Oakland comedian, ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!' champ steps up to support Bay Area arts amid NEA fallout

San Francisco Chronicle​

24-05-2025

Theater and dance fans concerned about the widespread terminations of National Endowment for the Arts grants can now help affected Bay Area organizations by attending a performance by Oakland's own W. Kamau Bell.
The polymathic Peabody- and Emmy Award-winning TV host, comedian, podcaster, author, documentarian, Substacker and 'Celebrity Jeopardy!' winner is reprising his 'Who's With Me?' at Berkeley Repertory Theatre from June 17-22. Ticket sales from the stand-up comedy show, which Bell performed at the same theater last month, will benefit more than a dozen organizations whose NEA grants were abruptly revoked under President Donald Trump's administration.
More Information
'Who's With Me?': Written and performed by W. Kamau Bell. Performances begin June 17. Through June 22. $35-$250. Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. 510-647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org
'People think everybody's equally rich in show business, but that is not the case,' he explained with a laugh. 'I live in the Bay Area with three kids.'
That's where his Berkeley Rep came in.
'Kamau was the first person to reach out to me in response to the devastating NEA news, with the simple but profound question 'How can we help?'' Berkeley Rep Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer said. 'This is what it looks like to stand together, and we are so lucky to do so alongside such a brilliant and generous artist.'
'When I finally got to do shows in the Peet's, I just felt super-like, 'I've made it!'' he said, referring to one of the theater's main stages where he performed an earlier version of 'Who's With Me?'
He also workshopped 'W. Kamau Bell Gets His Act Together' at a studio in the theater's school during two separate runs last year.
Beneficiaries of his newly announced run include American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Crowded Fire Theater, Dance Brigade/Dance Mission Theater, Magic Theatre, Marin Shakespeare Company, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Children's Fairyland, Oakland Theater Project, San Francisco Youth Theatre, Theatre Bay Area, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and Zaccho Dance Theatre.
Ed Decker, artistic director of New Conservatory Theatre Center, one of the affected organizations, posted on Facebook the notification he got from the NEA saying his theater's world premiere of 'Simple Mexican Pleasures' by Eric Reyes Loo 'does not align' with the Trump administration's new priorities for the agency. Those priorities, the letter goes on, include historically Black colleges and universities, 'Hispanic Serving Institutions,' tribal communities, Asian American communities; the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence; houses of worship, skilled trade jobs, disaster recovery, the military and veterans. Other priorities include 'make America healthy again' and 'make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful.'
Decker told the Chronicle that Berkeley Rep's invitation to be a part of Bell's event was about far more than the proceeds.
'I felt the warm embrace of our creative community standing together to help,' he said.
For Bell, who has lived almost entirely in the Bay since 1997, the decision to stage the benefit came down to his own artistic origins.
'I feel very clear that who I am is because of who I met in the Bay,' he said. 'I feel happy to be in a place where my help can be helpful.'
Earlier this month, Berkeley Rep received a $40,000 donation in response to the NEA chaos from another artist, Tony Award-winning playwright John Logan, whose 'Red' and 'Swept Away' have both run at the theater.