Andrew Boyd (born 1962) is an American author, humorist, and veteran of creative campaigns for social change. He led the decade-long satirical media campaign

Billionaires for Bush Billionaires for Bush was a culture jamming political street theater organization that satirically purported to support George W. Bush, drawing attention to policies which were perceived to benefit corporations and the super-wealthy. The group woul ...

. He co-founded Agit-Pop Communications, a "

subvertising Subvertising (a portmanteau of ''subversion (political), subvert'' and ''advertising'') is the practice of making spoofs or parody, parodies of corporation, corporate and politics, political advertising, advertisements. The cultural critic Mark ...

" agency, as well as the netroots social justice movement, The Other 98%. He's the author of five books: ''I Want a Better Catastrophe'', ''Beautiful Trouble'', ''Daily Afflictions'', ''Life’s Little Deconstruction Book'' and the ''Activist Cookbook.''

Biography

Andrew grew up in Manhattan while his father taught at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He attended

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and became radicalized around the global peace movement at 19. During a year off from university, he travelled to California where he attended his first nonviolence training in preparation for a big civil disobedience protest at the Lawrence Livermore nuclear weapons facility. This event began a lifelong passion for peace and justice. A pioneer of viral activism, Andrew was one of the driving forces behind ''

'' and the ''Million Billionaire March'' including events that pranked donors at elite fundraising events. He founded, and for several years directed, the arts and action program at

United for a Fair Economy United for a Fair Economy (UFE) is an American left-leaning nonprofit organization. Co-founded by Chuck Collins and Felice Yeskel in 1995, it describes itself as "raising awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corru ...

. He has taught "creative activism" at

. His writing has appeared in

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

and several anthologies on social movements. His first book, ''The Activist Cookbook: Creative Actions for a Fair Economy'' (

, 1997), is a hands-on manual that showcases media stunts, street theater skits, and creative direct actions from the labor and social justice movements. His second book, ''Life's Little Deconstruction Book: Self-Help for the Post-Hip'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1998), provides an introduction to theoretical posturing, a commentary on postmodernism, a subversive satire, and a tribute to the love-hate relationship some have with fashionable ideas. His third book, ''Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe'', published in 2002 by W. W. Norton & Company, is a dark, twisted, existential manifesto posing as a book of daily inspiration. His fourth book, ''Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution'' (

OR Books OR Books is a New York City-based independent publishing house founded by John Oakes and Colin Robinson in 2009. The company sells digital and Print on demand, print-on-demand books directly to the customer and focuses on creative promotion throug ...

, 2012), is an activist resource. It assembles the ideas of 10 organizations and over 70 individuals into a set of interlocking design principles. The complete work is a database of stories, tactics, principles, theories and methodologies. In 2018, Andrew was co-editor of the follow-up toolkit, ''Beautiful Rising: Creative Resistance from the Global South'' (

, 2018). The contents of both have been made available for free as part of the online learning platform ''Beautiful Trouble''. His most recent work ''I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope, and Gallows Humor'' was published in 2023. An excerpt of this was published in ''Dark Mount'' Issue 11 titled "12 Characters in Search of an Apocalypse". The collection of 12 short essays was turned into a travelling performance about climate change, '' 12 Characters in Search of an Apocalypse: On the Road'', that started in the UK and has spread to numerous other countries.

Books

As author

* ''I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope, and Gallows Humor'' (2023, New Society Publishers) * ''Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe'' (2002, W. W. Norton & Company) * ''Life's Little Deconstruction Book: Self-Help for the Post-Hip'' (1998, W. W. Norton & Company) } * ''The Activist Cookbook: Creative Actions for a Fair Economy'' (1997, United for a Fair Economy)

As editor

* ''Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution'' (2012, OR Books) * ''Beautiful Rising: Creative Resistance from the Global South'' (2018, OR Books)

Essays

* '' 12 Characters in Search of an Apocalypse'' - published in issue 11 of ''

The Dark Mountain Project Paul Kingsnorth (born 1972) is an English writer who lives in the west of Ireland. He is a former deputy editor of ''The Ecologist'' and a co-founder of the Dark Mountain Project. Kingsnorth's nonfiction writing tends to address macro themes l ...

References

External links

Andrew Boyd's website

I Want a Better Catastrophe, Andrew Boyd's upcoming book

Daily Afflictions website

Beautiful Trouble website

Beautiful Rising website

The Other 98% website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Andrew 1962 births Living people American male comedians University of Michigan alumni Comedians from Manhattan