Kambri Crews (born June 22, 1971) is an American comedic storyteller based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and author of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

bestseller ''Burn Down the Ground: A Memoir,'' a book about her chaotic childhood with deaf parents. Crews was spotlighted as a top comedy choice in the May 19, 2008 edition of ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'', which called her an "emerging monologist." Crews has also been referred to as a "world-class storyteller".

Career

As a CODA, Crews' storytelling is notable for mixing conventional monologues with the use of American Sign Language; and for finding the humor in even the most hair-raising of childhood memories. Crews' tales typically focus on her childhood in the deep woods of

Montgomery, Texas Montgomery is a city located in Montgomery County, Texas. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 1,948. History The town of Montgomery was founded in the middle of the Lake Creek Settlement by W. W. Shepperd in July 1837 on 200 ...

, where she lived in everything from a tin shed to a trailer to the tin shed again. Crews has performed at most of NYC's top indie comedy venues, including

Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette St ...

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. Prior t ...

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, Broadway Comedy Club, The Peoples Improv Theater,

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub, coffeehouse and folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to ''The Ot ...

, Comix NY, and famed literary venue

KGB (bar) KGB is a Soviet Union, Soviet-era themed ("Communist chic" ) bar located in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village of New York City at 85 E. 4th Street, New York, New York 10003. History Before its present incarnation, the building had been th ...

; and at such shows at

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's ''Sweet'', UCBT's ''School Night'', Liam McEneaney's ''Tell Your Friends'', and the NY/LA comedy show ''Mortified''. In October 2007, Crews created the alternative performance space Ochi's Lounge. Located in the lower level of Comix, Ochi's regularly featured open mics, produced shows and guest appearances by stars such as

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix si ...

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, Mike Daisey, Adam Wade and her husband Christian Finnegan. In addition to overseeing the performance space, she owns her PR and production company Ballyhoo Promotions. She is an Executive Producer of the ECNY Awards and served as the Executive Director of Marketing and Publicity for the comedy nightclub Comix NY from the club's inception in September 2006. She resigned from that post in September 2010 when Ochi's Lounge was closed by new owners of Comix and became the comedy booker for the 92nd Street Y's Tribeca location. Since October 2014, Crews has owned and operated the performance venue Q.E.D. Astoria in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...

. The venue has featured Leslie Jones,

Kate McKinnon Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), of which she was a cas ...

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, Chris Gethard,

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, Christian Finnegan,

, Adam Conover, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,

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, Michelle Wolf,

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, Laurie Kilmartin, Ophira Eisenberg, Josh Gondelman, John Early, Hasan Minaj, Morgan Murphy,

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, Mike Lawrence,

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, Myq Kaplan, Baratunde Thurson,

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, Michelle Buteau, and

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Personal life

Most prominent in Crews's stories is her father, who was the seventh of ten children of farmers, born completely deaf, and "the black sheep of his very strict Christian family." The summer before Crews entered her senior year at Richland High School, her father attacked her mother. Crews was able to stop the attack and dial 911. He was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. At seventeen years of age and still in high school, she married a 23-year-old man in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

with her mother’s legal permission since Crews was under the age of consent. On June 29, 2002, her father was arrested for the attempted murder of his girlfriend; an act for which he was sentenced to 20-years in a Texas prison and died on July 10, 2020. Crews' memoir includes prose versions of many of her performance pieces. She also provides updates about her father in her blog, LoveDaddy.org, and an essay about her childhood was published by Hillary Carlip on FreshYarn.com. She is the great-niece to

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

recipient John R. Crews.

References

External links

Crews' personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crews, Kambri American storytellers Women storytellers American women comedians Writers from Texas Writers from New York (state) 21st-century American women writers American women bloggers American bloggers People from Tulsa, Oklahoma People from Montgomery, Texas Living people 1971 births People from North Richland Hills, Texas 21st-century American comedians