Will Durst (b. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
March 18, 1952) is an American political satirist; a modern mix of Mort Sahl and
Will Rogers.
Durst co-hosted a daily morning
talk radio show with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown on San Francisco's
progressive talk radio station, KQKE.
His humor comes from a liberal perspective. He has performed at events featuring
Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Al Gore. He also speaks at many Governors
Conferences and various Mayors Conventions. He was a correspondent for The Comedy
Channel during the 1992 political conventions.
He has a common approach, using his view of illogical and absurd aspects of
politics, leadership, and human behavior to fuel his humor and commentaries.
Having had over 150 jobs in his lifetime, Durst
claims "he can relate to the common working man".
He writes several Internet columns, contributes to Independent Media Institute's
Alternet.org on a regular basis, is a former contributing editor to National
Lampoon and George, and has contributed to various periodicals such as the New
York Times, the The Funny Times and his hometown San Francisco Chronicle. His
podcasts can be heard on audible.com.
An Emmy nominee and host/co-producer of the PBS series Livelyhood, he is also
a regular commentator on NPR, CNN, and C-SPAN. He has appeared on Late Night
With David Letterman, Comedy Central, HBO and Showtime. He received seven consecutive
nominations for the American Comedy Awards Stand Up Comedian of the Year.
In 2000, Durst was used as a
phone-a-friend lifeline on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire by contestant Rudy
Reber. The question, worth $500,000, was "who directed Michael Jackson's
music video for the song Bad". After hearing the choices, Durst
said "Landis," as in director John Landis. Reber locked it in as his
final answer, which was wrong. (Martin Scorsese was the correct answer). Reber
lost $218,000. Durst later wrote
an article for TV Guide on the incident.
Will premiered his one man show "The All-American Sport of BiPartisan
Bashing" at the New World Stages Off Broadway in New York City August 2007
to rave reviews from both the New York Times and the New York Post.