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Downloaded from
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YTS.MX
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An artist who's able
to take their lived experience
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and then use it for some social change,
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they are the ones that have
the ability to change the world.
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I told my mother when I was 14
I wanted to be a comedian, and she said...
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..."Oh, maybe it's better if you just die."
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If you see
a queer stand-up comedian,
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I don't think
you understand the adversities
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they've overcome to end up
on your television screens,
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in your movies,
even on your Instagram feed.
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I stink at this, so...
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Do I look okay?
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Back when I was starting,
there weren't very many queer comics.
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You were more likely to hear about drugs
than you were about being gay.
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When I started out,
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if someone were talking about being gay,
most people would be shaking their head
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or make sure
they understood what they heard.
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Everyone can tell you a story
where, you know, somebody shouted, "Fag!"
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Once, somebody said, "Jew!"
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I said, "Yes?"
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I wasn't open when I started comedy...
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forty years ago.
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What the fuck?!
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It was scary for people.
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They had to be in the closet
to protect their career
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and then had to make
that difficult decision.
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"I'm going to be out.
I'm not hiding it anymore."
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It was like, "Enough already. Things have
got to change. Things have got to evolve."
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"Let's just get on with it."
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{\an8}The revolution will not be televised.
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This is not a movement
about sexual preferences.
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{\an8}It is a movement about the right to love.
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If I never had sex with a woman again,
I would still be a lesbian.
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It was very important
the idea that we could be seen,
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that we should be seen,
and that we can be funny.
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I would not be a happy lesbian.
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There's a lot of people who've come
before us. We've been doing this awhile.
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A very big crew of people
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that transcend time and era.
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It's been such
a journey that we've taken.
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Queer comics, queer history,
that all deserves to be talked about,
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and now is the time where people can.
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Are you all ready to make history?
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{\an8}
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We're doing a show
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{\an8}with 22 LGBTQ+ performers.
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That would not have happened 20 years ago.
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It's incredible.
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It is much better for me
to be a stand-up comedian now
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{\an8}than it has been
in any other time in history.
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{\an8}Because for a very long time,
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people like me
didn't get to be part of the game.
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Being gay was something you had to be
scared admitting in your private life.
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When I was a young comic,
there was a lot of homophobia.
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{\an8}You had to be careful what you did,
and who you talked to, and who knew.
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That's what the times
were like back then, right?
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Where it threatened your entire career,
your whole life.
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Hey. Gays just wanna have fun.
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All kinds of comedy is accepted now.
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I never thought
it would be possible in my lifetime.
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As long as you're happy with it.
- Very happy.
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That's good.
- Yeah. We're all freaking out.
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{\an8}Like, all of us in one room together.
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{\an8}It's crazy. Yeah.
It really is. Very special.
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{\an8}By the time I came up,
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{\an8}I remember I was
about to do Last Comic Standing.
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{\an8}I asked, "Do I need to, like,
be worried about coming out?"
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"My joke that I'm about to tell
on national television
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is just about me being gay."
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They go, "Yeah. That's who you are."
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"No reason to hide who you are."
And I was like,
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"Cool!"
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That really is because of all the people
that came before me.
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This girl has been thrown out of countries
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{\an8}because of her rabid interest
in the feminist movement,
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{\an8}and she's done so much to help women,
and let's welcome her now.
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Robin Tyler!
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Sometimes, um,
people get upset with my material.
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I don't know why...
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...'cause I'm just telling the truth,
but a lot of times they get upset.
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I remember one guy stood up,
and he was so nasty to me.
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"Hey, uh,
I don't like what you're saying."
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Then he said the one thing
that was supposed to upset me. He said,
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"Hey, are you a lesbian?"
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And I said,
"Hey, are you the alternative?"
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When did you first realize
you were gay?
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{\an8}When I... the doctor delivered me and--
Actually, he didn't.
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My mother delivered me,
and the doctor hit me, and I hit him back,
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and I knew that I was a lesbian.
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I came out in, uh...
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When I was 16 years old, in 1958.
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I called myself a "little prairie dyke"
'cause I was from Canadian prairies.
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I read one little article,
and the article said,
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"If you're a woman and you love
another woman, what you are is a lesbian."
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"Everybody could tell you you're wrong,
but it feels right to you, it's right."
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{\an8}Signed, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.
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{\an8}And so I thought, "That's great.
I'm a lesbian. I'm gonna tell everyone."
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I thought it was
like finding out that I was an Aries.
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So I went home and told my mother,
and she did not take it well.
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But because of the one piece
of literature, I was never guilty,
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never was in the closet.
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Closets are vertical coffins.
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All you do is suffocate to death.
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So I moved to New York in 1962,
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and I met a woman
who looked just like Audrey Hepburn,
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Pat Harrison,
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and I said, "I'm in love with you
and I'm gonna marry you."
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Her partner did not take it
very well.
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But the fact is
I ended up with Patti for 55 years.
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And Patti and I became
the comedy team of Harrison and Tyler.
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I'd like to tell you here and now
that Patti and I met in a very usual way.
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Yeah, I was driving the truck
and she was loading it.
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You know,
in those days we did feminist material,
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but also our audiences
were all gay and lesbian.
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We were beginning to see
more people coming out at the time
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because lesbian and gay civil rights
were becoming a movement.
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In 1969, Stonewall happens.
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{\an8}In the gay world, it had a real resonance
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{\an8}because this was the first time
that we stood up for ourselves.
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The Stonewall Rebellion
is popularly regarded
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as the beginnings of gay militancy.
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Stonewall was a bar
in Greenwich Village in New York.
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{\an8}Popular gay hangout.
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{\an8}Police came to raid the place.
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People decided to fight back.
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It started a political movement,
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and the political movement
was ultimately about being out.
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Young, countercultural gay people
were looking to have their revolution.
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{\an8}Queerness has existed
and will always exist in this country.
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Stonewall is
an extraordinarily important touchstone,
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{\an8}but it didn't start there.
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{\an8}There were certainly people who had made
a name for themselves in pre-World War II.
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{\an8}Rae Bourbon is, I think,
a perfect example of that.
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Now,
in spite of rumors to the contrary,
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{\an8}my name is Rae and not Mary.
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And if there's any vicious gossip
you might have heard,
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well, I assure you, it's quite absurd.
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There was a lot of progress
made in the '20s in terms of visibility.
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But the Depression and then World War II
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brought us into an era of conservatism.
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After World War II,
as there was a Red Scare,
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{\an8}there was a Lavender Scare,
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{\an8}where it was thought that gay people
were a threat to American security.
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Most of the stand-up that was going on
in the 1950s and '60s
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was the straight men.
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And for many of these comics,
the defining feature of their comedy
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is their fear of seeming gay.
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You know, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner,
great, great comics,
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but so much of their material
centered around fear and anxiety
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about possibly seeming gay.
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I'm always fascinated
when you tell us personal things
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{\an8}about the great historical figures.
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Um, one who intrigues me, General Custer.
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A fag.
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No, we're talking
about General Custer. He was a general.
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Hey, I was there, Charlie.
He's a fag.
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It was a very repressive period.
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But in the post-Stonewall era,
you start to see a whole cultural shift,
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and I think that cultural shift
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was reflected in the kinds
of comedy that gets produced.
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Last chance.
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If, in 20 minutes, no one
has signed up for the blind date barbecue,
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{\an8}I am going to cancel
the blind date barbecue.
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{\an8}Harrison and Tyler briefly had
a late-night TV show, which I wrote.
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I am going to cancel
the cigarette-rolling tournament,
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and I am going to go downstairs
and do something foul to the jacuzzi.
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They were extremely hip,
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and on-screen
and off-screen they were a team,
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but they were not out on television.
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Good morning, Angel.
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- Good morning, Red.
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Mind if I smoke?
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Oh, gee. Not at all.
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{\an8}At that time, it wasn't commonly accepted
to say you were gay on stage,
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unless you were playing to
a strictly gay audience and gay community,
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in a place where everybody there
knew you were gay,
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so you might as well discuss it.
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I used to play
the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
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Total middle-of-the-road.
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Business execs or, you know,
upscale people,
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but I'd have the dress code
taken off weeknights,
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and you would see lesbians in there
dancing in overalls and flip-flops.
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And the little glasses.
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That was great.
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I've never considered myself
a classical stand-up.
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It was always about the characters.
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I'm here on behalf
of the heterosexual community,
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doing community outreach
to the homosexual community,
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uh, and I brought the Quiche of Peace.
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I'll tell you, quite truthfully,
a lot of us in Calumet City used to think
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that quiche actually caused homosexuality.
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You know, real men just don't eat quiche.
I know they can't spell it.
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I think I did characters,
from the beginning,
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out of a desire
to make a world that was better.
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This is Miss Ernestine Tomlin of the AT&T.
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I felt like Ernestine
could change the world.
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Like she would stop AT&T
from being a monopoly,
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and things would be better.
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- No, no, that's not a country.
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No, no, we're much bigger than that.
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Very often, the comedy's reflecting
what we're living through.
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And maybe they're showing you
the way, or telling you,
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or giving you a hint
about how things could be.
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There's these two pretty ladies
that live down the block
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in that green house
with three dogs in the yard,
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and I asked them
why there's no daddy at their house,
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and they said it's
because they are lesbians.
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And I've seen them kiss each other goodbye
on their porch yesterday.
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I think I will change my name
from Edith Ann to "Lesbian."
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I think it sounds cute.
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I mean, I was somewhat out in terms
of just in the general gay audience.
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I'd never made a declaration
or had a press conference or anything,
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and it was the '70s anyway.
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They had offered me the cover
of Time in '75 to come out,
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and I was just insulted that they thought
I would trade my sexuality or my life
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to be on the cover of Time.
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{\an8}They really wanted
to just do an article on gay people,
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which was fine,
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but it was very early to come out.
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The world was still not so cool.
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{\an8}♪ Jesus loves me... ♪
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Anita Bryant was once known
as an orange juice saleswoman.
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Not anymore.
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Her group is crusading
to repeal a new Dade County law,
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which protects homosexuals
in jobs and housing.
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00:13:29,517 --> 00:13:32,770
Anita Bryant was... a "singer."
