FREED Presents the Comedians with Disabilities Act on Oct. 16

Turn on the TV, you don’t see many people with disabilities, much less comedians. Representation of the Disability experience is a problem, but stand-up comedy is a way to bring authentic voices to the forefront. The Comedians with Disabilities Act (CWDA) is doing just that. A fabulous collection of comedians with disabilities, both seen and unseen, the traveling troupe share their humor and personal experiences. Overall, the tour is designed to bring authentic and traditionally unheard voices to a theatre near you.

The show is the brainchild of comedian, Michael O’Connell of Sacramento, who started the group in 2010, and was later joined by Steve Danner and Nina G. In 2016. O’Connell passed away – but the show lives on and spotlights a variety of disabled and outrageously funny comedians. The upcoming lineup in Grass Valley includes disability representation from diverse perspectives and intersections including comedians Michael Beers, Nina G, Mean Dave, Loren Kraut and Adam Keys.

Partnership with FREED

FREED is thrilled to bring this show to our community. We have so much in common with CWDA in working to change attitudes about disability. A big part of our work at FREED is showing people they can achieve their goals, but if you’ve never seen someone who looks like you doing your dream job, it’s pretty hard to imagine it’s possible. The theatre is where we go to see ourselves and our human stories represented on stage. Bringing a show with such diverse disability representation will create connections not just within the disability community, but also shows the whole community what people with disabilities are capable of and makes those human connections through laughter.

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people, and, comedy is a beautiful way to educate people without disabilities. When we laugh together we can find our commonalities.” ~Michael Beers

Thanks to generous sponsorships from The Center for the Arts, Westamerica Bank, Elevation 2477, Gold Miners Inn, YubaNet and the Onxy Theatre we can bring this amazing show to Nevada County and benefit FREED’s programs and services at the same time.

About the Comedians:

Nina, who will be hosting the show has her own comedy special, Nina G: Stutterer Interrupted, is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime. Nina highlights the importance the shows, “there is a lot of talk about representation of Disabled actors, writers and artists, yet the images we see on TV and film is sparse. It is important that audiences and comedy producers see Disabled comedians spotlighted. Hopefully they will see that we are hilarious and hopefully we can pack out the show too, so they see we can put butts in the seats.” In addition to being a comedian, Nina is also a college and corporate speaker as well as author of three books.  Her memoir, Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen (She Writes Press) was released to critical acclaim in 2019.

Michael Beers, who is headlining the show is a comedian and professional speaker. He won the Norman G. Brooks Comedy Competition at the Hollywood Improv in 2005. He was also the previous winner of Funny Fest (Calgary Comedy Festival) and has opened for comedians like Gilbert Gottfried.

Mean Dave, a San Francisco Bay Area favorite and regular at local comedy clubs will be hosting. He has opened for comedians like Josh Blue, Big Jay Oakerson and Jay Mohr and has performed at colleges across the US. Dave is nine years in recovery from addiction, which he weaves into his humor. “Not a lot of people know that being an addict in recovery is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.” Mean Dave’s role in the Comedians with Disabilities Act helps to bring this message to audiences.

Loren Kraut is a writer and stand-up comedian in San Francisco. Her solo show “A Bit Touched” co-written with Randall Whitehead, won Best Comedy at the Tucson Fringe Festival 2018. Loren has been performing with the Comedians with Disabilities Act since 2017 and is featured on the troupe’s album, Disabled Comedy Only. During the pandemic, Loren began a weekly video series “Giraffe Corner” where stuffed giraffes have therapy. She lives with her cat Scout and an unprecedented number of giraffes. On performing with the CWDA, she says, “I feel fortunate to perform with the CWDA and help bring an awareness of mental health issues like OCD and depression to audiences. It is an honor to share my story with this talented and diverse group of comedians.”

Special guest comic Adam Keys got his start in comedy with Armed Services Arts Partnership back in 2018 and has been hitting in person and virtual stages across the country ever since. He’s been North American his whole life- born in Canada and relocated to the U.S. as a teen. He then went on to serve in the U.S. Army after a little event called 9/11. As Adam tells it, “I tried to make it as a foot model but got denied for ugly toes. So, I stepped on an I.E.D to open myself to a world of possibilities, like phantom limb pain, awkward first dates, and endless jokes about my crazy new life.”

About FREED:

FREED Center for Independent Living is a Disability Resource Center founded in 1985 serving Nevada, Sierra, Yuba, Sutter, and Colusa Counties. FREED has a variety of programs centering around issues that arise with disability and aging. We work with individuals and their support systems to offer resources and options that support folks to live the lives they want to live and achieve their individual goals.

FREED’s vision is that people with disabilities enjoy a fully accessible community strengthened by diversity and unified by a culture of limitless possibility.