Satire, right -- but comics’ punch lines veer to the left

With President Bush and Republicans in power, Democrats haven’t had much to smile about for a long while. But, confident that the mocking satire so finely honed at Comedy Central can be ideologically persuasive, a young crew of comedians is setting out to inspire the masses.

The comedy troupe “Laughing Liberally” is coming to L.A.’s Wadsworth Theatre at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The event will feature eight stand-up comics, each offering a pointedly liberal perspective on politics and current events.

It’s a given that critics of Bush will dominate the L.A. audience, as they did when the troupe performed before a sold-out crowd at New York’s Town Hall in February. Still, Justin Krebs, one of the organizers, says the group has a long-term goal: to help people feel more comfortable with left-leaning views and to appeal to those from rural and conservative areas of the country.

“Comedy, because it’s nuanced and smart and sophisticated and catchy, is actually a really good vehicle for liberal ideas,” Krebs said. “Before they know it, [people] are repeating something that gets them to think twice about the war, to think twice about the disparity of wealth.”

The lineup will include well-known comics Will Durst and Marc Maron, plus Dean Obeidallah, Rick Overton, Katie Halper, Shang Forbes, James Adomian and Jim David.

For many of them, politics is a passion.

While growing up in New York’s Upper West Side, Halper, a 24-year-old filmmaker and political activist who helped develop “Laughing Liberally,” attended summer camps on social justice and as a young girl talked about sexism and racism as often as her playmates talked about toys and candy.

She had planned to become a human rights lawyer, but after she did her first stand-up as a student at Wesleyan University, her life took a different path. “I do a lot of stuff ironically and tongue in cheek,” said Halper, who views Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert as her role model. “No one’s pedantic or preachy, because I think that’s alienating to people, even if they are on your side.”

Indeed, while the organizers of “Laughing Liberally” happily embrace the political label demonized by Republicans, they’re less inclined to call themselves Democrats and won’t campaign for them on stage.

“We’re more about progressive values than about candidates,” Halper said. “Because, unfortunately, so many Democrats don’t live up to the progressive values that they espouse -- or that they don’t even espouse.”

-- Barbara Serrano