The Tour Documentary

The tour is over & the documentary is filmed! We’re in the process of editing it. If you want to donate to help us finish the film, you can use Paypal to send money to us at LATMComedy@gmail.com.

Laughter Against the Machine is a comedic peacekeeping mission to wade into the most polarized, iconic quagmires in the US, the flashpoints of American ignorance and upheaval. Like Comedy Central’s Insomniac with Dave Attell meets Democracy Now!, There may be blood, there may be learning, but there will definitely be laughter. And we’re filming it all for an unconventional tour documentary, complete with angry mobs and special guests.

Hot spots:

Madison, Wisconsin

Republican Governor Scott Walker’s attempts to eliminate union rights for public workers have galvanized a student-labor movement to save the state. Governor Walker’s hubris may turn Wisconsin into the Waterloo of the Tea Party. But first the Tea Party will have to look up the word “Waterloo”.

Tucson, Arizona

From the tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), to the banning of ethnic studies, to the fact that it’s now so illegal to be associated with anything Mexican that people are putting ketchup on their tacos, Arizona is currently the heavyweight champion of crazy. Arizona has gotten too weird for people from Florida. Even Alabama is keeping it’s distance.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Remember how New Orleans was destroyed by a hurricane and everybody said it would be rebuilt so college kids could keep getting drunk for Mardi Gras? And then remember how Kanye West called George W. out on TV? And then we got a black president? Everything must be back to normal down there now right? Hey, what’s that black spot in the ocean?

New York, NY

We kept saying that Laughter Against the Machine is like Doctors Without Borders with jokes, so Occupy Wall Street decided to test our sincerity. After brief deliberation, we decided that a global uprising in direct confrontation with the economic system might turn out to be important. We jumped at the opportunity and have thrown together an emergency show for Occupy Wall Street (featuring Baratunde Thurston). LATM will visit the Occupy Together sites in every city we perform in, until the protesters declare victory and return to their foreclosed homes, unemployment, and medical bankruptcy.

Dearborn/Detroit twofer, Michigan

Dearborn is home to America’s largest Muslim community. LATM will prove once and for all that Islam is no scarier than Christianity… OK, good point. It’s probably way less scary. Meanwhile, is Detroit a decaying carcass of a rusty metropolis, or is something being born here more exciting than Eminem’s kids? Just when things didn’t seem like they could get any worse Charlie Sheen rolled into town and stole money from a city with 19% unemployment.

Washington, DC

We’ll visit the people who live in the seat of our democracy and see if that is as awesome as it sounds. These are the denizens of the capital of the world’s last superpower — ok most recent superpower until China gets their act together. DC is where even baristas have lobbyists. PS – Let’s see if we can get that President guy to show up. He’s supposed to have such a good sense of humor.

And finally…

Oakland, CA

Here we’ll perform for people who have a nice view of the most liberal city in the country, while experiencing crushing poverty and crime, and that rapid displacement of black people known as gentrification. LATM comes home to Oakland, bringing back the wisdom of our travels and lessons from the American heartland.

Like Doctors Without Borders, but with jokes instead of penicillin, LATM roams the country bringing humor to the people who need it the most, and trying to answer the age-old question: can they take a joke?

Welcome to Laughter Against The Machine: Guerrilla Stand-up Comedy.