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And Anita Bryant
decided she was born-again,
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and she decided to make a campaign
out of taking homosexual rights away.
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And all over the country,
they began to come against gay rights.
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{\an8}We talk about the danger of the homosexual
becoming a role model to our children.
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It would have far-reaching effects
on our children and on our nation.
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You know,
I don't mind them being born-again,
234
00:13:55,167 --> 00:13:57,878
but why do they
have to come back as themselves?
235
00:13:57,878 --> 00:14:01,382
Homosexuals cannot reproduce biologically,
236
00:14:01,382 --> 00:14:04,969
but they have to reproduce
by recruiting our children.
237
00:14:06,095 --> 00:14:07,972
My name is Harvey Milk,
238
00:14:08,472 --> 00:14:10,182
and I'm here to recruit you!
239
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:14,520
{\an8}I'm tired of listening
to the Anita Bryants
240
00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,566
{\an8}twist the language of the Bible
to fit their own distorted outlook.
241
00:14:21,068 --> 00:14:23,696
Comedy, it became an act of resistance.
242
00:14:23,696 --> 00:14:25,197
To be able to make them laugh,
243
00:14:25,197 --> 00:14:27,741
and the minute
they make them laugh and relax, boom,
244
00:14:28,242 --> 00:14:29,410
you know, you have them.
245
00:14:29,410 --> 00:14:32,746
Let's face it, the only people that hate
Anita Bryant more than gay people
246
00:14:32,746 --> 00:14:33,998
are music lovers.
247
00:14:37,585 --> 00:14:38,878
Because of Anita Bryant,
248
00:14:38,878 --> 00:14:42,798
{\an8}we understood that we had to organize
politically in order to fight back,
249
00:14:42,798 --> 00:14:45,593
{\an8}and humor was
an important part of the movement.
250
00:14:58,355 --> 00:14:59,189
Thank you.
251
00:15:03,444 --> 00:15:05,237
Well, thank you all a lot.
252
00:15:08,365 --> 00:15:09,408
Thank you!
253
00:15:09,408 --> 00:15:12,369
It's very warming
to have such a warm reception.
254
00:15:15,581 --> 00:15:18,709
Remember in the old days
when we'd take a spray can of paint
255
00:15:18,709 --> 00:15:21,670
and go onto the viaduct
and spray four-letter words?
256
00:15:24,173 --> 00:15:28,469
And the next day you'd come back, and some
adult would have changed it to "Buick."
257
00:15:28,469 --> 00:15:33,349
{\an8}The Star-Spangled Night was couched
under the title of human rights benefit,
258
00:15:33,349 --> 00:15:36,644
{\an8}but it was basically gay-oriented.
259
00:15:36,644 --> 00:15:39,063
And of course, no one was gay then.
260
00:15:51,617 --> 00:15:52,910
Only shy.
261
00:15:54,828 --> 00:15:57,081
It was a huge gay audience,
262
00:15:57,081 --> 00:16:01,043
and I wanted to go
because I wanted to see Richard Pryor.
263
00:16:02,962 --> 00:16:06,423
The producer asked me
to get Richard Pryor to do the show.
264
00:16:07,216 --> 00:16:10,970
I'd come to be friends with him
since he was on my first specials.
265
00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:14,223
I mean, sort of soul friends
in terms of comedy,
266
00:16:14,807 --> 00:16:17,309
and he was absolutely one of my favorites,
267
00:16:17,309 --> 00:16:20,854
and I said, "If you ask for Richard,
you're going to get Richard."
268
00:16:22,189 --> 00:16:23,774
I came here
269
00:16:25,067 --> 00:16:29,613
{\an8}- for human rights and--
270
00:16:29,613 --> 00:16:30,823
Thank you.
271
00:16:30,823 --> 00:16:33,701
I found out what it really is about,
272
00:16:33,701 --> 00:16:38,205
is about not getting caught
with a dick in your mouth.
273
00:16:40,207 --> 00:16:44,086
When Richard came out,
the audience just went crazy.
274
00:16:45,337 --> 00:16:49,133
And a motherfucker out here
come out here and declared themself gay.
275
00:16:49,633 --> 00:16:50,968
"Yes. I suck dick."
276
00:16:51,552 --> 00:16:55,305
"And I'm the mayor of this city.
I believe I have a right to suck a dick."
277
00:16:56,557 --> 00:16:58,517
Ain't nobody did shit.
278
00:16:58,517 --> 00:17:02,980
Everybody, as you say in politics,
skirted the issue.
279
00:17:03,647 --> 00:17:05,149
I have sucked a dick.
280
00:17:14,324 --> 00:17:17,453
Back in 1952. Sucked Wilbur Harp's dick.
281
00:17:17,453 --> 00:17:18,579
It was beautiful.
282
00:17:19,246 --> 00:17:23,459
Richard Pryor is one of the great
bright lights of queer comedy,
283
00:17:23,459 --> 00:17:25,169
but we're never allowed to talk about it.
284
00:17:25,169 --> 00:17:28,839
{\an8}He was unrepentant
in talking about everyone he'd loved
285
00:17:28,839 --> 00:17:30,799
{\an8}and all of the shit he had gotten up to,
286
00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:35,763
and it is, to me, still amazing
that he was as honest as he was
287
00:17:35,763 --> 00:17:37,765
in the 1960s and '70s.
288
00:17:37,765 --> 00:17:42,061
And Wilbur would give it up so good
and put his thighs against your waist.
289
00:17:42,061 --> 00:17:43,812
That'll make you come quick.
290
00:17:46,231 --> 00:17:49,401
And then Richard just went from that to...
291
00:17:49,401 --> 00:17:51,904
I don't see no niggas out here.
292
00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,408
I see about four niggas sitting around,
293
00:17:56,408 --> 00:17:58,660
that you all have dispersed.
294
00:17:58,660 --> 00:18:02,915
He felt like he was at a white event,
and this didn't sit so well with Richard.
295
00:18:02,915 --> 00:18:05,292
But you white folks having big fun.
296
00:18:05,292 --> 00:18:07,461
Talking about, "give us the right."
297
00:18:08,837 --> 00:18:13,217
And he went
to absolutely blasting the audience.
298
00:18:13,217 --> 00:18:15,094
When the niggas was burning down Watts,
299
00:18:15,094 --> 00:18:18,680
you motherfuckers was doing what you want
to do on Hollywood Boulevard.
300
00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:20,891
- Didn't give a shit about it.
301
00:18:20,891 --> 00:18:23,685
I knew anything like that
could have happened.
302
00:18:24,478 --> 00:18:26,814
This is the evening about human rights.
303
00:18:28,023 --> 00:18:29,566
And I am a human being.
304
00:18:36,615 --> 00:18:40,661
And he finally said, "You can kiss
my rich, Black ass," and he walked off.
305
00:18:44,373 --> 00:18:46,500
And, of course, everybody was in turmoil.
306
00:18:47,501 --> 00:18:48,418
I said, "Well...
307
00:18:49,962 --> 00:18:51,922
you know, he... he spoke his piece."
308
00:18:51,922 --> 00:18:53,841
"So... that's cool."
309
00:18:56,385 --> 00:18:59,721
Comedians,
we are at the forefront of every fight.
310
00:18:59,721 --> 00:19:03,851
{\an8}People think just because you're all gay,
you've all got everything in common.
311
00:19:03,851 --> 00:19:05,269
{\an8}That's not the case.
312
00:19:05,269 --> 00:19:07,604
Mm-mm, the gay goes across the spectrum.
313
00:19:10,190 --> 00:19:12,276
There are gay misogynists.
314
00:19:12,276 --> 00:19:15,571
There's gay racists,
and people need to reckon with that.
315
00:19:15,571 --> 00:19:17,072
And that's what comedy does.
316
00:19:17,072 --> 00:19:19,950
Comedy is that sugar
that coats the medicine.
317
00:19:19,950 --> 00:19:20,993
If you're laughing,
318
00:19:20,993 --> 00:19:24,163
you're not gonna punch someone
in the face if they're making you laugh.
319
00:19:27,249 --> 00:19:32,963
Any comedian
that uses their work to call out
320
00:19:32,963 --> 00:19:37,050
{\an8}the bigotry and hate
that limits and polices our possibilities
321
00:19:37,050 --> 00:19:38,260
is an activist.
322
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,308
Nobody had ever
been out before in comedy.
323
00:19:44,850 --> 00:19:46,226
Patti kept telling me to do it,
324
00:19:46,226 --> 00:19:48,187
but I just didn't know how
to make it funny.
325
00:19:48,187 --> 00:19:52,274
There was nobody for me to emulate,
so I had to make it up myself.
326
00:19:53,066 --> 00:19:57,946
Our next guest just got a new album out
called Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Groom.
327
00:19:57,946 --> 00:19:59,990
Welcome please, Robin Tyler!
328
00:20:00,490 --> 00:20:04,077
I ended up doing
the Norm Crosby Show as an out lesbian.
329
00:20:04,661 --> 00:20:06,121
I was the first on television.
330
00:20:06,121 --> 00:20:10,167
Well, the odd-even plan
is not working out here is it, huh?
331
00:20:10,167 --> 00:20:13,921
Odd and even. The gay people are going
on Monday, the straight people on Tuesday.
332
00:20:13,921 --> 00:20:15,297
What is that for, odd and even?
333
00:20:17,633 --> 00:20:20,761
I was walking down the street
with a gay man, Terry. Very proud.
334
00:20:20,761 --> 00:20:22,179
One guy walked over and said,
335
00:20:22,179 --> 00:20:24,681
"I know what you are.
You're one of them homosexuals."
336
00:20:24,681 --> 00:20:26,850
"Well, I think they should take
all you homosexuals
337
00:20:26,850 --> 00:20:28,644
and put them on an island someplace."
338
00:20:28,644 --> 00:20:31,647
And Terry said, "They did, darling.
They call it Manhattan."
339
00:20:31,647 --> 00:20:35,275
And then I did a joke saying
Anita Bryant is to Christianity...
340
00:20:35,275 --> 00:20:37,527
...what paint-by-numbers is to art. Right?
341
00:20:40,739 --> 00:20:42,074
The next day in the paper,
342
00:20:42,074 --> 00:20:45,369
they say avowed lesbian
Robin Tyler takes on Anita Bryant.
