Lawrence Bogad (www.lmbogad.com; Associate Professor, University of California at Davis) is an author, performer, and activist. His book, Electoral Guerrilla Theatre: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements, is an international study of creative activists who run for public office as a prank. That book, and his many articles on political performance, are used in numerous college classes on guerrilla theatre. Bogad works on the intersection between art and activism, and on the role of humor and imagination in organizing social movements. He has written, performed, and strategized with guerrilla theatre groups such as the Yes Men, Billionaires for Bush/Billionaires for Wealthcare, Absurd Response, Reclaim the Streets, and the Oil Enforcement Agency.

Bogad has led Tactical Performance workshops internationally (recently in Reykyavik, and in New York for the College of Tactical Culture), and as “Humanities and Political Conflict” Fellow at Arizona State University and at Carnegie Mellon University both as an “Art and Controversy” Fellow, and as a Distinguished Lecturer on Performance and Politics. The British Academy and British Arts and Humanities Research Council funded his documentary, “Radical Ridicule: Serious Play and the Republican National Convention.”

Bogad's produced plays have covered topics such as the Haymarket Square Confrontation, the FBI's COINTELPRO activities, the Pinochet coup in Chile, and global climate chaos. He is a veteran of the Lincoln Center Theatre Director's Laboratory, and a co-founder of the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army. His play, COINTELSHOW: A Patriot Act, will be published in 2010 by PM Press.

            Bogad was a Lead Writer/Editor-In-Mischief on two recent Yes Men prank newspaper projects which garnered international attention. These “special editions” of the International Herald Tribune (iht.greenpeace.org) and the New York Post (www.nypost-se.com) were attempts to draw greater public attention to the Copenhagen Climate Summit and the larger issues of climate change.

            Bogad has been a commentator on political performance on Air America, NPR, Pacifica, Peace Radio, and other radio stations and programs.