Business, Entertainment, Free News Articles, Product Launches

Nina G, one of the first stuttering comedians, records debut solo album and live show at the Alameda Comedy Club

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Thirteen years ago, Nina G made her debut as the first stuttering female comedian. Since then, she's challenged the status quo of how people who stutter are perceived - onstage and off. So, in an industry that lacks speech diversity, Nina G's unique voice will record both her first solo comedy album and comedy special on March 9, 2023 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Alameda Comedy Club located in her hometown. The album is projected to come out later in the spring on the Punchline Records label with the comedy special to follow.

Since a child, Nina G's mission has been to make people laugh, but she never thought it possible. Her story details how she first abandoned her dreams, but then was able to embark on a journey and embrace her voice to culminate in a comedic career.

Like many successful comedians, the material conveyed through her humor is grounded in reality. Nina G's biting observations have made audiences laugh, worldwide. She touches on topics related to the broader disability experience, her Italian-American family and her experience paying back student loans.

And her audience is large. The Stuttering Foundation reports that, globally, there are more that 70 million people who stutter and that stuttering impacts about one percent of the adult population; one in four of them is female.

She says that there are many famous people who stutter too. Marilyn Monroe, James Earl Jones, President Joe Biden, Samuel L. Jackson and King George VI, who was the focus of the movie "The King's Speech" all had or have issues with stuttering. While there's no cure for stuttering, Nina G makes it easy for people to understand and laugh about it.

Her ability to quickly adapt makes her comfortable performing in multiple venues from comedy clubs and colleges/universities to conferences. She's been featured on NPR's "51 percent," BBC's "Ouch!," TEDx, The Heumann Perspective podcast with Judy Heumann, radio and multiple day time talk shows and podcasts. She's appeared in the pages of "Psychology Today" and is the author of three books including: "Bay Area Stand-Up Comedy: A Humorous History"; and "Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn't Happen."

An international keynote speaker, Nina G has learned that the issues impacting people with disabilities impact everyone. She hopes her album and comedy special will not only entertain, but inform, not just stutterers, but all.

In 2021, the British Stammering Association launched a campaign to raise awareness around stuttering in the media. "No diversity without disfluency" was one of the tags used to illustrate the need for stuttering voices among those in the mainstream.

"These voices shouldn't be heard only on stuttering awareness days or weeks, but across all media," Nina G says.

Gina Chin-Davis, the director of Nina's comedy special, and also a stutterer, says, "There's so much ignorance and misinformation about stuttering out there. With Nina G, you not only get comedy, you also get schooled on what stuttering really is and how to respectfully interact with people who stutter. It's exciting to collaborate with someone who can skillfully walk the line between entertainment and education."

Mathew Layne of Punchline Records adds, "One of the reasons I started Punchline Records was to help amplify comedic voices that may have otherwise been marginalized. Funny is funny. Nina G is one of the funniest - stuttering or not."

About Nina G:

When she first started out, Nina G. was the only woman who stuttered in the stand-up comedy world. Today, she co-produces the "Comedians with Disabilities Act," a national touring comedy show featuring exclusively comedians with disabilities. She also produced the first compilation album to feature Disabled Comedy Only. Nina's brand of comedy reflects the experiences of many with disabilities.

About Gina Chin-Davis:

Gina Chin-Davis is an award-winning filmmaker and writer based in California. She attended Barnard College in New York City where she received the Howard M. Teichmann Writing Prize for work distinguished in originality of concept and excellence of execution. Chin Davis' writings have been featured in Rigorous, Penultimate Peanut, and The Conium Review, and her plays have been produced by The Aluminous Collective and The Piedmont Center for the Arts.

Her first feature film, "I Can't Sleep," was produced on a self-raised budget of $10K and went on to win Best Script at the Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival and Best Sci-Fi Film at the MidWest WeirdFest. Outside of her creative endeavors, Chin-Davis is a clinical psychologist. Her greatest honor has been to return to her hometown of Richmond, CA to provide trauma-informed mental health care to young adults in the public health sector.

MORE INFORMATION:

Nina G: https://www.ninagcomedian.com/

Alameda Comedy Club: https://www.alamedacomedy.com/events/68759

Punchline Records: https://punchlinerecords.com/

MULTIMEDIA:

VIDEO (YouTube): https://youtu.be/FUgA6e2tRcw

Related link: https://www.ninagcomedian.com/

This news story was published by the Neotrope® News Network - all rights reserved. ID:NEO2022

Elections and Politics, Free News Articles, Government

Satan in Congress? This Congressional Candidate Says He’s an American Patriot

PALMDALE, Calif. -- Steve Hill, a former Marine, retired peace officer and self-described, part-time "activist comic" known as "Satan" is running for 27th congressional district to rid the region of political corruption. He explains he chose the "Satan" moniker as a symbol of rebellion against entrenched, overly-comfortable authority. He vows to work to get money out of politics and to ensure church and state never meet.