343
00:20:46,954 --> 00:20:47,955
And...
344
00:20:48,664 --> 00:20:51,500
we lost our contract
with the television network.
345
00:20:52,918 --> 00:20:54,086
It was really hard.
346
00:20:54,086 --> 00:20:57,798
I mean, just as we had highlights
and things that happened that were great.
347
00:21:00,884 --> 00:21:02,678
That hurt. That hurt.
348
00:21:03,345 --> 00:21:04,888
Because it was brave.
349
00:21:05,555 --> 00:21:10,852
♪ Kiss today goodbye ♪
350
00:21:10,852 --> 00:21:16,358
♪ And point me toward tomorrow ♪
351
00:21:16,358 --> 00:21:18,485
♪ We did what we had... ♪
352
00:21:18,485 --> 00:21:21,571
That took real courage
and commitment.
353
00:21:21,571 --> 00:21:25,075
{\an8}Because every word is a bullet.
354
00:21:25,075 --> 00:21:29,955
{\an8}You are a loaded weapon,
and everything you say can find a target.
355
00:21:30,497 --> 00:21:32,499
They didn't really want to hear that.
356
00:21:33,083 --> 00:21:35,502
This has been a risk we've all--
357
00:21:35,502 --> 00:21:40,757
That's why we didn't fucking come out
in the '70s and '80s,
358
00:21:40,757 --> 00:21:43,510
because there's always been that risk.
359
00:21:48,056 --> 00:21:51,643
You're never gonna get this push forward
without the pushback.
360
00:21:51,643 --> 00:21:54,521
So I knew that I couldn't stop fighting,
361
00:21:54,521 --> 00:21:57,024
and I told Patti I will never not fight,
362
00:21:58,317 --> 00:22:02,112
because people could hear in comedy
what they could not hear any other way.
363
00:22:03,697 --> 00:22:06,408
If you don't know gay people,
you can be scared of them, right?
364
00:22:06,408 --> 00:22:08,535
Then the minute we started coming out,
365
00:22:09,202 --> 00:22:13,123
all of a sudden, people knew it was
their son, their cousin, their whatever,
366
00:22:13,623 --> 00:22:15,834
and the joke wasn't on us anymore.
367
00:22:17,669 --> 00:22:20,297
We're not coming
from the love of power.
368
00:22:20,297 --> 00:22:22,841
We are coming from the power of love,
369
00:22:22,841 --> 00:22:25,010
and that will sustain us.
370
00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:28,347
For we must be free. We will be free.
371
00:22:28,347 --> 00:22:31,767
We shall be free.
Because we are everywhere!
372
00:22:32,684 --> 00:22:37,064
You have to make things better for people
in every fundamental way in life
373
00:22:37,064 --> 00:22:42,527
{\an8}so that everybody has fairly stable,
equal chance of getting somewhere
374
00:22:42,527 --> 00:22:45,405
or fulfilling their lives or anything.
375
00:22:45,405 --> 00:22:48,200
I think that's my approach to comedy.
376
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:50,243
It might have had some impact.
377
00:22:50,869 --> 00:22:53,413
{\an8}I grew up in a time
where no one said gay, and I'm gay.
378
00:22:53,413 --> 00:22:56,041
And here are these two women,
379
00:22:56,041 --> 00:22:58,210
these two dignified performers,
380
00:22:58,710 --> 00:23:00,337
both pushing for change
381
00:23:01,505 --> 00:23:04,633
in their different ways in the '70s!
382
00:23:04,633 --> 00:23:07,969
There's one very special person,
Jane Wagner,
383
00:23:08,637 --> 00:23:11,390
whose brilliant talent
has contributed more to what I've done
384
00:23:11,390 --> 00:23:12,974
than any other person I know,
385
00:23:12,974 --> 00:23:15,268
and with whom I share this honor totally.
386
00:23:15,268 --> 00:23:17,604
Talk about brave and true to yourself
387
00:23:17,604 --> 00:23:19,356
and speaking truth to power.
388
00:23:22,150 --> 00:23:25,404
In the '70s, gay people
were beginning to push forward,
389
00:23:25,404 --> 00:23:30,117
and you just hope that, eventually,
the next group of comics could follow.
390
00:23:30,951 --> 00:23:36,248
I'm so happy
to introduce someone very, very special.
391
00:23:36,248 --> 00:23:40,335
♪ One minute I'm craving Chiquita banana ♪
392
00:23:41,420 --> 00:23:45,382
♪ The next, a delicious Crab Louie ♪
393
00:23:45,382 --> 00:23:48,760
♪ Go ahead and out me! ♪
394
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:50,846
Sandra Bernhard.
395
00:23:57,644 --> 00:23:59,229
I was a fan of Lily Tomlin
396
00:23:59,229 --> 00:24:02,607
since I first saw her
on Laugh-In back in the day.
397
00:24:02,607 --> 00:24:04,067
She was like a revelation.
398
00:24:04,818 --> 00:24:06,695
We all have to have our touchstones.
399
00:24:07,279 --> 00:24:08,321
It's important.
400
00:24:09,614 --> 00:24:14,161
{\an8}That connection that we have
with other gay artists
401
00:24:14,161 --> 00:24:15,370
is really powerful.
402
00:24:15,370 --> 00:24:18,165
And Sandra was just...
403
00:24:18,165 --> 00:24:21,626
I mean, everything she did,
I just wanted to... I wanted to be like her.
404
00:24:27,299 --> 00:24:30,093
{\an8}Comedy is that balm that says,
405
00:24:30,093 --> 00:24:34,306
{\an8}"I'm going to soothe you
and smooth out all of your fears,
406
00:24:34,306 --> 00:24:38,643
and I'm going to liberate you
from your own repression."
407
00:24:39,352 --> 00:24:42,522
I think it's only fair
that we out some of you tonight.
408
00:24:42,522 --> 00:24:46,109
{\an8}Sandra Bernhard,
most people knew who she was
409
00:24:46,109 --> 00:24:48,445
{\an8}because she was
in the movie The King of Comedy,
410
00:24:48,445 --> 00:24:51,531
{\an8}a Martin Scorsese movie
with Robert De Niro,
411
00:24:51,531 --> 00:24:57,162
and she became even more famous
for her appearances on David Letterman.
412
00:24:57,704 --> 00:25:00,999
Anytime she was on, it was an event.
413
00:25:00,999 --> 00:25:03,627
- Before we wrap this up--
- Wanna see how I'm gonna have the baby?
414
00:25:03,627 --> 00:25:05,545
Stop. No, we don't want...
415
00:25:09,716 --> 00:25:12,969
I really like to think
of my performing as a variety show,
416
00:25:12,969 --> 00:25:15,847
because it incorporates
all elements of performance.
417
00:25:15,847 --> 00:25:18,183
It's like a throwback from the '70s.
418
00:25:18,183 --> 00:25:20,310
Back then, they had variety shows,
419
00:25:20,310 --> 00:25:23,480
and that was like the core
of American entertainment.
420
00:25:24,439 --> 00:25:25,440
I'll be there.
421
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:29,486
The variety shows of the 1970s
were like a kaleidoscope.
422
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,741
You would get characters
and musical numbers and costumes.
423
00:25:35,784 --> 00:25:39,246
For the young queer kids of the '70s,
424
00:25:39,246 --> 00:25:41,915
it was like,
"This is the world I want to live in."
425
00:25:42,499 --> 00:25:46,294
Variety shows were really
a big part of my life when I was a kid.
426
00:25:46,294 --> 00:25:48,296
It was like, "That's what I want to do."
427
00:25:48,296 --> 00:25:51,174
I found I loved Flip Wilson.
He was on a variety show.
428
00:25:51,174 --> 00:25:53,468
And Geraldine was very glamorous.
429
00:25:53,468 --> 00:25:55,595
I checked you out a long time ago.
430
00:25:55,595 --> 00:25:57,847
He wasn't just like,
"I'm a man in a dress."
431
00:25:57,847 --> 00:26:01,351
It was Geraldine being funny
while dressed in drag.
432
00:26:01,351 --> 00:26:02,936
I'm a big fan of variety acts,
433
00:26:02,936 --> 00:26:05,272
and, I mean, I've written
for a million different people.
434
00:26:05,855 --> 00:26:09,234
I actually did the $1.98 Beauty Contest,
435
00:26:09,234 --> 00:26:10,527
and I won.
436
00:26:11,152 --> 00:26:13,697
I thought it was
fucking Kris Kristofferson, so...
437
00:26:13,697 --> 00:26:15,448
They looked to these shows
438
00:26:15,448 --> 00:26:18,910
and maybe saw themselves in a song siren,
439
00:26:18,910 --> 00:26:22,998
saw themselves in a costume,
or saw themselves in an actor.
440
00:26:22,998 --> 00:26:24,833
Fifty years ago!
441
00:26:24,833 --> 00:26:27,919
They were
a hotbed for both implicit
442
00:26:27,919 --> 00:26:29,921
and also explicit queerdos.
443
00:26:30,964 --> 00:26:34,384
They were creating
a possibility model for queer folks
444
00:26:34,384 --> 00:26:35,969
in the '60s and '70s,
445
00:26:35,969 --> 00:26:40,390
because they didn't have any outside
that were publicly available.
446
00:26:45,937 --> 00:26:48,315
Mmm!
447
00:26:48,815 --> 00:26:50,066
Delicious.
448
00:26:50,066 --> 00:26:53,987
In 1984, I met somebody
named John Boskovich,
449
00:26:53,987 --> 00:26:57,032
and we started writing material
and working on songs
450
00:26:57,032 --> 00:27:00,619
marrying popular music,
comedy, and commentary,
451
00:27:00,619 --> 00:27:03,496
{\an8}and it became my show
Without You I'm Nothing.
452
00:27:03,496 --> 00:27:07,375
It's the first day on the job
and the first date with the boss,
453
00:27:07,375 --> 00:27:11,755
and he takes me on a tour
of San Francisco I never dreamed possible.
454
00:27:11,755 --> 00:27:18,303
Sandra Bernhard integrated narrative
in storytelling and songs and glamour.
