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Event Program
FRI, MAY 30
Negin Farsad is the host of the podcast Fake the Nation and a regular panelist on Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! She is the director of the films Nerdcore Rising and The Muslims Are Coming!, and her romantic comedy, 3rd Street Blackout, is streaming on Peacock. She was selected as a TEDFellow for her work in social justice comedy and can be seen in Birdgirl, Not Okay, and Hillary Clinton's Apple TV+ show, Gutsy. Farsad's debut memoir, How to Make White People Laugh, was nominated for the Thurber Prize for Humor.
Negin Farsad is the host of the podcast Fake the Nation and a regular panelist on Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! She is the director of the films Nerdcore Rising and The Muslims Are Coming!, and her romantic comedy, 3rd Street Blackout, is streaming on Peacock. She was selected as a TEDFellow for her work in social justice comedy and can be seen in Birdgirl, Not Okay, and Hillary Clinton's Apple TV+ show, Gutsy. Farsad's debut memoir, How to Make White People Laugh, was nominated for the Thurber Prize for Humor.
Emily Flake is a cartoonist, writer, performer, illustrator, and teacher living in Brooklyn, New York. Her work appears regularly in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, and many other publications. Her most recent book is Joke in a Box: How to Write and Draw Jokes. In 2023, she was nominated for a WGA award for her work on Command-Z, a web series directed by Steven Soderbergh. Her drawings appeared on Broadway in 2024 as part of All In: Stories About Love, based on the work of Simon Rich. She co-hosts a regular comedy show called FDK with fellow comedian Hollie Harper, and performs all over New York and beyond. She is the founder and proprietor of St. Nell’s, a residency program for women and non-binary creators working in any creative discipline, based in Williamsport, PA. Flake was a Yaddo fellow in 2025. She has won two pie-baking contests and she’s very smug about it.
Emily Flake is a cartoonist, writer, performer, illustrator, and teacher living in Brooklyn, New York. Her work appears regularly in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, and many other publications. Her most recent book is Joke in a Box: How to Write and Draw Jokes. In 2023, she was nominated for a WGA award for her work on Command-Z, a web series directed by Steven Soderbergh. Her drawings appeared on Broadway in 2024 as part of All In: Stories About Love, based on the work of Simon Rich. She co-hosts a regular comedy show called FDK with fellow comedian Hollie Harper, and performs all over New York and beyond. She is the founder and proprietor of St. Nell’s, a residency program for women and non-binary creators working in any creative discipline, based in Williamsport, PA. Flake was a Yaddo fellow in 2025. She has won two pie-baking contests and she’s very smug about it.
Zach Sherwin is a Los Angeles–based comedian who has written for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Epic Rap Battles of History, and MAD Magazine, and performed on America’s Got Talent, The Pete Holmes Show, and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. He is also the creator and host of The Crossword Show, in which a panel of comedians solves a crossword puzzle live onstage in front of an audience. In 2022, he published his debut crossword in The New York Times. For more, please visit linktree.com/zachsherwin.
Zach Sherwin is a Los Angeles–based comedian who has written for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Epic Rap Battles of History, and MAD Magazine, and performed on America’s Got Talent, The Pete Holmes Show, and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. He is also the creator and host of The Crossword Show, in which a panel of comedians solves a crossword puzzle live onstage in front of an audience. In 2022, he published his debut crossword in The New York Times. For more, please visit linktree.com/zachsherwin.
This program is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Seedlings Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Charina Endowment Fund, Susan Bay Nimoy, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, PECO Foundation, Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, Michael Tuch Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation, The Grodzins Fund, and The Isambard Kingdom Brunel Society of North America.
This program is also made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.
Kathy Landau Executive Director
Peg Wreen Managing Director
Isaiah Sheffer*
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1990)
Artistic Director (1990-2010)
Founding Artistic Director (2010-2012)
Allan Miller
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1990)
Jennifer Brennan Director of Literary Programs
Drew Richardson Lead Producer of Literary Programs
Vivienne Woodward Producer of Literary Programs
Mary Shimkin Director of Broadcast & Literary Initiatives
Matthew Love Consultant for Literary Programs
Magdalene Wrobleski Literary Assistant
Leigh Reid Literary Intern
Mia Testa Literary Intern
*in memoriam
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