Hill's top goal is to reform the police and court system for people who are unable to fight for themselves. So, while he jokes about topics such as race, religion and politics, he knows it's really no laughing matter.

His run for congress is also well-timed in wake of a package of sweeping new police reforms that California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed.

"If we want the police to truly do their jobs, which is to protect the public, then we must hold those who are not doing that accountable," Hill says. "We must rid the nation of white supremacist nationalist gangs; the country is saturated and it must stop. We need to get to the bottom of the insurrection."

So, who is Hill? After the military, he pursued a career in the aerospace industry, and after seven years, he was ready for a change and had a desire to serve again. He decided to become a correctional officer and worked in two different maximum, security prisons. He was horrified by the conditions and crimes that occurred even within the prison walls, so he took a job as a middle school security supervisor. Little did he know that schools were nearly as dangerous. On multiple occasions, he was threatened by kids and parents too. Today, Hill runs a real estate appraisal business and is focused on this congressional run.

If elected, in addition to concentrating on police reform, Hill plans to foster respect for the constitution, and to advocate for immigration, education reform and voting rights. Hill knows that this is a tall order, but as a dedicated advocate for the powerless, he's up for the challenge.

"I want to shake things up," Hill says. "If I have to tell people that I'm the devil to get them to listen, then I'm okay with that; I'm the devil. I'm also an American patriot."

To emphasize his devotion to the people, and not the establishment, he will only take campaign donations from individuals. No corporate or union dollars will be accepted to fund this "power to the people" campaign.

For more information: https://satan4congress.com/

Satan4Congress Committee Number: C00783902.

-- Paid for by Steve Hill candidate for California's 27th Congressional District --

Watch a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gGKxgxVK7M

Related link: https://satan4congress.com/

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Awards and Honors, Business, Entertainment, Free News Articles

‘Get Laughs or Cry Trying with Ken Rudnick’ is official selection at Battle of the Sketches

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- "Get Laughs or Cry Trying" is a fresh digital sketch comedy series, releasing original sketches on 4K HD on YouTube every Sunday through January 16, 2022, followed by HD release the next day on Instagram. The second episode, "PostMurder" premiered July 25, 2021, and is an Official Selection of The 4th Annual Battle of the Sketches.

"PostMurder" is a parody of popular app-based delivery services, with a dark twist. "As someone who's spent a lot on app-based food delivery -- did I say that right? -- anyway, I'm happy it's paid off. I mean it hasn't paid off financially, of course, but it's great just to be a contender for an award," Ken Rudnick shared. The writer, director, creator and sometimes co-star just wants to make people laugh.

"I missed the sketches we did back in college, when I was part of LCC, Lapu the Coyote that Cares Theatre Company." The UCLA sketch troupe, founded in 1995 by Randall Park, Dave Lee and Derek Mateo was a place for students to put on original plays and sketch shows where underrepresented artists would be able to play starring roles. "As someone from the sketch comedy community I never expected to win anything, whether it be a contest or my parents' approval. And to be fair, we may not win," Ken said. "But as someone who's never been selected to play a sport, being an official selection still feels like a W." The sketch will go head-to-head with comedy from around the world on October 16, 2021 at the Alamo Drafthouse Mueller in Austin, Texas, vying for recognition as Battle of the Sketches' Live Round Champion.

"My favorite part was creating and throwing the fake blood," co-star Myra Vitela said when describing the process of making the sketch, "It was a mix of ketchup, hot sauce, and some other stuff. It smelled so bad and it got everywhere, but the end result was hilarious." PostMurder was edited by Judith Schomp. When informed of the official selection status, Gregory Rosenberg who co-stars with Rudnick and Vitela revealed, "I didn't plan on being shirtless so early in my sketch career, but it wasn't gratuitous or anything."

Ken enlisted a group of young Hollywood talent, including co-producer Erin Walsh, Cameron "Camera" Coulter, and composer Stefan Ecklund, and asked them to make sketches on a shoe-string budget during COVID.

The "Get Laughs" series stars Ken Rudnick and Frankie Kevich, and features Sean Choi, Hector Claros, Zef Husain, Billy Levin, Amber Li, Anne Mathews, Vik Ramen, Kaitlyn Ricci, Gregory Rosenberg, Jomi Segun-Williams, Andres Valdez, Myra Vitela, and Patrick Zhang.