455
00:27:18,303 --> 00:27:20,805
It was suffused with a queer sensibility,
456
00:27:20,805 --> 00:27:24,059
and it was just
an entirely different way of doing comedy.
457
00:27:24,059 --> 00:27:27,312
We begin on Lombard Street,
the crookedest street in the world,
458
00:27:27,312 --> 00:27:29,397
and I never felt straighter.
459
00:27:29,397 --> 00:27:31,483
We were just trying to be funny
460
00:27:31,483 --> 00:27:34,569
and do something that was clever and crazy
461
00:27:34,569 --> 00:27:35,862
and subversive.
462
00:27:36,821 --> 00:27:40,200
Without You I'm Nothing
was also incredibly political
463
00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,411
{\an8}because the Ronald Reagan years began
464
00:27:43,411 --> 00:27:49,459
{\an8}with, uh, very conservative Republican,
religious right politics.
465
00:27:49,459 --> 00:27:51,503
Religious America is awakening,
466
00:27:52,003 --> 00:27:55,215
perhaps just in time
for our country's sake.
467
00:27:55,215 --> 00:27:56,716
Things were changing.
468
00:27:56,716 --> 00:27:58,301
We were experiencing
469
00:27:58,301 --> 00:28:02,263
sexual liberation and gay liberation
and the two coming together,
470
00:28:02,847 --> 00:28:06,017
and simultaneously being punished for it.
471
00:28:06,017 --> 00:28:08,436
I can think of pastors now in the pulpit
472
00:28:08,436 --> 00:28:11,272
who are heterosexual,
living normal lives, who came to us,
473
00:28:11,272 --> 00:28:13,650
first of all, as practicing homosexuals.
474
00:28:13,650 --> 00:28:15,777
We introduced them
to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
475
00:28:15,777 --> 00:28:18,321
They were born again.
Their lifestyles were changed.
476
00:28:18,321 --> 00:28:20,740
I thought, "Why do we want
to repress each other?"
477
00:28:20,740 --> 00:28:23,660
"Why do we want to take
things away from each other?"
478
00:28:23,660 --> 00:28:29,332
"Why do our disappointments and traumas
have to impede other people?"
479
00:28:32,544 --> 00:28:35,714
{\an8}Out of the gay liberation movement,
the idea is like,
480
00:28:35,714 --> 00:28:39,718
{\an8}"I just want to be able to express
my sexuality however I need to."
481
00:28:39,718 --> 00:28:44,013
It's like we have a gay culture
that is out loud and proud,
482
00:28:44,013 --> 00:28:47,600
but the political climate
for gay people in the 1980s
483
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,103
really changed the tenor of gay culture.
484
00:28:50,603 --> 00:28:53,857
It was a, you know, a slap upside the head
485
00:28:53,857 --> 00:28:58,194
that required people to become political
in a completely different way.
486
00:28:58,695 --> 00:29:00,697
From Christopher Street to Castro.
487
00:29:01,698 --> 00:29:05,076
From the night at Stonewall
to the week Judy Garland died.
488
00:29:05,744 --> 00:29:07,871
From Little Richard to Liberace,
489
00:29:07,871 --> 00:29:10,206
there is an undeniable beat.
490
00:29:10,999 --> 00:29:13,668
We are living in very suppressive times.
491
00:29:13,668 --> 00:29:15,920
The AIDS epidemic had taken hold,
492
00:29:16,713 --> 00:29:19,924
and I think there was...
there was a lot of activism,
493
00:29:19,924 --> 00:29:23,428
which always comes out
of a Republican administration
494
00:29:23,428 --> 00:29:27,182
that's trying to crush
all the social issues.
495
00:29:27,182 --> 00:29:29,934
- So this became, like, the next wave...
496
00:29:29,934 --> 00:29:34,355
...of, like, having to be there
and jump in, full throttle.
497
00:29:34,355 --> 00:29:36,065
♪ There's something... ♪
498
00:29:36,065 --> 00:29:37,525
That old-time religion...
499
00:29:37,525 --> 00:29:39,486
♪ ...I want to ask you ♪
500
00:29:39,486 --> 00:29:41,446
...and that old-time Constitution.
501
00:29:41,946 --> 00:29:46,242
♪ There's something that I want to know ♪
502
00:29:46,242 --> 00:29:49,412
{\an8}93% of all Americans believe
that homosexuality
503
00:29:49,412 --> 00:29:51,664
{\an8}is not an acceptable alternate lifestyle.
504
00:29:51,664 --> 00:29:53,458
♪ ...You have the answers ♪
505
00:29:53,458 --> 00:29:56,085
The answers can be found
in the word of God.
506
00:29:56,085 --> 00:29:57,796
♪ So tell me... ♪
507
00:29:57,796 --> 00:29:59,005
Reagan was awful.
508
00:29:59,005 --> 00:30:02,634
It was... it was rough,
but Sandra was so bold.
509
00:30:02,634 --> 00:30:05,720
Like, just a wild woman
pointing out hypocrisy.
510
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,306
Jerry Falwell tries to fight the funk,
511
00:30:08,306 --> 00:30:10,558
and he tells us to fight the funk.
512
00:30:10,558 --> 00:30:13,228
Jerry Falwell will give in to the funk.
513
00:30:13,228 --> 00:30:16,648
And it was just so much fun to watch,
and it was just impressive.
514
00:30:17,398 --> 00:30:19,400
You cannot fight the funk.
515
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:23,905
'Cause the funk fights fascism,
racism, sexism, homophobia.
516
00:30:23,905 --> 00:30:28,660
It was like a battle cry,
and putting on your warrior clothes,
517
00:30:28,660 --> 00:30:30,745
and going,
"We're gonna fight through this,
518
00:30:30,745 --> 00:30:32,831
and somehow,
we're gonna come out the other side."
519
00:30:32,831 --> 00:30:35,875
You are going to funk,
you ingrate motherfuckers!
520
00:30:36,376 --> 00:30:41,005
She just was
so transgressive with sexuality
521
00:30:41,005 --> 00:30:43,883
and drew people to her.
522
00:30:45,176 --> 00:30:48,721
I met so many great people.
Mary Tyler Moore came to my show.
523
00:30:48,721 --> 00:30:52,433
Keith Haring and Madonna.
524
00:30:52,433 --> 00:30:54,853
Where is she? Madonna?
525
00:30:55,603 --> 00:30:57,438
Madonna? Come out!
526
00:31:00,483 --> 00:31:04,988
In queer culture, there was
a before Sandra Bernhard and Madonna
527
00:31:04,988 --> 00:31:07,365
were on David Letterman, and an after.
528
00:31:07,365 --> 00:31:11,119
- What do you do?
- Usually you find us at Kana Bar or at MK.
529
00:31:11,119 --> 00:31:15,039
- En route to the Cubby...
- Hole.
530
00:31:15,039 --> 00:31:20,712
I swear to God, I, like, probably
turned into a pile of dust on the floor.
531
00:31:20,712 --> 00:31:22,380
It's just like, "What is happening?"
532
00:31:22,380 --> 00:31:26,134
They mentioned the Cubbyhole,
which was a lesbian bar in New York City.
533
00:31:26,134 --> 00:31:28,720
I think it's time to fess up and get real.
534
00:31:29,387 --> 00:31:31,639
Honey, any time you're ready.
535
00:31:32,223 --> 00:31:34,225
- Get real.
I hate stuff like this.
536
00:31:34,225 --> 00:31:36,644
I just... I just hate stuff like this.
537
00:31:36,644 --> 00:31:39,606
Okay, yes. I slept with Sean!
- All right! Shut up!
538
00:31:43,443 --> 00:31:45,820
- And he was horrible!
- All right.
539
00:31:45,820 --> 00:31:47,155
You lie!
540
00:31:48,072 --> 00:31:50,241
- Now, listen--
- You were much better!
541
00:31:51,868 --> 00:31:54,913
Madonna and Sandra
were two very successful,
542
00:31:54,913 --> 00:31:58,291
powerful women in their own right,
very openly flirting with each other.
543
00:31:58,291 --> 00:32:01,336
It... I think it was very positive
for the queer community.
544
00:32:02,962 --> 00:32:04,547
These were dark times,
545
00:32:04,547 --> 00:32:07,717
and things were not
getting better politically,
546
00:32:07,717 --> 00:32:10,511
and yet there were these moments
547
00:32:10,511 --> 00:32:15,016
when we could see what was maybe to come.
548
00:32:15,642 --> 00:32:17,226
Tonight, to be together,
549
00:32:17,226 --> 00:32:22,023
to be able to talk about sexuality
with fun, and people are holding hands.
550
00:32:22,023 --> 00:32:24,484
Men, women, it's all-- People.
551
00:32:26,819 --> 00:32:29,364
I haven't been traumatized
by the '80s.
552
00:32:29,364 --> 00:32:31,491
Thank God I haven't been traumatized.
553
00:32:31,491 --> 00:32:32,825
I'm a lucky person,
554
00:32:33,451 --> 00:32:35,078
'cause a lot of people are.
555
00:32:36,329 --> 00:32:39,207
I love you.
Thank you for coming out tonight.
556
00:32:41,751 --> 00:32:46,464
{\an8}Sandra was as much theater
and music as she is comedy,
557
00:32:46,464 --> 00:32:49,509
{\an8}and that's always what I was drawn to.
558
00:32:51,010 --> 00:32:54,555
When I saw people
like Sandra Bernhard, I felt like,
559
00:32:54,555 --> 00:32:59,185
{\an8}"Wow, I can add music to my stand-up,
and it really makes it like...
560
00:33:00,019 --> 00:33:03,189
{\an8}...now I'm adding
a talent level to something...
561
00:33:03,189 --> 00:33:04,482
Comedy's so subjective.
562
00:33:04,482 --> 00:33:06,484
When you add playing
an instrument, it's like,
563
00:33:06,484 --> 00:33:08,486
"Well, at least I'm not a total buffoon."
564
00:33:09,153 --> 00:33:10,405
"I'm a buffoon in a wig."
565
00:33:13,282 --> 00:33:15,410
How are you pieces of shit?
566
00:33:18,830 --> 00:33:20,373
You know, I love stand-up,
567
00:33:21,624 --> 00:33:24,544
but the only problem is,
stand-up is about being relatable.
