Oakland roots:
Moshe Kasher gets “Problematic” on Comedy Central.
Moshe Kasher is doing a one-on-one phone interview, but he gives off the vibe of a pre-cable daytime talk show host.
He has a way of making all parties feel comfortable, preferring discussion over monologue, before bringing a (slightly more profane) maelstrom of Phil Donahue-style hot takes.
“What the (expletive) happened to Berkeley, man?” Kasher says, referring to a recent brawl between pro-Trump and anti-Trump forces in the East Bay city. “Literally, you have all-white barbarian hordes storming the gate. It’s some Lannister ‘Game of Thrones’ (expletive).”
It’s proof that “Problematic,” Kasher’s new Comedy Central show that airs Tuesday nights, is more than an act. Kasher has been a full-time comedian of growing success since he moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles in 2008. But his strongest talent may be as a ringmaster, integrating a series of guests and audience members seated in the round, as he tackles a single subject of societal import.
On the first episode, titled “Cultural Appropriation,” which aired Tuesday, April 18, Kasher admitted to using the n-word when he was a teen (“growing up in Oakland, I
spent my entire teenage life trying to be down”) before deconstructing his own bad choices. The show ends with a hilarious cultural appropriation rap featuring Kasher and hip-hop legend MC Serch.
But in between is a thoughtful and often bracingly personal discussion with his guests, including “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris. And while the opinions are as strong as anything in the genre — Australian rapper Iggy Azalea is skewered without mercy — there’s no false outrage or pressure for the participants to argue.
Kasher says he plans to leave lampooning Donald Trump’s latest moves to the expert hands of John Oliver, Samantha Bee and Trevor Noah, and instead concentrate on the social and political forces bubbling underneath the headlines.
“We’ll talk about the tectonic plates upon which the news cycle is forming,” Kasher says. “We talk about the social forces rather than about specific news stories.”
The comedian says he’s comfortable with that format, in large part because of his Bay Area roots. Born in Queens to deaf parents, he moved to Oakland when he was a year old.
Kasher had a rebellious and self-destructive streak, which included getting kicked out of multiple high schools. His 2012 book sums up that history in the title: “Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy from Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and then turned 16.”
But Kasher, 37, says the good in his life, including the will to overcome obstacles — he received a degree with honors from UC Santa Barbara — came from the Bay Area as well. He fondly recalls performing at small venues, including the Stork Club in Oakland and the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco. He’s looking forward to returning for the June 2-4 Colossal Clusterfest, where Kasher and his comedian wife Natasha Leggero will each perform two sets.
“I was on my mother’s shoulders at antiwar protests when I was a baby,” Kasher says. “The Bay Area is everything to me and my background. I grew up in Oakland and I started comedy in San Francisco, and that is part and parcel of who I am and what my voice is.”
One thing he doesn’t expect: a request to speak at one of his former high schools, including Oakland Tech.
“Hell no,” Kasher says, laughing at the prospect. “I’m probably on a permanent ‘do not talk’ list. Although I do one day want to ask to be the commencement speaker at UC Santa Barbara … so I can have my David Foster Wallace ‘This is Water’ moment.”
Kasher says “Problematic” was launched from discussions between Kasher and “@midnight” executive producer Alex Blagg, who was looking for a middle ground between the seriousness of “The Daily Show” and the rapid-fire frivolity of “@midnight.”
If anything, the finished product is more serious than both shows. Kasher talks about future episodes, including one covering technology, where the proceedings get downright sentimental.
“A talk show host in the old-school way is the highest praise we could get,” Kasher says. “That’s exactly what we were going for. TV has become so churning and mechanical. I wanted something that harkens back to the era where you just feel like you’re hanging out with the host.”
“I grew up in Oakland and I started comedy in San Francisco, and that is part and parcel of who I am and what my voice is.” Moshe Kasher