Panel: Writing American Comedy
This panel discussion of comedy writing in the United States features Peter Sagal, Peter Gwinn, Karen Chee, Alexandra Petri, and Cristela Alonzo.
There will be NO signing for this event.
About the speakers:
Peter Sagal is, has been, and perhaps someday will be again, a husband, father, playwright, screenwriter, author, journalist, columnist, marathoner, Jeopardy contestant, dramaturg, podcast host, documentary host, foreign correspondent, wedding officiant, and magician’s assistant. Sagal is best known as the host of the Peabody Award-winning NPR news quiz Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, one of the most popular shows on public radio. He’s the author of The Book of Vice and The Incomplete Book of Running, a memoir about the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing and other adventures while running long distances, and has run over 20 marathons across the United States.
Peter Gwinn won two Emmy Awards as one of the original writers for The Colbert Report. He wrote for the Amazon series Alpha House, created by Garry Trudeau. His play Twist Your Dickens has been produced in six cities, and his musical The Story of a Story (The Untold Story) received a Jeff Award nomination for Best New Work. Peter is the founder of Baby Wants Candy, a troupe that improvises hour-long musicals, which was a New York Times Critic’s Pick and sold out multiple runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He currently writes for Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me.
Karen Chee is an Emmy-nominated comedian and writer for Late Night with Seth Meyers. She has also written for the Golden Globes, Yearly Departed, and The New Yorker. Karen has also acted and done other stuff but it’s kinda weird to just keeping listing things, right? Anyway, if you’d like to say hi, she is active on Twitter and Instagram, @karencheee. (Unfortunately.)
Alexandra Petri is an American humorist and newspaper columnist at the Washington Post. She lives in Washington, DC.
Cristela Alonzo made history in 2014 when she became the first Latina to create, produce and star in her own network sitcom, “Cristela” for ABC. In 2017 Cristela made history again when she became the first Latina lead in a Disney Pixar film when she voiced the part of “Cruz Ramirez” in Cars 3. Her first stand-up special, Lower Classy, is currently streaming on Netflix and her second special will also premiere on Netflix in 2022. Cristela’s memoir, Music to My Years, was released in October of 2019 by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.