568
00:33:25,044 --> 00:33:28,589
And, you know, I've had such
a meteoric rise to fame and fortune.
569
00:33:30,550 --> 00:33:33,553
The only people I can really relate to
are the rich people.
570
00:33:34,804 --> 00:33:36,973
Poor people up there?
Mama, I don't even know you.
571
00:33:40,018 --> 00:33:41,060
So this song...
572
00:33:41,686 --> 00:33:44,939
Yeah, this song goes out
to all the rich people.
573
00:33:47,817 --> 00:33:49,610
♪ Hey, rich people ♪
574
00:33:50,486 --> 00:33:52,238
♪ Beautiful, rich people ♪
575
00:33:52,822 --> 00:33:56,492
♪ Don't you hate it
When you double-park your boat? ♪
576
00:33:57,785 --> 00:33:59,078
♪ Whoa ♪
577
00:34:01,247 --> 00:34:02,248
♪ Hey, rich people... ♪
578
00:34:02,248 --> 00:34:07,795
Queerness is sort of an apprentice
and mentor-mentee-based world.
579
00:34:08,379 --> 00:34:12,633
We learn who we are through the people
that we meet that feed our spirits.
580
00:34:13,468 --> 00:34:14,635
It's community.
581
00:34:14,635 --> 00:34:16,054
Good to see you, sexy.
582
00:34:16,054 --> 00:34:18,931
- I'm so happy to see you.
- Missed you.
583
00:34:18,931 --> 00:34:21,392
- Oh my gosh. Good mustache game.
- I know.
584
00:34:22,435 --> 00:34:24,771
There is a camaraderie
amongst the gay comedians,
585
00:34:24,771 --> 00:34:29,108
{\an8}and we, by and large,
get along very well, love each other.
586
00:34:29,108 --> 00:34:32,403
{\an8}Yeah, we'll talk shit
to each other's faces, you know, that's...
587
00:34:32,403 --> 00:34:33,988
roast each other, whatever.
588
00:34:33,988 --> 00:34:35,239
But we love each other.
589
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,785
There's a camaraderie, there's a scene,
there's a... there's a family.
590
00:34:39,285 --> 00:34:40,620
Scott Thompson.
591
00:34:40,620 --> 00:34:45,416
When I was in college, I think,
I saw Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall
592
00:34:45,416 --> 00:34:49,796
doing a panel appearance on Conan O'Brien,
and it was mind-blowing.
593
00:34:49,796 --> 00:34:53,591
He was unabashedly out of the closet
and gay and a gay man,
594
00:34:53,591 --> 00:34:55,134
and would talk about gay sex.
595
00:34:55,134 --> 00:34:57,595
So, Scott, I think introductions
are in order here.
596
00:34:57,595 --> 00:35:02,725
Yes, of course, Conan.
Yes, I'd like you to meet Randy and Ralph.
597
00:35:02,725 --> 00:35:04,644
Randy and Ralph!
- How are you?
598
00:35:04,644 --> 00:35:06,979
- Or is it Ralph and...
599
00:35:06,979 --> 00:35:09,690
You see, I make them wear different hats
so I can tell them apart.
600
00:35:09,690 --> 00:35:12,777
Yeah.
- But sometimes they're naughty boys!
601
00:35:12,777 --> 00:35:15,988
{\an8}There were three men
that were on television when I was young
602
00:35:15,988 --> 00:35:19,826
{\an8}that were overtly gay,
but were never allowed to be gay.
603
00:35:20,451 --> 00:35:21,619
Rip Taylor.
604
00:35:21,619 --> 00:35:23,454
Look at this. The odd couple.
605
00:35:24,705 --> 00:35:26,249
Charles Nelson Reilly.
606
00:35:26,249 --> 00:35:29,919
Your reign is over, Phillip.
The women are turning toward me.
607
00:35:30,837 --> 00:35:31,963
Paul Lynde.
608
00:35:31,963 --> 00:35:37,301
True or false? Christopher Columbus liked
to wear bloomers and long stockings.
609
00:35:37,301 --> 00:35:39,887
It's not easy
to sign a crew up for six months.
610
00:35:39,887 --> 00:35:44,600
Gay men were accepted
as long as they were sort of... laughable.
611
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:47,687
They were just outrageous,
funny, funny guys,
612
00:35:47,687 --> 00:35:50,523
but that was an object
of humor in those days.
613
00:35:57,655 --> 00:36:01,117
So when I decided to do comedy, I went,
"I'm not going to go in the closet."
614
00:36:01,909 --> 00:36:05,788
When I first came out into this business
and started doing comedy,
615
00:36:05,788 --> 00:36:08,499
I... I thought that I might be a stand-up,
616
00:36:08,499 --> 00:36:11,460
but I discovered very early on
that that was not possible.
617
00:36:12,587 --> 00:36:16,340
The first time I went on stage
to do open mic in the '80s,
618
00:36:16,340 --> 00:36:18,217
the comedian who introduced me
619
00:36:18,843 --> 00:36:21,888
told the audience
that I had given him a blow job.
620
00:36:21,888 --> 00:36:26,058
So he literally called me a fag
and then brought me on stage.
621
00:36:26,058 --> 00:36:29,145
So the audience were prime to hate me.
622
00:36:29,896 --> 00:36:31,856
And it happened every time.
623
00:36:31,856 --> 00:36:33,232
And I'd just come out.
624
00:36:33,733 --> 00:36:36,402
And that was really very, very difficult.
625
00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:39,530
So I just decide to create characters
626
00:36:40,323 --> 00:36:45,244
as a way
to get around the way the world was.
627
00:36:45,244 --> 00:36:49,707
All of The Kids in the Hall
was suffused with a queer sensibility.
628
00:36:49,707 --> 00:36:54,795
Like, the very act of men dressing
in dresses and looking good
629
00:36:54,795 --> 00:36:56,422
was very transgressive.
630
00:36:56,964 --> 00:36:59,800
Ms. Francesca Fiore,
do you beat your husband?
631
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:01,844
What?
632
00:37:01,844 --> 00:37:02,929
No.
633
00:37:02,929 --> 00:37:03,930
Maybe.
634
00:37:03,930 --> 00:37:06,766
Yes! But it's hard not to hit him.
635
00:37:09,101 --> 00:37:12,730
Scott Thompson seemed
to not even contemplate
636
00:37:12,730 --> 00:37:15,399
that he wasn't allowed
to say the things that he was saying.
637
00:37:15,399 --> 00:37:17,735
I just broke up with my lover, Zeke.
638
00:37:17,735 --> 00:37:19,445
Aw!
639
00:37:19,946 --> 00:37:21,697
I think he was cheating on me.
640
00:37:22,198 --> 00:37:24,242
His nickname for me was "Next!"
641
00:37:24,242 --> 00:37:28,412
With Buddy Cole,
I took the effeminate gay male stereotype,
642
00:37:28,996 --> 00:37:30,748
and I flipped it,
643
00:37:30,748 --> 00:37:34,335
and I made him not a... not a butt of jokes,
644
00:37:35,336 --> 00:37:36,921
but I made you the butt of jokes.
645
00:37:36,921 --> 00:37:40,341
Now that I own a gay bar,
I can't stay in the closet anymore.
646
00:37:43,135 --> 00:37:46,013
I'm as high-profile as a city councilor.
647
00:37:46,013 --> 00:37:48,349
And I think the other key reason
648
00:37:48,349 --> 00:37:52,186
that Buddy Cole differentiates
from those kind of characters before
649
00:37:53,229 --> 00:37:55,898
is that he was overtly sexual.
650
00:37:56,607 --> 00:37:59,110
The queen was always castrated,
651
00:37:59,110 --> 00:38:02,154
and Buddy Cole,
you knew this character fucked.
652
00:38:03,364 --> 00:38:06,325
You know, I just thought,
life can change on a dime,
653
00:38:06,325 --> 00:38:08,452
and society can change on a dime.
654
00:38:08,452 --> 00:38:10,079
Like, in the late '70s,
655
00:38:10,079 --> 00:38:14,417
there was a movement
to kind of embrace the homosexual,
656
00:38:14,417 --> 00:38:16,752
in society and on television.
657
00:38:17,253 --> 00:38:19,380
In movies, in pop culture.
658
00:38:19,380 --> 00:38:21,382
You've got the Castro, you've got disco.
659
00:38:21,382 --> 00:38:24,218
♪ Young man, there's a place you can go ♪
660
00:38:24,218 --> 00:38:26,178
♪ I said, young man... ♪
661
00:38:26,178 --> 00:38:29,682
People were coded as queer,
662
00:38:29,682 --> 00:38:32,018
and they were popular.
663
00:38:32,018 --> 00:38:36,397
♪ ...Many ways to have a good time ♪
664
00:38:38,399 --> 00:38:40,318
We are everywhere!
665
00:38:40,318 --> 00:38:42,570
♪ It's fun to stay at the Y-- ♪
666
00:38:42,570 --> 00:38:43,988
And then AIDS hit.
667
00:38:43,988 --> 00:38:46,741
A mystery disease
known as the "gay plague"
668
00:38:46,741 --> 00:38:50,703
has become an epidemic unprecedented
in the history of American medicine.
669
00:38:50,703 --> 00:38:53,372
And it went back 30, 40 years.
670
00:38:54,081 --> 00:38:56,459
Instantly, almost overnight.
671
00:38:57,543 --> 00:39:02,089
Gay men in those days
were considered vile.
672
00:39:03,466 --> 00:39:07,094
You have to realize
that during the Reagan administration,
673
00:39:07,094 --> 00:39:11,849
there's a press conference
when AIDS first comes out,
674
00:39:11,849 --> 00:39:13,642
and they all start laughing.
675
00:39:14,769 --> 00:39:17,646
Does anybody at the White House
know about this epidemic, Larry?
676
00:39:17,646 --> 00:39:19,565
{\an8}It's known as "gay plague."
677
00:39:20,649 --> 00:39:22,943
No, it is.
I mean, it's a pretty serious thing.
678
00:39:22,943 --> 00:39:25,237
One in every three people
that get this have died,
679
00:39:25,237 --> 00:39:27,448
and I wonder if the president
is aware of it.
