Keynote Speaker
Nancy Giles
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“CBS Sunday Morning Contributor, comedian, and actress” hardly describes the wit, wisdom, and wackiness of Nancy Giles, the closing keynote speaker for NACE’s Annual Conference in New Orleans in May 2008.
“I want to make people laugh and I want to entertain them, but I also want to provoke thought and discussion,” says Giles. On topics ranging from popular culture and body image to creativity and racial bias, Giles is a commanding presence—someone with something witty and compassionate to say to all of us.
Giles is the writer and performer of the one-woman shows, Notes of a Negro Neurotic and Black Comedy: The Wacky Side of Racism, which the Village Voice called “smart and unforgiving.” A self-described “sixfoot, one-inch black woman who’s not model-thin,” Giles has made her mark dismantling misconceptions about race, feminism, and sexism.
Her acclaimed work on CBS Sunday Morning has provided the largest audience yet for her unique blend of laugh-out-loud humor and common sense wisdom. Whether she’s recalling the first rapper she ever heard (Robert Preston doing “Trouble” in The Music Man), celebrating Black History Month (as a schoolgirl she only had “Negro History Week,” and her mother, “Colored People Hour”) or decrying America’s obsession with Botox and plastic surgery (“when I stop having visible signs of aging, that’ll mean that I’m dead,”) Giles brings vibrant energy and a hip, alternative feel that helps distinguish the program from others.
Born in Queens, New York, she graduated from Oberlin College and spent three years with Chicago’s esteemed Second City improv troupe, an experience she describes as “freeing and horrifying.” Winner of the Theater World Award for the off-Broadway musical, Mayor, Giles appeared for three seasons
as Frankie in the TV drama, China Beach, and played Connie the waitress in the sitcom Delta. She has guest starred on such programs as Spin City, Law & Order, and Fresh Prince. Her movie credits include New York Stories, Big, and Working Girl. When Giles realized that black actresses were mostly limited to playing “crack addicts, social workers, and boring judges,” and, at her height, “if I’m lucky, I will go up against Ru Paul for the callback,” she decided to strike out as a writer/performer on her own.