Aaron Freeman (born June 8, 1956) is an American journalist,

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

, author, cartoonist, and

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

ger.

Career

During the 1990s, Freeman was the host of the weekly informational radio program ''Metropolis'' which was broadcast in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...

. He is also a commentator on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's flagship news program, ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

''. Freeman co-wrote and directed the stage comedy ''The Arab/Israeli Comedy Hour''. As a stand-up comedian, he is a member of the quartet the Israeli/Palestinian Comedy Tour. Freeman has performed with

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...

and performs with the

Second City Theater The second (symbol: s) is the unit of Time in physics, time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally t ...

. Along with long-time friend and collaborator Rob Kolson, he created the long-running political and financial comedy ''Do the White Thing'' and its sequel ''Gentlemen Prefer Bonds''. In 1983, Freeman created and performed the

satire Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

''Council Wars'', which was based on the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mon ...

when

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st Mayor of Chicago. Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor in April 1983. He served as ma ...

was mayor. For ten years, he hosted the television talk show ''Talking with Aaron Freeman''. He later hosted and was chief science correspondent for Chicago

Public Television Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

's science and technology program ''Chicago Tomorrow''. Freeman performs his

one-man show A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show or one-woman show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including auto ...

s ''News Today/Comedy Tonight'' and '' Kosher

Chitterlings Chitterlings (), sometimes spelled chitlins or chittlins, are the small intestines of domestic animals. They are usually made from pigs' intestines. They may also be filled with a forcemeat to make sausage.'' Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st ed ...

'' for business groups, Jewish groups, colleges, and associations throughout the United States.

Personal life

Freeman was born in Kankakee,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, and is a longtime resident of the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

area. He is a convert to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

from Roman Catholicism. He is married to artist Sharon Rosenzweig, with whom he collaborates on projects including the comic strip ''The Comic Torah''. He has twin daughters, Artemis and Diana, who were featured with Aaron on ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internatio ...

'' episode 17 ''Name Change / No Theme'', recorded during a trip to Chicago's

Navy Pier Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of parks, gardens, shops, restaurants, famil ...

.''This American Life'', "17: Name Change / No Theme"
March 21, 1996.

Books

* ''How to Say "I Love You" in 30 Languages'' * ''Baby Boomers - Acid Rock to Acid Reflux'' (2006); with Rebecca Rock * ''Confessions of a Lottery Ball, the Inside our world of Aaron Freeman'' (1987), * ''The Comic Torah" (2010) with Sharon Rosenzweig

References

External links

''The Comic Torah''
1956 births Living people African-American male comedians African-American comics creators American comics creators African-American journalists American male journalists American male comedians American bloggers African-American Jews Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism Writers from Chicago Comedians from Illinois 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American comedians American male bloggers 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people {{US-cartoonist-stub

Career

Personal life

Books

See also

References

External links