680
00:39:27,448 --> 00:39:29,950
I don't have it. Are you-- Do you?
681
00:39:29,950 --> 00:39:33,287
You don't have it.
Well, I'm relieved to hear that, Larry.
682
00:39:33,287 --> 00:39:36,582
Does the president-- In other words,
the White House looks on this as a joke?
683
00:39:37,708 --> 00:39:42,463
{\an8}I'm all for being able to joke
about anything and any group and anybody.
684
00:39:42,463 --> 00:39:45,257
{\an8}But if it comes from a place of hate, no.
685
00:39:46,926 --> 00:39:50,638
You don't make AIDS jokes
when all these people were dying.
686
00:39:53,182 --> 00:39:58,270
{\an8}There was a time where comedy
was very accepting of homophobia.
687
00:39:58,938 --> 00:40:01,357
{\an8}And if you don't believe me,
open up your Spotify
688
00:40:01,857 --> 00:40:04,693
and type in "Eddie Murphy faggots."
689
00:40:04,693 --> 00:40:07,780
{\an8}Faggots aren't allowed
to look at my ass while I'm on stage.
690
00:40:10,241 --> 00:40:13,452
{\an8}Just imagine... Imagine you're
a gay fan of Eddie Murphy
691
00:40:13,452 --> 00:40:15,079
{\an8}and that's the first thing you hear.
692
00:40:15,079 --> 00:40:17,873
It petrifies me 'cause girls
be hanging out with them.
693
00:40:17,873 --> 00:40:21,252
They could be in the club, having fun
with their gay friend, give a little kiss...
694
00:40:21,252 --> 00:40:23,712
...and go home
with that AIDS on their lips.
695
00:40:24,713 --> 00:40:26,799
Get home to their husband.
Then five years later,
696
00:40:26,799 --> 00:40:28,968
"Mr Johnson, you have AIDS."
He goes, "AIDS?"
697
00:40:29,969 --> 00:40:31,470
"But I'm not homosexual."
698
00:40:32,054 --> 00:40:33,681
"Sure, you're not a homosexual."
699
00:40:34,682 --> 00:40:37,435
Sam Kinison dropped into Dangerfield's,
700
00:40:37,435 --> 00:40:40,271
and he did this joke where he said...
701
00:40:40,271 --> 00:40:43,149
Because a few fags
fucked some monkeys.
702
00:40:46,193 --> 00:40:49,738
They got so bored,
their own assholes weren't enough.
703
00:40:50,364 --> 00:40:54,702
Because of this shit,
they want us to wear fucking rubbers.
704
00:40:55,244 --> 00:40:59,039
{\an8}I remember watching this comedy
and being a 16-year-old kid in the crowd,
705
00:40:59,039 --> 00:41:02,793
{\an8}and people aren't running out of the room
going, "What the fuck is this?"
706
00:41:02,793 --> 00:41:04,336
"This isn't comedy."
707
00:41:04,336 --> 00:41:07,339
They were laughing, overwhelming,
and they were hysterical.
708
00:41:07,339 --> 00:41:11,051
When AIDS finally breaks out
all over the country like mildew,
709
00:41:11,844 --> 00:41:14,722
you got 20 million faggots
running around, and they're going,
710
00:41:14,722 --> 00:41:16,849
"Where... where can this come from?"
711
00:41:16,849 --> 00:41:18,142
"How... How can I get this?"
712
00:41:18,142 --> 00:41:21,103
How can you get this?
It's very simple. Let me explain this.
713
00:41:21,103 --> 00:41:24,440
If you're walking around
with shit on your dick every day,
714
00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:27,234
you're bound to pick something up,
you know what I'm saying?
715
00:41:28,694 --> 00:41:32,698
It was hard. Hard because it didn't
make me think I should come out.
716
00:41:32,698 --> 00:41:37,036
Matter fact, it wasn't, "When I came out,"
it was, "I will never come out."
717
00:41:37,036 --> 00:41:38,621
I was not out of the closet on stage.
718
00:41:38,621 --> 00:41:41,040
I was out of the closet in real life,
but not on the stage.
719
00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:44,043
I didn't have... I didn't have the courage.
720
00:41:44,043 --> 00:41:45,794
I thought it would ruin my career.
721
00:41:46,295 --> 00:41:50,049
And, um, I worked at this club
called Comedy You in The Village,
722
00:41:50,049 --> 00:41:52,593
and all of a sudden, this guy
named Bob Smith came on stage.
723
00:41:54,470 --> 00:41:57,681
It was important
because there were very few
724
00:41:57,681 --> 00:41:59,850
openly gay comedians during the '80s.
725
00:41:59,850 --> 00:42:03,145
{\an8}I have to tell you,
I come from a very conservative family,
726
00:42:03,145 --> 00:42:05,856
{\an8}and it wasn't easy
telling my parents that I'm gay.
727
00:42:06,982 --> 00:42:10,861
In fact, I made my carefully-worded
announcement at Thanksgiving.
728
00:42:11,445 --> 00:42:14,740
I said, "Mom, would you please pass
the gravy to a homosexual?"
729
00:42:15,991 --> 00:42:17,660
She passed it to my father.
730
00:42:19,078 --> 00:42:21,622
There weren't any gay men
who were headliners.
731
00:42:21,622 --> 00:42:23,499
Bob Smith had, for the first time,
732
00:42:23,499 --> 00:42:26,418
been an openly gay man
doing stand-up on The Tonight Show,
733
00:42:26,418 --> 00:42:29,296
and what I didn't
really understand at that point was,
734
00:42:29,296 --> 00:42:32,174
there was nowhere
for them to go beyond that.
735
00:42:32,174 --> 00:42:35,052
Agents, managers.
They didn't know what to do with them.
736
00:42:35,052 --> 00:42:37,513
There were no roles from them.
There were no places for them.
737
00:42:39,181 --> 00:42:41,934
♪ Why not take all of me? ♪
738
00:42:41,934 --> 00:42:42,977
All right.
739
00:42:42,977 --> 00:42:45,479
- When the cameras are on, I can't help it.
- Great set.
740
00:42:45,479 --> 00:42:46,855
- Thank you.
- Thank you, Todd.
741
00:42:46,855 --> 00:42:51,026
I did not know Todd was gay for the first
several years that I knew him,
742
00:42:51,026 --> 00:42:52,778
and we did a lot of shows together,
743
00:42:52,778 --> 00:42:56,407
and then he came out
in a very different way than I did.
744
00:42:57,032 --> 00:43:01,120
He came out having already been known
and established as this beloved,
745
00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:03,914
hilarious, well-known,
headlining stand-up comic.
746
00:43:03,914 --> 00:43:07,251
From the "City of Brotherly Love,"
please welcome Mr. Todd Glass!
747
00:43:07,251 --> 00:43:09,420
Please welcome Todd Glass,
ladies and gentlemen.
748
00:43:09,420 --> 00:43:12,131
Performing today's monologue,
Mr. Todd Glass!
749
00:43:12,131 --> 00:43:13,591
Oh!
750
00:43:18,387 --> 00:43:20,097
So I thought I'd never come out.
751
00:43:21,140 --> 00:43:22,099
Ever.
752
00:43:22,099 --> 00:43:26,103
And I had, uh, a heart attack.
753
00:43:26,687 --> 00:43:28,606
I had it at Largo one night after a show.
754
00:43:28,606 --> 00:43:32,109
It was Sarah Silverman & friends,
and there were a lot of comedians there.
755
00:43:32,109 --> 00:43:34,445
And after the show,
I just couldn't catch my breath.
756
00:43:34,445 --> 00:43:36,155
I didn't know what it was.
757
00:43:36,155 --> 00:43:38,198
And so they finally called an ambulance.
758
00:43:38,198 --> 00:43:40,909
And as they're putting me
in the ambulance, I yell out to Sarah,
759
00:43:40,909 --> 00:43:44,079
"Call my girlfriend!"
760
00:43:44,079 --> 00:43:47,041
"Call my girlfriend,"
'cause she knew that I was gay.
761
00:43:47,041 --> 00:43:49,710
So I'm like, "Sarah, call my girlfriend.
Call my girlfriend,"
762
00:43:49,710 --> 00:43:52,671
knowing how pathetic this is.
You care about this right now?
763
00:43:52,671 --> 00:43:57,134
Like anyone's, "I think this guy's having
a heart attack. I think he's gay too."
764
00:43:57,134 --> 00:43:58,927
So in the hospital,
765
00:43:59,762 --> 00:44:02,014
uh, my, um... my...
766
00:44:03,515 --> 00:44:05,017
boyfriend...
767
00:44:05,017 --> 00:44:07,394
...came to see me and, um...
768
00:44:08,729 --> 00:44:09,563
he, uh...
769
00:44:11,106 --> 00:44:12,733
He brought me a flower.
770
00:44:15,903 --> 00:44:16,945
And then, uh...
771
00:44:19,114 --> 00:44:23,243
And it was so adorable of him,
and he just picked it just coming in,
772
00:44:23,243 --> 00:44:25,287
like, you know,
like a weed, I think it was,
773
00:44:25,287 --> 00:44:27,039
and he shoved it under my pillow.
774
00:44:28,290 --> 00:44:29,917
And I was like...
775
00:44:31,043 --> 00:44:32,211
You know, it really just...
776
00:44:32,211 --> 00:44:36,757
You know, it really just crushed me
that... that that was what our life was.
777
00:44:39,134 --> 00:44:42,096
And then I thought,
"As soon as I get out of here,
778
00:44:42,096 --> 00:44:45,057
you know, I'm going to, uh...
I'm going to figure it out."
779
00:44:55,401 --> 00:44:59,238
Next up, please welcome
actor and comedian, Todd Glass!
780
00:45:02,783 --> 00:45:05,703
Coming out
made my stand-up much better.
781
00:45:05,703 --> 00:45:07,830
People, when I came out, they said,
"Oh, you know, um,
782
00:45:07,830 --> 00:45:11,667
that's sad you had to make up
all those stories about your girlfriend."
783
00:45:11,667 --> 00:45:14,878
I go, "I didn't make up the stories.
The stories are real. I just changed it."
784
00:45:14,878 --> 00:45:18,674
Because relationships, they're just
relationships, at the end of the day.
