous?

2009-01-08T21:55:00.000-08:00

So I was reading my Glamour magazine -- as I'm sure all you guys do every month -- when I came across an article with the following title: Would You Rather Be Hilariously Funny or Drop-Dead Gorgeous?

http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2009/01/would-you-rather-be-hilariousl.html

My first impulse was, DUH, are they really asking this? Isn't the answer obvious? My answer -- with apologies to feminists and fellow stand-up comics everywhere -- is DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS of course.

There, I said it. Ahem.

Does this make me a traitor to my profession? To my gender? To my Brown degree? Who knows. Who cares. The simple (sad?) truth is, I'd take gorgeous over funny any day.

I figured other women would feel exactly and I mean EXACTLY the same way. So I started reading the comments below the article and, shockingly, most everyone picked haha's over looks. What?!

As a professional stand-up comic -- and I'll go out on a limb here and say as someone who's more "hilariously funny" than "drop-dead gorgeous" -- let me tell you that being funny ain't all that. But looks? Damn. That's your meal ticket right there.

Okay I'm off to read some Naomi Wolf....

Coexist? Comedy Tour on Romanian Website

2008-12-27T10:46:00.000-08:00

Click Here to visit Punchline.ro and see the Romanian comedy website's interview with The Coexist? Comedy Tour.
Of course, it helps if you read Romanian. I don't. Translators?
:)

San Francisco Atheists show us a great time, again

2008-12-24T09:14:00.000-08:00

Those SF Atheists are a fun and rowdy bunch. We were honored to be their guests again this year at their Winter Solstice party.
Our friend and SF Atheist in good standing, Lenny took lots of pictures and we will share some here soon. Right now I am CRAZY busy with Christmas goings on. Yes, I am one Christmas loving atheist and I hope you all have a merry one.

Los Angeles is AWESOME !

2008-12-19T12:18:00.000-08:00

First off here is the article from the L.A. Times. Thanks to Alicia Lozano of LA Times for taking the time to talk about what we are doing.

http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-et-guideevent18-2008dec18,0,6919350.story
Now for the show itself.
We were almost hindered by an act of God from being there - Atheist

We made it there despite a HUGE act of God from being there - Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist.

It snowed over the grapevine and it was impossible to get to Los Angeles the normal route. So all the members except the New Jew had to drive for about 12 hours leading to the second car with the Hindu, Muslim and the Buddhist reaching the Hollywood Improv about 4 minutes before showtime . AND WE GAVE AN AWESOME SHOW !

There were people there who really enjoyed the show and let us know about it. There were students from UC San Diego and UCLA who want us to do their school - which is AWESOME ! Hit us soon school students before you graduate or we get so busy that you can't get us anymore .

Thanks LA for such a great time !

The Jewish Journal

2008-12-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

The Jewish Journal had nice things to say about us on our first trip to LA to play the Westside Eclectic. They come through again with this great write up, sharing the page with the sexy picture to your left. That is NOT Moshe Kasher, sorry. She just stole his look.

"Last year, bagelicious Chad Lehrman represented the Tribe in the Coexist? Comedy Tour, which pits the world's major religions (in the form of stand-up comedians) up against one another in a battle of sarcasm, self-ridicule, bigotry-bashing and warm-and-fuzzy tolerance. This year, the ensemble added another faith, Buddhism, to the lineup, but was "between Jews" throughout the fall tour, until Moshe Kasher came to the rescue to represent the people most desperate for peaceful coexistence. The just-added comedian will have to make up for lost time on the stage, but from what we've seen on his myspace page, the dance-happy Heeb will do well in representing us. Thu. 8 p.m. $14. Hollywood Improv, 8162 Melrose Ave., Hollywood. (323) 651-2583. http://www.coexistcomedy.com."

Sacramento Was Awesome!

2008-12-13T09:37:00.001-08:00

What an amazing show. Thanks to everyone who came out. We had a nice packed house full of loud, enthusiastic, I think I can even say ROARING, yes, they were roaring, people.
What a perfect homecoming.
Looking forward to LA and SF next week and then looking forward to a bit of a break. :)

Moshe Kasher joins us in Hollywood

2008-12-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

As you may know we are between Jews at the moment, mostly because we get a kick out of saying "Where you gonna find a Jew in stand up comedy?"

Of course we have had some wonderful Jewish comedians perform with us. Chad Lehrman was there for our first season. Brian Malow did an amazing set with us in Stockton. And now...

We're very happy to have Moshe Kasher as our very special guest Jew for the evening when we play The Hollywood Improv on December 18th. Moshe has long been a favorite of mine and you're going to love him.

Coexist? Comedy on NPR

2008-12-08T21:02:00.001-08:00

It was a busy day. I was tired as I had a show in Santa Cruz last night and didn't get into my bed until 2am only to be up 4 hours later. I hope I didn't look tired though, as I eventually made my way over to the Channel 10 studios for an appearance along side Tissa on Sacramento and Company, a morning show.

The guest before us was Adam Shepard, a young author who wanted to see what he could do starting with nothing but a sleeping bag, the clothes on his back and $25. He seemed like a pretty cool kid and the book sounded interesting.

Tissa and I went on and did a brief appearance with clips from our show included.

