Moment of Clarity from Lee Camp

Good friend, colleague and the funniest person I know – Lee Camp has a new show. And you should be watching it.

It’s called Moment of Clarity – and it’s available on youtube – he’s 3 episodes in and he’s already had Greg Palast, Margaret Flowers of the Physicians for a National Healthcare Program and Roseanne Barr of well… Roseanne.

[His shows are often NSFW due to swearing]

It’s like the Daily Show – except funnier, more swear words and doesn’t mock activists like Stewarts show does. This is a show for people that give a sh*t.

The Moment of Clarity Show evolved from Lee’s MOC rants – a couple times a week he would record a rant on a particular issue, from Vulture Funds to Fracking. Unlike the Daily Show it doesn’t take advertising so he’s running a Kickstarter to continue it please, if you can support this man’s work.

Since he’s a friend and I know his secrets I was able to get Lee to answer a couple questions about comedy, politics and of course – his new show.

Ok, Lee – so why did you take to the internet with your MOC rants? 
Well, I’ve been doing comedy for a long time, and I have a lot of things to say. Ha. I guess it’s as simple as that. The deeper reason is also that I was being censored on other outlets, and I couldn’t handle that anymore. Also, I would have some other comedy posts that would go viral (the McCain voice mails were heard by millions of people) but no one would connect it back to me. It would just get passed around the internet completely unrelated to me. So I decided I needed to show people what I really do – which is stand-up comedy on important issues.

How did the show idea evolve?
It’s definitely evolved, but at its core, it’s the same as always–Just me ranting in a funny way for 3 mins twice a week about an important topic or news story, usually one that’s not being covered on the mainstream media. Probably the most important way Moment of Clarity evolved was that it became more topical. I more often tackle something that happened within the past week or two than I used to. It also, perhaps, got angrier just before Occupy began and then during Occupy. The explosion of Occupy (and I was there on the first night) was a really exciting time.

How do you decide the topics each week?
It’s a vague process, but it seems to be a combination of important/funny ideas I’ve had (such as a recent one about franchises killing our culture) and gut wrenching stories I’ve heard either from alternative news stories or from viewer emails (such as a recent one on the fact that an Indian farmer kills himself every 30 minutes due to debt).

Do you get disheartened by the endless depressing crap that you have to figure out how to make funny?
At times certain stories will definitely knock me on my ass. The ones that do that most are the ones where it seems that corporate *ssholes have succeeded in destroying the rights (or lives?) of average, hard working people. For example every time I hear about union workers being stripped of rights or of democracy being destroyed by “emergency manager” laws in places like Michigan, I get completely disheartened. But the combination of the comedy, the activism, and the stories of amazing people always seem to get me back up. On top of that I’m actually optimistic that the internet has changed all of our lives over the past 25 years, and we’re still trying to figure out how. But at the end of the day, we’re in the middle of  global awakening and everything is changing for the better. The neanderthals in our society won’t hold sway for that much longer.

Why do you think that so many people now rely on comedians for their news? Is that necessarily a bad thing?
it’s crucial and wonderful. It means they’re not being manipulated in the same way we’ve always been by corporate media. But of course I suppose it’s sad that our corporate media is so bad and so indebted to the sugar daddies paying their salaries. But in general, it’s a wonderful thing. I feel like the truth is viral now. The truth didn’t used to be viral. It used to be arthritic. The truth used to have the gout! I mean, it took 40 years to prove the Gulf of Tonkin incident that brought us to war in Vietnam didn’t actually happen. Contrast that to the fact that we can get emails from family members of innocent people killed in drone bombings – within hours of it happening!

Do you think it’d be easier to do this show with Obama or Bush in office? Why?
I didn’t have Moment of Clarity Show going during Bush but I actually feel it’s probably a more important show with Obama in office. Bush was too easy of a target for comedians. After his first few years in office, it was like EVERYBODY had Bush jokes. I actually stopped making fun of him onstage because it was just too f**king easy. It was like telling a knock knock joke. Whereas, I feel speaking to the harm that Obama is doing to the country and the world is not easy and is not being done by everybody. Too many liberals step back and just assume that a Democrat in office means things are fine. THINGS ARE NOT FINE! They’re really f**ked up. And they’re getting worse. And we need to stand up and say so. And luckily I have a unique way of doing that.

You are a equal opportunity critiquer – what side do you get the most hate mail from? Repub of Dem?
I don’t get that much hate mail from Republicans because I think A) they don’t watch my show and B) they secretly know they’re wrong. I don’t get much hate mail from Democrats because I think most are kinda ashamed of a lot of what Obama has done. And of course there are areas he’s better than the right – such as gay marriage and women’s rights. But I’m talking about the whole “surrounding yourself with Goldman Sachs” and allowing drones in US skies and that shit. Most people on the left are not proud of that even if they are still firmly in Obama’s column. So they don’t send me much hate mail. I think the most hate mail I get is from Libertarians who think I’m on their “team” and then realize that I’m actually for taking care of everybody and having a caring, empathetic nation that protects the environment. They don’t like that much. But they agree with me on a lot of other issues.

What’s in store for the next episode?
Next episode we’re going to tackle the corn lobby and Monsanto, I think. Unfortunately we have to do a Kickstarter to keep the show going. Since we don’t accept advertisements and we’re not connected to any corporations, viewer help is the only way we’re going to be able to continue. So I’m hoping the kickstarter is successful and we can keep using this show to entertain while informing. If people want to check it out, they can go to www.LeeCamp.net or look me up @LeeCamp on Twitter.

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