Karinda Dobbins is an American comedian. She co-produces the monthly comedy show The Resistance! alongside Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, has regularly opened for W. Kamau Bell,[1] and additionally opened for Trevor Noah, Gina Yashere, Michelle Wolf, and Dave Chappelle.[2] [3] [4] She has performed at festivals such as the Desi Comedy Fest,[5] the Portland Queer Comedy Festival,[6] Bridgetown Comedy Festival, and Comedy Central's Colossal Clusterfest.[7] In 2019, SFist named her one of their 13 San Francisco Standup Comedians to Go See Now.[8]
Dobbins was raised in Detroit. Her nickname was "Cool Breeze" due to her even temperament.[9] Her family was politically engaged, which would later inform her brand of comedy.[10] While "still playing straight," (XRAY.fm podcast, 6:36) Dobbins became pregnant and had a daughter, who was born in 1993.[1] Before moving to California, Dobbins knew she wanted to come out as a lesbian to her mother, which she did. She came out to the rest of her family in Detroit the following Thanksgiving. (XRAY.fm podcast, 7:07)
Dobbins began her career in the bio-tech industry.[1] In 2009, Dobbins performed—on a dare from her girlfriend—for the first time at an open mic night at Woody’s, a laundromat café in Oakland, California.[2] [10] [11] Incidentally, she was the only person who signed up. She proceeded to perform a seven-minute set. (XRAY.fm podcast, 5:15)
In 2011, she performed at San Francisco Woman Against Rape's She Who Laughs Lasts.[12] In 2013, she opened for acts such as W. Kamau Bell[13] and performed at venues such as the Great American Music Hall.[14] In 2015, she headlined Gay for Days, Oakland's only queer comedy show[15] and was featured on Put Your Hands Together, River Butcher and Cameron Esposito's live podcast.[16] In 2016, she performed at the 20th Annual Michigan LGBTQ ComedyFest.[17] In 2017, she appeared at Amado's for The Setup: Stand up Comedy in the Mission.[18] In 2018, she was named as a judge for Literary Death Match, a competition of Litquake.[19] She also performed as a special guest for the Oakland LGBT Center and Pride Film Fest's QTPOComedy Takeover fundraiser[20] and the Novvato Theater Company's Third Annual Comedy Festival.[21] Additionally, she played shows such as Woman Crush Wednesday at the Hollywood Improv,
In 2019, she performed at SF Sketchfest,[22] headlined Brava Theater Center's Who’s Your Mami Comedy,[23] headlined the show Comedy with Liz Grant and Friends,[24] and performed at Minority Retort Presents,[25] Freight & Salvage's Pride Comedy Night,[26] Real Pain Fine Arts in Los Angeles,[27] and in San Francisco Women Against Rape's 14th Annual Walk Against Rape.[28] She also performed at MAKE IT STOP: A Night to Raise Money and Some Hell for Gun Reform Candidates, with all proceeds going to One Vote at a Time, a group of female filmmakers who were making free professional campaign videos for candidates in state elections who were committed to gun reform.[29]
Dobbins has been compared to Dave Chappelle and Paul Mooney. One of her personal comedy icons is Moms Mabley.[2]
| Date | Show | Episode | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | We Want the Airwaves | "Cool Breeze: An Interview with Karinda Dobbins" | |
| 2017 | Politically Re-Active LIVE![31] | "Comedy in the Trump Era" | |
| 2017 | Live Wire with Luke Burbank[32] | Episode 348: "Tell It Like It Is with Loudon Wainwright III, Bruce Campbell, and Karinda Dobbins" | |
| 2017 | Midlife Mixtape[33] | Episode 3 | |
| 2017 | Sights & Sounds on KALW[34] | ||
| 2018 | The Spice Cabinet[35] | "Seafood Boil with Karinda Dobbins" | |
| 2018 | Quiz-o-Tron[36] | "Quizlet! Karinda Dobbins on Who Even Needs Plasma Anyway" | |
| 2018 | Sup Doc[37] | "The United States of Detroit with director Tylor Norwood and comedian Karinda Dobbins" | |
| 2019 | XRAY.fm[38] | "Minority Retort with comedian Karinda Dobbins" |