That afternoon I met up with John and Tapan to appear on Insight with Jeffrey Calison, a show on our local NPR station, KXJZ. I laughed when I saw the guest who would go on before us, book author Adam Shepard. Again he discussed his book, Scratch Beginings and while he and I differ politicaly in many way, me being a lunatic fringe liberal and all, he really impressed me. Here was a kid who took all the theorizing and intellectualizing and went out to really experience a life different from his own. Good job Adam. I bought his book and went to his reading tonight.

So, our PR is coming along nicely and I hope we cross paths with Adam again in our travels.

You can listen to Adam, The Coexist? Comedy Tour and more on Insight here:
http://www.capradio.org/programs/insight/default.aspx?showid=5572&programid=10\

Coexist? Comedy Tour TV Commercial

2008-12-05T08:40:00.001-08:00

Now airing throughout the Sacramento Area on Comcast Cable.

Little slave of hot chick wins yet another contest

2008-12-04T14:18:00.000-08:00

Our little buddy Sammy Obeid has won yet another Bay Area comedy contest! Last night, our favorite Buddhist won 1st place at the San Jose Improv Comedy Contest. I believe this is about the ninety billionth contest that Sammy has won in the past two years. Yay, Sammy!

Mumbai

2008-12-03T09:02:00.000-08:00

The Hindu writes finally.

The world watched with interest for 60 hours as major TV networks broadcast the terror that unfolded in Mumbai as 10 Pakistani trained terrorists unleashed a hail of terror on Mumbai - which is not just the financial capital of India but the quintessential crockpot that defines a major metro in India. The writer's mom grew up in Mumbai (then Bombay) and his sister and two aunts still live there.

There are several things that come out of the incidents .

1) The Taj and the Oberoi hotels . The terrorists came prepared and asked the residents of their passports and whether or not they were from the U.S. or Britain .
It took a siege and the best trained Indian commandos about 60 hours to finally finish them.

2) The Nariman House and the Jewish Meditation center where they mercilessly killed about 5 people - mostly because they were Jewish. Once again the commandos had to intervene to take hold of the situation.

3) The Chatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus - where they killed about 83 innocent civilians. The most interesting part about this situation is that this is where one of the terrorist was captured alive and the MOB captured him. Civilians. Not the police, not the commandos , not uniformed authorities of any kind - just a mob of angry mofos who just couldn't take it anymore.

That is quintessential India. When the authorities fail us - as they consistently have - we take charge and make it better. And I say what I have said many many times before 'Salaam India !'.

Submerge Magazine

2008-11-25T21:07:00.000-08:00

Submerge Magazine did a great feature on us. Click here to read the full article on their website.

Oh dear

2008-11-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

I made the mistake of sitting next to a Mormon missionary on the bus tonight. In my defense, he didn't look like a traditional Mormon missionary. He was African-American, though he was an attractive young guy in a suit, and they're always Mormon missionaries. Especially when they have nametags that reads, "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," but somehow I saw that too late.

He asked me if I'd had a long day. I said no. He asked me if I'd had a good day. I said yes. He asked why it was good. I said why not. He asked my name but instead I just looked at his nametag and asked if he was a Mormon missionary. He said yes.

He asked if I'd talked to other Mormon missionaries in the past. I said oh yes, on the subway, on the bus, on the street. He said, maybe God is trying to tell you something. He offered me a card with a link to a free DVD about his church, but I declined. I told him my friend Julie is a Mormon, so I already know some stuff about his church. (I didn't mention that Julie is an ex-Mormon. Damn I lied to a Mormon. Does that mean I'm going to heck? Maybe I should have taken his card after all.)

Anyways, I told him I was a stand-up comic, then I wrote down Bengt Washburn's name for him and told him to look him up.

Incidentally, why is it the Mormons send out such cute, young boys to convert you? They are clearly preying on the vulnerabilities of desperate middle-aged women like me. So unfair.

Some pics from Seattle and Oregon

2008-11-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

Here I am posing with one of the other guests at the Portland Hawthorn Hostel. I'm asking for fashion advice.
The Hostel was really cool but unfortunately they only had three beds open so I stayed at my friends Bob and Irina's place. Thanks guys.

Here Sammy and Tissa provide an answer to anyone who wants to know what love looks like.
This is actually at The Bagdad Theater where we played in Portland. There is a restaurant attached with lightbulbs that threaten to burn Tissa's arm as she eats.

Here we have our happy Hindu Tapan hanging out with comics Andy Peters and Billy Wayne Davis. What they're so happy about is that they succeeded in getting our sweet, innocent Christian drunk.

This of course is said Christian, quite drunk. John is a funny drunk.
When I look at pictures like this though, it really surprises me that I'M the one who listens to The Smiths.

Click here to see more, including some rather revealing (read- indecent) pics of Buddhist Sammy Obeid.
It worries me that he and John were taking cheese cake pictures at my cousin's house in Seattle while her lovely children were just one floor up (they kept us in the basement.)

Seattle and Portland were AWESOME

2008-11-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

Amazing shows and an incredible response. We'll definitely be back soon. I'm still in Portland and quite exhausted so this is just a quick note but we got tons of pics and will post more soon.

President Obama

2008-11-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

Our shows this week just got a whole lot more fun. Come out, come out and celebrate Coexisting with extra enthusiasm as the voters of the USA proved that you DON'T have to be a white guy born into money to be president.
This is a wonderful week and I can't wait to get on stage and do our thing in this charged excited atmosphere.

WOOOHOOOOOOO! Seattle, Portland, here we come!