785
00:45:18,674 --> 00:45:20,676
That's why for years,
whenever I saw comedians go,
786
00:45:20,676 --> 00:45:23,095
"Women to this, women do that,
women do this, women do that,"
787
00:45:23,095 --> 00:45:26,432
I'm like, "Guys fucking do that too.
You're just not dating them, you know."
788
00:45:26,432 --> 00:45:29,518
You think when two guys are dating
and they have to be out at 7:30,
789
00:45:29,518 --> 00:45:32,438
they both go to the car
at 7:30 because they have to leave 7:30?
790
00:45:33,647 --> 00:45:36,316
For so long, there was no model.
791
00:45:36,316 --> 00:45:38,610
We were figuring it out on our own.
792
00:45:38,610 --> 00:45:42,197
I'm so proud of you.
You were doing so well. Congratulations!
793
00:45:44,241 --> 00:45:48,245
{\an8}Gay comedians didn't have
any number of the many great
794
00:45:48,829 --> 00:45:51,749
{\an8}straight white guy comedians
to look to as our North Star.
795
00:45:51,749 --> 00:45:53,041
Guy, how are you?
796
00:45:53,542 --> 00:45:55,377
You look beautiful. How are you?
797
00:45:55,377 --> 00:45:57,546
I just got back from Palm Springs.
798
00:45:58,213 --> 00:46:01,341
Palm Springs is a utopian community
799
00:46:01,341 --> 00:46:06,346
that imagines what the world would be like
if gays and Republicans could cooperate.
800
00:46:06,889 --> 00:46:08,432
A couple
of years into stand-up,
801
00:46:08,432 --> 00:46:13,020
{\an8}I watched my friends who were
straight guys get mentorship
802
00:46:13,020 --> 00:46:17,149
and get guidance from the people
who were like them who'd come before them.
803
00:46:17,649 --> 00:46:21,028
I had this weird moment of realizing
those people don't exist for me.
804
00:46:21,028 --> 00:46:23,405
Those people don't exist
because they didn't start stand-up.
805
00:46:23,405 --> 00:46:26,325
Those people don't exist
because they're closeted and scared of me,
806
00:46:26,325 --> 00:46:29,411
and those people don't exist
because a bunch of them died of AIDS
807
00:46:29,411 --> 00:46:31,789
because the government
didn't do anything about it.
808
00:46:31,789 --> 00:46:34,833
I feel like I looked up to
a lot of women comedians,
809
00:46:34,833 --> 00:46:37,586
{\an8}like Sandra Bernhard
and, like, all these women
810
00:46:37,586 --> 00:46:40,214
{\an8}that were performing and coming up
at that time. I got to see them.
811
00:46:40,214 --> 00:46:46,970
{\an8}I just can't even think
of one example in the last umpteen years,
812
00:46:46,970 --> 00:46:51,975
prior to myself,
where I saw another gay man perform.
813
00:46:51,975 --> 00:46:54,812
Um, I think queer women
were the influences.
814
00:46:54,812 --> 00:46:57,231
I am queer.
815
00:47:01,443 --> 00:47:04,196
That's how I like to identify,
816
00:47:04,947 --> 00:47:09,535
which, uh, for me means
I don't care who you are.
817
00:47:09,535 --> 00:47:12,955
- I want you to want me.
818
00:47:13,539 --> 00:47:17,543
{\an8}I grew up in San Francisco, and I think
that my point of view as a comedian
819
00:47:17,543 --> 00:47:20,754
{\an8}was really formed
by the diversity of San Francisco.
820
00:47:23,757 --> 00:47:27,594
We had a long tradition
of counterculture heroes.
821
00:47:27,594 --> 00:47:29,638
We had a long tradition of feminism.
822
00:47:29,638 --> 00:47:31,932
{\an8}We had a long tradition
of gay storytellers,
823
00:47:31,932 --> 00:47:34,601
{\an8}and queer comedy
was a very big part of that.
824
00:47:35,352 --> 00:47:38,689
{\an8}Josie's Juice Joint was where
you would see all of the gay comics,
825
00:47:38,689 --> 00:47:40,566
{\an8}and you would see a lot of drag too.
826
00:47:40,566 --> 00:47:45,445
{\an8}People like Lypsinka, who blurs the line
between art, stand-up comedy, and drag.
827
00:47:45,445 --> 00:47:50,450
You know, we were blending politics,
activism, punk rock,
828
00:47:50,450 --> 00:47:54,496
and your queerness didn't pull you out
829
00:47:54,496 --> 00:47:57,791
of what could be considered
mainstream success.
830
00:47:57,791 --> 00:48:01,295
Like, you could be gay and you could
still be a star in San Francisco.
831
00:48:01,795 --> 00:48:05,799
In 1990, I was doing really pretty well
in my stand-up comedy career.
832
00:48:06,925 --> 00:48:09,177
I hope I get famous.
I think I might be on my way.
833
00:48:09,177 --> 00:48:11,430
I just, um, got my own TV show.
834
00:48:11,430 --> 00:48:13,348
It's called All American Girl,
and it's very--
835
00:48:13,348 --> 00:48:14,725
- Thank you.
836
00:48:16,935 --> 00:48:19,062
You know, I wanted it to be called
the Margaret Cho Show
837
00:48:19,062 --> 00:48:21,440
because I'm such a fucking egomaniac.
838
00:48:21,940 --> 00:48:24,735
They had their own suggestions.
Um, East Meets West.
839
00:48:26,403 --> 00:48:28,697
Wok on the Wild Side.
840
00:48:30,115 --> 00:48:32,034
W-o-k, wok.
841
00:48:35,495 --> 00:48:39,207
So I had a huge tantrum and said,
"Fuck you. We're gonna call it Chinkies."
842
00:48:41,752 --> 00:48:45,672
But when you get into the eight o'clock
hour on network television,
843
00:48:45,672 --> 00:48:47,215
it's a very different thing.
844
00:48:47,799 --> 00:48:49,760
This is what I wore
to my coming-out party.
845
00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:50,886
You were a debutante?
846
00:48:50,886 --> 00:48:52,596
No, lesbian.
847
00:48:52,596 --> 00:48:56,600
They really didn't understand.
You know, it wasn't just my Asianness.
848
00:48:56,600 --> 00:49:00,103
I was female. I was crass.
849
00:49:00,103 --> 00:49:03,482
I was queer. The queerness
they couldn't even get around.
850
00:49:04,232 --> 00:49:07,361
They wanted something
that they could understand,
851
00:49:07,361 --> 00:49:12,282
as opposed to this crass lady
who likes ladies.
852
00:49:12,282 --> 00:49:15,035
"Listen, there's a problem."
853
00:49:16,411 --> 00:49:20,082
"The network has a problem with you."
854
00:49:20,082 --> 00:49:24,586
And so my appearance
in television was really rejected.
855
00:49:26,964 --> 00:49:30,384
{\an8}Queer people on television
face this weird conundrum
856
00:49:30,384 --> 00:49:33,428
{\an8}of, like, being allowed to be out,
857
00:49:33,428 --> 00:49:36,264
but also being told, like,
"Don't be too out."
858
00:49:36,264 --> 00:49:39,643
Like, "Oh, it's great that you're gay,
but just not too gay."
859
00:49:39,643 --> 00:49:41,269
{\an8}Like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
860
00:49:41,770 --> 00:49:45,857
{\an8}I have come here today
to discuss a difficult challenge,
861
00:49:46,733 --> 00:49:49,277
and one which is received
an enormous amount
862
00:49:49,945 --> 00:49:52,072
of publicity and public
and private debate.
863
00:49:52,990 --> 00:49:56,201
Our nation's policy
toward homosexuals in the military.
864
00:49:56,201 --> 00:49:58,537
We're here, we're queer...
865
00:49:58,537 --> 00:50:02,416
In the country, it was the sense
that things were bad and getting worse,
866
00:50:02,416 --> 00:50:07,170
{\an8}and there was
this kind of punk, DIY sensibility,
867
00:50:07,170 --> 00:50:09,214
like the fierce urgency of now.
868
00:50:09,214 --> 00:50:13,844
We're here. We're queer.
We're feminists. Don't mess with us.
869
00:50:13,844 --> 00:50:17,764
We don't have time for,
like, incremental progress.
870
00:50:17,764 --> 00:50:21,018
You just have to,
like, throw down right now.
871
00:50:22,394 --> 00:50:25,981
{\an8}The AIDS crisis
made activists out of people,
872
00:50:25,981 --> 00:50:28,734
{\an8}unassuming people who were like,
873
00:50:28,734 --> 00:50:31,069
"I can't be silent anymore."
874
00:50:31,069 --> 00:50:33,030
Because it was life or death.
875
00:50:33,030 --> 00:50:37,325
I think my favorite activist group
was from the '80s, and they were ACT UP.
876
00:50:37,325 --> 00:50:41,121
And they had a great slogan,
which was "silence equals death."
877
00:50:41,121 --> 00:50:44,791
It meant, "if we don't talk about AIDS,
we will die of AIDS,"
878
00:50:44,791 --> 00:50:47,794
and, um, I adopt a similar slogan for me,
879
00:50:47,794 --> 00:50:50,338
"silence equals non-existence."
880
00:50:54,718 --> 00:50:56,887
Queer comedy is really
881
00:50:56,887 --> 00:51:01,641
how we dealt with trauma.
882
00:51:01,641 --> 00:51:05,395
Trauma in the form of homophobia,
trauma in the form of racism,
883
00:51:05,395 --> 00:51:07,981
trauma in the form of sexism,
884
00:51:07,981 --> 00:51:11,526
trauma in the form of just not being
accepted by society at-large.
885
00:51:11,526 --> 00:51:16,448
So after I didn't become
a television star,
886
00:51:16,448 --> 00:51:20,911
it was really a natural step
to go back to stand-up comedy.
887
00:51:21,495 --> 00:51:26,041
I wanted to find my audience.
I wanted to find my group.
888
00:51:26,041 --> 00:51:28,251
I realized I just had to do it my own way.
889
00:51:28,251 --> 00:51:29,669
Margaret Cho!
890
00:51:33,131 --> 00:51:36,051
I was able to create
my own comedy shows
891
00:51:36,051 --> 00:51:39,179
and film them and make them for television
892
00:51:39,179 --> 00:51:41,473
without having to worry
about what I said or did.
