Kambri Crews
Kambri Crews (born June 22) is an American comedic storyteller and writer based in New York City. Crews was spotlighted as a top comedy choice in the May 19, 2008 edition of Time Out New York, which called her an "emerging monologist." Crews has also been referred to as a "world class storyteller."
Crews has performed at most of NYC's top indie comedy venues, including Comix, Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, The Peoples Improv Theater, Rififi, The Slipper Room, The Bitter End, and Lolita Bar; and at such shows at Seth Herzog's Sweet, UCBT's School Night, Liam McEneaney's Tell Your Friends, Speakeasy: Tales from the Back Room, The Moth, 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 Lounge regularly features open mics, produced shows and guest appearances by stars such as David Cross, Zach Galifianakis, Jim Gaffigan, John Oliver, Mike Daisey, Adam Wade and her husband Christian Finnegan. In addition to overseeing the performance space, she owns her own PR and production company Ballyhoo Promotions and is the Director of Publicity for the comedy nightclub Comix NY.
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, where she lived in everything from a tin shed to a trailer to a barn.
Most prominent in the stories is her father, who was the seventh of 10 children of farmers, born completely deaf, and "the black sheep of his very strict Christian family." The summer before Crews entered her senior year in 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 age 17 years old and still in high school, she married a 23 year old sailor with her mother's legal permission.
On June 29, 2002, her father was arrested for the attempted murder of his girlfriend ; an act for which he's currently serving a 20 year sentence in a Texas prison. Crews is currently writing a book that 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.
