The Grasscast

In this unique episode of "The Grasscast," hosts Chris, Scott, and Laura team up with the amazing Kat Shaub, Vice President of Development for Habitat for Humanity of Washington, DC & Norther Virginia, to tackle the serious issue of affordable housing in the DC area—armed with laughter! Join this hilarious trio as they ingeniously blend humor and insight, shedding light on the challenges of finding a reasonably priced place to live in the land of skyrocketing rents and elusive mortgages. Brace yourself for a heartwarming and rib-tickling conversation that proves laughter is the best foundation for change.
If you want to know more about how you can volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, check our their website for more information! And if you're in the DC area on Tuesday May 23, be sure to swing by our Comedy Show for Climate Justice at The Outrage at 7:30pm!

Housing is an issue that affects every city in the United States, and is especially challenging in Washington, DC. That's why Chris and his brand new co-hosts, comedians Scott Bendure & Laura Franzese, sat down with Ashley Domm of Bread for the City to talk about ways her organization is working to help the citizens of our nation's capitol who are struggling to find a place to live. They also discuss solutions for supporting people that face homelessness and housing insecurity that could be applied nationwide. And a classic clip from George Carlin helps highlight the issue as brilliantly as he always does.
If you want to know more about how you can help address the issue of housing insecurity, go to Bread for the City's website which lists tools for advocacy and more!

It's because of episodes like this one that Grassroots Comedy does what it does. Taking on the super sensitive issue of gun violence prevention, host Chris Blackwood is joined by comedian Max Wolfson to interview JJ Janflone and Kelly Sampson of Brady. Together, they dissect the state of gun violence in the U.S., current efforts to reduce gun violence, why it's so darn hard to do that, and what listeners can do to take action.

Curious about gun violence prevention, but not eager to spend your time learning about it because it sounds like the opposite of relaxing and fun? Fair! And also - this episode is for you! Like always, we somehow still manage to make the conversation fun and get some good laughs in on an otherwise very unfunny thing!

Shouts outs and references:

JJ Janflone and Kelly Sampson Co-host Brady's Red, Blue and Brady Podcast. As of posting this, they have recorded 210 episodes on gun violence prevention! Wowza! Make sure to check it out (right after listening to this episode of the Grasscast, of course).

Max Wolfson, our Co-host of this episode, is part of the Midnight Gardners League - a very funny DC-based, nationally touring comedy group that you should check out.

This episode features stand-up comedy from DC-based comedian Winston Hodges.

Click here to donate to Brady and all the important work they do to make the U.S. a safer place!

Grassroots Comedy (GC) turned five years old earlier this year, marking half a decade of supporting causes in a time of need through jokes. With comedy for so many causes under our belts, it can be hard to summarize what those causes have been in a succinct way.

For those who missed the GC five year anniversary show back in Feb 2022, here is the song from that show (written and performed on a whim) that attempts to do that. It also helps us understand why GC Executive Director Chris Blackwood quit his pursuit of music a long time ago.

A special thank you to Scott Williams for the guitar, and Emre Yagci for the sound engineering on this one!

In this long awaited Ukraine episode, host Chris Blackwood is joined by Ukrainian comedian Anna Tirat-Gefen and John Kun, Vice President of the U.S. – Ukraine Foundation. Together, they discuss not only about the war in Ukraine, its implications, and how to support its victims, but also the role of COMEDY in Ukraine, why Ukrainians are funnier than Russians, and how humor is being used as an effective tool in a time of war.

Even if you think you already know everything there is to know about Ukraine and this war, we’d wager to bet you’ll learn a thing or two from this episode, and would wager even more that you’ll laugh out loud at least once. We also encourage you to go to www.usukraine.org to donate to the cause today!