"We're looking forward to being able to do live screenings and shows when COVID is over," Ken said. "But even while people are stuck at home, we're going to make them laugh, or cry trying."

More information: http://getlaughsorcrytrying.com/ (redirects to Linktree page).

About "Get Laughs or Cry Trying with Ken Rudnick"

"Get Laughs or Cry Trying with Ken Rudnick" is a digital sketch comedy series available on YouTube and Instagram.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GetLaughsOrCryTrying

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/kenrudnick

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getlaughsorcrytrying/

Twitter: @laughs_cry #getlaughsorcrytrying

MULTIMEDIA:

Image link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/21-0826s2p-getlaughs-wreath-300dpi.jpg

Caption: "Get Laughs or Cry Trying Episode 2" photo with Official Selection Laurel from Battle of the Sketches 2021.

Image link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/21-0826s2p-get-laughs-300dpi.jpg

Caption: "Get Laughs or Cry Trying" Series Poster. Featuring cast Frankie Kevich, Myra Vitela, Amber Li, Kaitlyn Ricci, Gregory Rosenberg, Sean Choi, Ken Rudnick.

Related link: http://getlaughsorcrytrying.com/

This news story was published by the Neotrope® News Network - all rights reserved.

Entertainment, Free News Articles, Regional Events

Comedian is Challenging How People Think About Stuttering

OAKLAND, Calif. -- What do you do when you are professionally funny for a living AND use your own experience as a person with disabilities to crush stigma and change attitudes? Well, for stuttering comedian Nina G, you take it on the road in a series of presentations that are both funny and profound. Much like Hannah Gadsby's breakout Netflix special "Nannette," Nina G blends her comedy "material" with her real life experiences for a unique tour you can see live!

Nina G connects with audiences from a variety of backgrounds across the nation, from comedy clubs to university conferences and within the pages of her books. Fall 2018 Nina G is taking her show nation-wide to celebrate Disability Awareness month in October. Be sure to catch her live or book her for your event!

DATES:
* Sept 16: San Francisco Comedy Day, Golden Gate Park-Robin Williams Meadow.
* Sept 28: All Out Comedy Theater, Oakland.
* Oct 6: Dyslexia Awareness and Education: Community Center at the Market Place, Tustin, Calif.
* Oct 11: Central Michigan University - Stutterer Interrupted.
* Oct 19: Pre-conference workshop for the California Association of Postsecondary Education and Disability: Learning Ramps-Teaching with Universal Design.
* Oct: 25: Disability Awareness Celebration: Mt. San Jacinto College.

October 22 is international stuttering awareness day:
To celebrate, Nina G is taking her message of acceptance and awareness on the road! She will be appearing in colleges and comedy shows all around the country talking about the experience of stuttering, having a learning disability, and learning to accept and overcome attitudes to educate people about her Disability experience.

Additional facts on stuttering:
* Stuttering impacts 1 percent of the adult population.
* 3 million Americans are Stutterers.
* 1 in 4 people who stutter are female.
* There's no known cure for stuttering.
* Many people who stutter still experience discrimination.

About Nina G:

Comedian - Nina G was the only woman who stuttered in the stand-up comedy world when she started eight years ago. Now there are a few other women who stutter venturing on stage to tell their stories and make people laugh.

She produced the Comedians with Disabilities Act, a national touring comedy show featuring exclusively comedians with disabilities. She also went on to produce the first compilation album to feature, as the album title suggests, "Disabled Comedy Only." Nina G's brand of comedy reflects the experiences of many with disabilities: the problem is not the people with disabilities but a society that isn't always accessible or inclusive.

Author - Nina G's first book, "Once Upon An Accommodation: A Book About Learning Disabilities," helps both children and adults understand how to advocate for needed school-related accommodations. The book is inspired from her own childhood experience of having learning disabilities, stuttering, and being denied accommodations in her own education.

For more information about "Once Upon an Accommodation" visit: https://www.ninagcomedian.com/the-book.

For more information on "Stutterer Interrupted: The Making of a Stuttering Stand Up Comedian" visit: https://www.stuttererinterrupted.com/.

Professional Speaker - Nina G tours the country as a conference keynote speaker. In addition to her Tedx Talk at San Jose State University she has presented at: the Montana Youth in Transition Conference, the Oregon Association on Higher Education and Disability, the Kansas Youth Leadership Forum, and various college campuses for Disability Acceptance Week/Disability Awareness Month including seminars on Universal Design in teaching and training.

For booking: https://www.ninagcomedian.com/ / Ninagbooking@gmail.com / 510-922-0179

*VIDEO (YouTube):
https://youtu.be/pkNE6ZQ-l8w

Related link:

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