Political / Socially Conscious Stand Up Comedy & Hip Hop Music

During The 2016 Democratic National Convention in Phila, PA

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Hosted by: KeithFromUpDaBlock( Dr. Phil, MTVRidiculousness, JAY Z's Hangar Tour) 

Special Music Guest:  Bahamadia ( KOLLAGE, BB QUEEN, Dialed Up)

Starring:  Shang Forbes  ( HBO, BET, Comedy Central, NBC )  

http://www.KeithFromUpDaBlock.com​

Rapper. Singer. Comedian. Dancer. Host. Actor. Keith has the gift of many talents, but his supreme calling is now clear. Someone is urgently needed to make hip-hop fun again! And KeithFromUpDaBlock is ready for the challenge.

Raised in Philadelphia and schooled at the famed High School Of Creative and Performing Arts (

Keith calls it “B E T for brothers that don’t have cable.”

On “Urban X-pressions,” Keith’s talents as hilarious host and funnyman quickly caught on among the many ‘hoods of Philly. Keith interviewed 50 Cent, Jay Z, Beyonce, Beanie Se​gel, Music Soulchild, The Roots, Isaac Hays, Violette Wallace, LL and many more. More often than not, he made these big stars crack up, and the laughter was infectious.

To keep his show going, Keith started producing television commercials, directed by and starring himself. The spots took on a life and humor of their own. TV ads for car dealers and nightclubs never had so much low-budget flair or street-wise humor. A comedic star was being born.

Then, a new ad campaign called for Keith to record a full music video, and his potential as an entertainer was realized. Keith recorded a parody of the Kelis hit “Milkshake” and called it “Cheesesteak” to promote Larry’s Steaks on 54th and City Line in Philly. The video became one of the most-requested on “Urban X-pressions” and Keith saw a new direction for his talents. He has since produced several more “Cheesesteak” songs and videos.

Keith began writing and recording song parodies of popular hip-hop and R’n‘B hits, releasing them on mix-CDs that he distributed himself throughout Philly. Drawing inspiration from the legendary Weird Al Yankovic, Keith injects a street edge that parody music has never seen. Keith not only writes hilarious lyrics, he sings and raps so well, the songs feel original and fresh. 

The CDs were a street hit, and Keith began performing in comedy clubs and other venues around Philly. To keep his dance steps on point, the chubby sensation joined the Broad Street Beefcakes, a troupe of overweight dancers that entertain the crowd at 76ers games during half-time with their amazing moves.

Never one to shy away from the spotlight, Keith continues to perform frequently and develop his craft. At one of his shows in downtown Philly  Keith met hip-hop entrepreneur Jonathan Shecter (aka Shecky Green) president of Game Recordings​,​an innovative hip-hop entertainment company. The two shared a common feeling for the music. Soon after, Keith was signed to Game and Shecky committed to making sure the world laughed along with Keith.

“I’ve been a hip-hop fan since 1980, and there’s never been anyone like Keith,” Shecky says. “His humor and his writing is so real, it’s the breath of fresh air that hip-hop really needs. Yes, he’s a clown, but he’s also a real performer.”

Says Keith. “Even though peeps will compare me to Weird Al, I wanna distinguish myself from him by offering more music and more ways to be entertained from the start. I can make music all the time. Of course I'm gonna do as much as I can creatively. I have never felt more prepared for anything in my life.”

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http://www.mtv.com/artists/bahamadia/biography/

​FREEDOM THEATRE

​http://www.FreadomTheatre.org 

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f a theater survives long enough, it's likely to play a variety of roles. The Freedom Theatre is certainly no exception. What is exceptional are the roles this nineteenth-century Italianate structure has played through the years and its enduring contribution to the community.

Field hands performing in Act 2 of the musical Purlie, Freedom Theater, circa...

So, let the curtain rise on 1968, the opening scene of its current incarnation. In a remarkable year of assassination, protest, and civil unrest, this imposing stone structure that began life in 1853 as the lavish home of Edwin Forrest, the nation's first great theatrical star, was reconceived in a way that paid homage to its past, seized the fire of its present, and took the first steps toward its future as a cornerstone of what's evolved into Philadelphia's lively and eclectic Avenue of the Arts.

That year, John Allen and Robert Leslie started a new African-American theater that soon became a gathering place for black theater and arts education, and a cultural centerpiece for the city's black community. And so it remained until the early 1990s, when Yale Drama School graduate Walter Dallas helped transformed the Freedom Theatre into the New Freedom Theatre and its widely acclaimed Freedom Rep, now one of the nation's most honored black professional theater companies. Under Dallas's leadership, the Rep mounted works by James Baldwin, Charles Fuller, Ntozake Shange, Leroi Jones, Ossie Davis, August Wilson, and other African-American playwrights. Its performing-arts training program blossomed to reach as many as 800 students annually; its graduates include Gary Dourdain of television's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Wanya Morris of the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum singing group Boyz II Men.​

www.FreedomJusticeLaughter.com