Kemah Bob
Born (1995-03-20) 20 March 1995
Waco, Texas, United States
OccupationStand-up comedian
Years active2018–present
Known forIt's a Sin: After Hours
Guessable
RelativesCamille Bob (grandfather)
Websitehttps://www.kemahbob.com

Kemah Bob is an American comedian. She[lower-alpha 1] achieved fame in the United Kingdom, and is best known for hosting It's a Sin: After Hours.

Early and personal life

Bob grew up in Houston, Texas,[3] and went to school in Waco, Texas. She has lived in California and London.[4] Bob's grandfather was musician Camille Bob.[5]

Bob uses she/they pronouns.[1][2] In an interview with Metro, Bob said "I do identify as a woman, I use she/they pronouns, but there are so many unanswered questions that I don't feel the need to answer around my own gender identity".[1] Bob is pansexual and queer,[6][7] and mentioned in a 2022 interview that she was simultaneously dating two people.[8] She has been outspoken about her experiences of racism, telling Dave's Just Jokes in 2022 that "there are a lot of places where I don't want to go, won't go, am fortunate to not have to go, […] and I feel like back to Texas is one of them".[9]

Bob has bipolar disorder, which she was diagnosed with the week of her twentieth birthday after a friend called her mother to complain that the speed of her speech had increased to the point of incomprehensibility. Her mother responded to this by driving four hours from Houston to Waco to perform a wellness check, only for Bob to swear and shout at her, which prompted her to take Bob to the emergency room.[4]

Career

Bob started her comedy career in Los Angeles.[10] She told Dave's Just Jokes in 2022 that she got into comedy after a theatre professor pulled her aside after a class and pointed out how talkative she was in class, but that he enjoyed some of her comments, and suggested that she audition for an improv team.[9] She has cited The Inbetweeners and Skins as her inspiration to move to the UK.[10]

Bob hosts a comedy night and podcast[11] called FOC It Up, featuring comedians of colour who are not cisgender men.[12] In 2019 she was a finalist in the Funny Women awards.[13] She maintains a drag king persona, Lil' Test Ease, who is a conservative men's rights activist.[6]

In 2021, she presented It's a Sin: After Hours.[14] Later that year, she worked on the Comedy Central panel show Yesterday, Today and The Day Before, but quit after the first episode "in solidarity" with fellow comedian Sophie Duker over cuts to Duker's monologue about the conflict between Israel and Palestine.[15][16][17] She co-hosted The Island with Tom Allen and Jason Forbes the following year.[18] She also appeared on two weeks of Richard Osman's House of Games, both times attracting attention for her voice;[19][20] she has also appeared on Don't Hate the Playaz,[21][22] BBC Radio 4's Elephant in the Room,[23] Guessable,[24][25] CelebAbility,[26] Apocalypse Wow,[27] Sorry, I Didn't Know,[28] and Question Team, the latter with a cameo from Lil' Test Ease,[29] as whom she appeared on Celebrity Karaoke Club: Drag Edition.[6]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2019 Funny Women Funny Women 2019 Finalist [13]
2019 BBC New Comedy Award BBC New Comedy Award 2019 Semi-Finalist [30]

Notes

  1. ↑ Bob uses she/they pronouns.[1][2] This article uses she/her pronouns for consistency.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Griffin, Louise (13 July 2022). "Kemah Bob on why it's essential to create safe spaces for trans people in comedy". Metro. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Kemah Bob". Backyard Comedy Club. 7 October 2022. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  3. ↑ Bob, Kemah. "Kemah Bob". Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  4. 1 2 "W.W.K.D. (What Would Kanye Do) - Kemah Bob @ TEDxUAL". YouTube. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "Kemah Bob and her brilliantly diverse FOC IT UP! podcast are blowing the doors of comedy wide open". Evening Standard. 14 September 2022. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 "Celebrity Karaoke Club - Series other-episodes - Episode 4 - ITVX". ITV. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  7. ↑ Bob, Kemah (11 March 2021). "@kemahbob - Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023. [...] Very much a Black queer mild girl
  8. ↑ Crosara, Nic (21 July 2022). ""It's an unapologetic celebration of comedians of colour": DIVA meets Kemah Bob". Diva. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  9. 1 2 Just Jokes. Dave. 2 October 2022.
  10. 1 2 Pape, Liam (10 October 2022). "Kemah Bob: 'I get so much bad advice from men who've never done comedy before'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  11. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "Femmes of Color launches a comedy podcast : News 2022 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "Kemah Bob: Toxic masculinity and talk therapy have never been sillier". The Guardian. 3 May 2019. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  13. 1 2 Bennett, Steve. "Laura Smyth wins Funny Women Award : News 2019 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  14. ↑ "It's A Sin: After Hours". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  15. ↑ "Comedians Sophie Duker and Kemah Bob quit all-female panel show Yesterday, Today And The Day Before over 'unacceptable interference'". Future Tech Trends. 27 May 2021. Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  16. ↑ Guide, British Comedy (27 May 2021). "Comedians quit Yesterday, Today & The Day Before in Palestine protest". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  17. ↑ Farber, Alex (27 May 2021). "Comedy Central hosts step down amid censorship row". Broadcast. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  18. ↑ "The Island is deserted". Chortle. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  19. ↑ "Social Media Goes Mad About Comedian's Voice". Beyondthejoke.co.uk. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  20. ↑ "BBC House of Games star defended by fans as some threaten to 'switch off'". Birmingham Mail. 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  21. ↑ "Don't Hate the Playaz - Series 3 - Episode 7 - ITVX". Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  22. ↑ "Don't Hate the Playaz - Series 4 - Episode 2 - ITVX". Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  23. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Elephant in the Room, Series 2, Episode 5". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  24. ↑ British Comedy Guide. "Guessable? Series 2, Episode 2 - British Comedy Guide". Comedy.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  25. ↑ British Comedy Guide. "Guessable? Christmas Special - British Comedy Guide". Comedy.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  26. ↑ "Iain Stirling's CelebAbility - Series 5 - Episode 2 - ITVX". Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  27. ↑ "Apocalypse Wow - Series 1 - Episode 6 - ITVX". Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  28. ↑ "Sorry, I Didn't Know - Series 2 - Episode 4 - ITVX". Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  29. ↑ "Watch Question Team Series 1 Episode 4 Online". Uktvplay.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  30. ↑ "BBC Three - BBC New Comedy Awards, 2019, Semi-Final 2". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
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