Lizz Winstead
“There's this interesting thing — if you make someone laugh, you have a bond. And so if you can make someone laugh who you disagree with, they have to acknowledge that on some level they like you, and sometimes then you can work things out.”
“Lizz Winstead is a comic laser beam: smart, funny, and honest.”
“Political satirist and stand-up comedian Winstead… [is] shrewdly observant, linguistically adept, bravely soul-baring, and caustically smart.”
Lizz Winstead is one of the top political satirists working today. As co-creator and head writer of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” she forever changed the way people get their news. In 2004, Winstead also co-founded Air America Radio, while also co-hosting “Unfiltered” every morning with the Rachel Maddow and Hip Hop legend, Chuck D. Her book of essays, Lizz Free or Die, was published by Riverhead Books in 2012. The New York Times called it “Searching and lively … and moving. … Ms. Winstead writes with a feel for the sound of words.” Winstead also writes satirical commentary for The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post. Her talents as a comedian and media visionary have been recognized by The New York Times, The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly’s 100 Most Creative People issue. She continues to make numerous television appearances, including Comedy Central Presents, HBO, and CNN, as well as her regular commentary on MSNBC
Winstead is a prominent abortion rights activist, and one of the founders of Abortion Access Front (formerly Lady Parts Justice League), a team of comedians, writers, and producers that uses humor to destigmatize abortion and expose the extremist anti-choice forces working to destroy access to reproductive rights in all 50 states. With her work with AAF, Winstead has taken her satirical brilliance one step further, combining it with her passion for reproductive rights to expose anti choice hypocrisy and inspiring a whole new model of activism.
In an interview with NPR, Winstead talked about growing up without seeing enough women comedians on television. “I didn't see any women on television doing stand up unless they were older women like Totie Fields or Joan Rivers, and so I didn't see anyone like me. It was either men in suits talking about what men in suits talk about, or women, if they were older, talking about how much their husbands disappointed them and sort of the level that their boobs had sunk to on their body. That was a very popular thing to talk about for a lot of comedians back in the day. And so it wasn't until I was watching George Carlin one night with a girlfriend of mine and she said why don't you try that? And I said I don't know. Do you think I could? And she said why not?”
Winstead grew up in Minneapolis in a conservative Catholic family, the youngest of five children. She currently lives in Brooklyn NY, and continues to tour the country doing stand up in support of abortion rights.
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