Sara Benincasa

Sara Benincasa

Benincasa moderating the
"Comedians as Authors" panel at the 2014 Brooklyn Book Festival
Nationality United States of American
Genres Comedy
Notable works and roles MTV's 2008 Think campaign
Get in Bed on Sirius XM Satellite Radio

Sara Benincasa is an American comedian, writer and radio talk show host. She was a citizen journalist for MTV covering the 2008 United States presidential election as part of MTV's 2008 Emmy Award-winning Think campaign.[1]

Early life

Benincasa has a degree in creative writing from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. She has an M.A. in Secondary School Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.[2]

Career

Benincasa co-hosted the Cosmo Radio sex/relationship talk show Get in Bed on Sirius XM Satellite Radio[3] until September 2010, when Sirius XM reduced the channel's programming schedule and let go several of the channel's hosts. She then started a podcast with Marcus Parks called "Sex and Other Human Activities" which features a sex questions segment (using questions sent via email and Formspring) that launched in February 2011. The September 19, 2012, episode, entitled "End of an Era," is described as "Sara's final show on the old SAOHA."

Benincasa in 2007

Benincasa was featured on Nerve.com's BlogALog as a comedic blogger. Her last post on the SJ1000 blog was April 1, 2008, in which she suggested that followers missing her internet presence go to her official website, her Myspace page, her MTV Think profile, or her blog.[4] Along with her blog, Benincasa filmed a series of interviews titled Tub Talk with Sara B. The series featured Benincasa in a bathtub with various comedic personalities, including Reggie Watts, Jonathan Ames, and Andy Borowitz.[5] Benincasa has since revamped the web series on her YouTube account as Gettin' Wet with Sara Benincasa. Interviewees include Margaret Cho, Donald Glover, Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, and James Urbaniak.

In September 2008 she began producing a vlog in which she parodies the role of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.[6] She is particularly attentive to Palin's Midwestern/Alaska accent.[7] These vlogs were uploaded to Benincasa's YouTube profile, until a partnership with Huffington Post's humor site 23/6 was established and the vlogs were moved to the twentythreesix YouTube page. She has since also honed a parody of Minnesota Republican congresswoman Michele Bachmann in the same vein.

In 2009, Benincasa developed a one-woman show about her experiences with agoraphobia and panic attacks.[8] She has since sold the literary rights to Agorafabulous! to William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins.[9]

Benincasa has contributed to the website Jezebel, has plans to continue her series of celebrity bathtub interviews, and has been touring with her comedy act. Her appearances on panels and as a performer at SF Sketchfest and during "Family Hour with Auntie Sara" have been a springboard for her new comedy material and as a launchpad for other comics.

Personal life

Benincasa lives in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Street Team '08: SaraBenincasaNY". MTV.
  2. ↑ https://www.takepart.com/author/sara-benincasa
  3. ↑ "Sirius Satellite Radio - Cosmo Radio", Sirius.com "Cosmo Radio", October 20, 2008.
  4. ↑ Sara Benincasa, "Last Dance, Last Dance, Last Dance, Last Dance...For Loooooooooooove!", Nerve.com BlogALog "SJ1000", April 1, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Tub Talk with Sara B.", Nerve.com Video, October 20, 2008.
  6. ↑ Brian Braiker, "The Palin Parodists", Newsweek "Web Exclusive", September 3, 2008.
  7. ↑ Luchina Fisher, "Will the Real Sarah Palin Please Stand Up?", ABC News, September 15, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Former shut-in Sara Benincasa feels Agorafabulous", Charleston City Paper.
  9. ↑ "Comedian Sara Benincasa's show about agoraphobia coming to book, film form", Punchline Magazine.
  10. ↑ http://qedastoria.com/collections/sara-benincasa

External links

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