Despite the fact that comedian Jessie Kahnweiler has been featured on CNN, People,New York Magazine, Mashable, Buzzfeed, Elle, The Daily Beast, Jezebel, IndieWIRE, LA Weekly and The Huffington Post she was not on my radar until the following video started littering my Facebook feed. Given its inclusion at Yay! LA, it’s safe to say that my interest went from zero to seventy in just over three minutes.
Culturally, we seem to be in a state of retrograde regarding race and women’s issues. It’s sad, it’s enraging, and obviously, that’s a big conversational minefield to be navigated perhaps elsewhere. How does one process the process the cultural wounds of something like Charleston? Are there any words?
Well, as is the title of a recent documentary, “misery loves comedy.” After handling such social hot potatoes as rape and bulimia, Kahnweiler decided to venture into the “no-fly zone” of race relations by putting the concept of “white privilege” to the ultimate test. Is a “white Jew-y liberal chick” immune to the steel boot of the law, even one as tan-skinned as her? Kahnweiler attempts to find out as she tries everything- and we mean EVERYTHING- to get a free ride in a paddy wagon. This is seriously Schumer-level stuff. Watch, laugh, and share. And you know what? It’s okay if you also want to cry a little.