893
00:51:41,473 --> 00:51:42,766
I could do whatever I wanted.
894
00:51:42,766 --> 00:51:46,603
I went through this whole thing.
You know, I was like, "Am I gay?"
895
00:51:46,603 --> 00:51:48,063
"Am I straight?"
896
00:51:48,688 --> 00:51:51,525
And I realized I'm just slutty.
897
00:51:52,442 --> 00:51:54,152
First time
I watched Margaret Cho,
898
00:51:54,152 --> 00:51:58,240
{\an8}it was the first time I saw
someone discuss any queer identity
899
00:51:58,240 --> 00:51:59,991
without insulting it.
900
00:51:59,991 --> 00:52:01,701
I love the word "faggot"
901
00:52:02,244 --> 00:52:05,914
because it describes my kind of guy.
902
00:52:06,581 --> 00:52:08,041
It was like, "Oh, gay people exist,
903
00:52:08,041 --> 00:52:09,960
they're very real,
and I think they're amazing."
904
00:52:09,960 --> 00:52:14,047
I'm like, "Oh, okay.
I didn't know that was allowed."
905
00:52:14,047 --> 00:52:15,465
We only love three things.
906
00:52:15,465 --> 00:52:18,593
That would be ass,
Judy Garland, and Margaret Cho.
907
00:52:18,593 --> 00:52:22,556
{\an8}She was doing shows
that were for us by us,
908
00:52:23,140 --> 00:52:26,726
and that led
to a groundswell of alt comedy.
909
00:52:26,726 --> 00:52:29,312
You know, weird ragtag lineups.
910
00:52:29,312 --> 00:52:31,815
A more diverse group of comedians
911
00:52:31,815 --> 00:52:35,026
who don't sound or look
like comics you've seen before.
912
00:52:37,070 --> 00:52:40,866
{\an8}I remember listening to Margaret
do stand-up for the first time,
913
00:52:40,866 --> 00:52:46,037
{\an8}and it was everything that, when I started
doing stand-up, they said not to do.
914
00:52:46,037 --> 00:52:48,999
It was bawdy,
it was raunchy, it was, you know,
915
00:52:48,999 --> 00:52:50,709
she was just... she didn't give a fuck.
916
00:52:52,878 --> 00:52:57,215
So many of us felt like we didn't belong
in traditional spaces.
917
00:52:57,215 --> 00:53:00,886
I was told a bunch by other comics
when I was coming up,
918
00:53:00,886 --> 00:53:02,012
"Don't talk about sex."
919
00:53:03,930 --> 00:53:06,766
Every time
you talk about sex, or even dating,
920
00:53:06,766 --> 00:53:09,102
you're reminding people
of the way you have sex.
921
00:53:09,102 --> 00:53:13,148
Even if it's not a joke about anal sex,
that's where their brains will go,
922
00:53:13,148 --> 00:53:14,399
and it'll gross them out.
923
00:53:14,399 --> 00:53:16,860
As soon as I got the opportunity,
924
00:53:16,860 --> 00:53:20,906
all I wanted to talk about was the stuff
people wanted to keep behind the curtain.
925
00:53:20,906 --> 00:53:23,408
I love my boyfriend so much.
He's my soulmate.
926
00:53:23,408 --> 00:53:26,703
Um, he is white,
but, um, on any given night,
927
00:53:26,703 --> 00:53:29,164
he does have a little bit
of Asian DNA in him.
928
00:53:29,164 --> 00:53:30,957
- Heyo!
929
00:53:30,957 --> 00:53:33,460
Yes! Oh, he hates that joke! Um...
930
00:53:34,419 --> 00:53:36,755
But he is the bottom,
so he has to take it. Um...
931
00:53:41,801 --> 00:53:45,931
At that time, queer comedy
was really, uh, sort of a solace.
932
00:53:46,514 --> 00:53:50,685
And for me,
it's really important for audiences
933
00:53:51,269 --> 00:53:54,481
to have a queer voice
that they can find hope in,
934
00:53:54,481 --> 00:53:56,524
to find joy in.
935
00:53:56,524 --> 00:53:58,318
It's life-affirming.
936
00:54:04,282 --> 00:54:05,742
Like she didn't see me.
937
00:54:05,742 --> 00:54:07,160
I... I apologize.
938
00:54:07,160 --> 00:54:10,330
I mean, I'm the most gigantic
human being in the world.
939
00:54:10,330 --> 00:54:11,915
I'm sorry.
I'm kidding!
940
00:54:11,915 --> 00:54:13,124
Okay.
941
00:54:13,124 --> 00:54:14,251
Perfect.
942
00:54:14,251 --> 00:54:15,752
Wait. I'm putting this away.
943
00:54:15,752 --> 00:54:16,962
What the...
- Fuck.
944
00:54:18,213 --> 00:54:20,840
- I don't want this in my pocket.
Okay, give it to me.
945
00:54:20,840 --> 00:54:21,800
Hi, everyone.
946
00:54:22,342 --> 00:54:25,971
{\an8}I always knew I wanted to be a performer,
but I didn't know how.
947
00:54:25,971 --> 00:54:31,309
{\an8}I was so tall and... and awkward and gay,
948
00:54:31,309 --> 00:54:33,311
and I looked at these women,
949
00:54:34,354 --> 00:54:37,524
like Joan Rivers, Moms Mabley,
these people who were
950
00:54:38,024 --> 00:54:40,819
brash and honest
951
00:54:41,528 --> 00:54:42,654
and hilarious,
952
00:54:42,654 --> 00:54:45,532
and I thought, "That's what I want to do."
953
00:54:46,283 --> 00:54:50,370
I wanted to be a comedian
who happened to be a lesbian,
954
00:54:51,246 --> 00:54:53,540
and that was the way I always felt.
955
00:54:53,540 --> 00:54:55,208
People knew I was gay,
956
00:54:55,208 --> 00:54:59,254
but, uh, I didn't really have
any material about being a lesbian.
957
00:54:59,254 --> 00:55:02,340
I love to get my mother mad.
I did this my mother a few weeks ago.
958
00:55:02,340 --> 00:55:04,843
So if you guys want
to piss your mother off, do this.
959
00:55:04,843 --> 00:55:08,221
Next time you're driving with your mother,
stop in front of the local strip joint,
960
00:55:08,221 --> 00:55:10,849
put the car in park,
and say, "I'll be right back."
961
00:55:10,849 --> 00:55:13,393
"I just have to run in
and pick up my check."
962
00:55:15,312 --> 00:55:17,355
Like you're working there as a stripper!
963
00:55:17,355 --> 00:55:20,275
I actually did that joke in Atlanta
like a month ago, and someone yelled,
964
00:55:20,275 --> 00:55:21,860
"We get paid cash."
965
00:55:24,154 --> 00:55:26,406
I saw how they pigeonholed people,
966
00:55:26,906 --> 00:55:29,367
how they could only work
for certain audiences,
967
00:55:29,367 --> 00:55:31,244
how they wouldn't get hired.
968
00:55:31,244 --> 00:55:34,497
Hi, I'm Suzanne Westenhoefer,
famous lesbian comedian.
969
00:55:39,586 --> 00:55:43,298
The first clubs I played
were comedy clubs in New York City.
970
00:55:44,799 --> 00:55:48,887
{\an8}In the early '90s, if you got up
and said you were a lesbian or a gay man,
971
00:55:48,887 --> 00:55:50,472
it was the end of your career.
972
00:55:51,348 --> 00:55:54,559
Many of the other comics would tell me
to stop talking about gay stuff.
973
00:55:54,559 --> 00:55:56,478
"You're never gonna
get anywhere with that."
974
00:55:56,478 --> 00:56:00,065
"You could be big, and now they're never
going to ask you back."
975
00:56:01,024 --> 00:56:03,735
I started out. I did gay comedy
in straight clubs in New York,
976
00:56:03,735 --> 00:56:06,363
and a lot of clubs would play me,
but there was one that wouldn't.
977
00:56:06,363 --> 00:56:08,073
I don't wanna mention
the name or anything.
978
00:56:08,073 --> 00:56:08,990
Comic Strip!
979
00:56:11,659 --> 00:56:14,746
And, uh, it was really amazing.
I auditioned for them three times.
980
00:56:14,746 --> 00:56:17,374
I did really well,
and this little worm of a manager
981
00:56:17,374 --> 00:56:21,211
walks up and goes, "You were really good,
but I don't think we can use you."
982
00:56:21,211 --> 00:56:23,588
"'Cause we groom our people for TV,
983
00:56:23,588 --> 00:56:27,217
and I don't think there will
ever be lesbians on TV."
984
00:56:28,343 --> 00:56:31,096
I was very aware that it was limiting me.
985
00:56:31,096 --> 00:56:35,392
I think the majority of the homophobia
was in that I didn't get things
986
00:56:35,392 --> 00:56:37,936
that I maybe didn't even know existed.
987
00:56:37,936 --> 00:56:41,523
They just weren't offered to me
the way they were offered to other comics.
988
00:56:42,690 --> 00:56:45,527
I said, "No lesbians on TV?"
989
00:56:45,527 --> 00:56:47,028
"What about Wimbledon?"
990
00:56:54,202 --> 00:56:56,204
They didn't
let me audition for stuff.
991
00:56:56,204 --> 00:56:59,791
I remember very clearly being told once,
"Oh, you're an openly gay comedian?"
992
00:56:59,791 --> 00:57:01,376
"Is all you talk about being gay?"
993
00:57:01,376 --> 00:57:03,878
I said, "It's not all I talk about,
but it's like being Black."
994
00:57:03,878 --> 00:57:06,965
"You're Black when you're on stage,
whether you talk about it or not, right?"
995
00:57:06,965 --> 00:57:09,926
She was like, "Okay, thank you.
Get her out of here."
996
00:57:09,926 --> 00:57:12,262
And that was... that was always sort of...
997
00:57:13,805 --> 00:57:15,056
uh, it bummed you out.
998
00:57:15,557 --> 00:57:17,976
I act now like I wasn't weeping somewhere
999
00:57:17,976 --> 00:57:20,603
and trying to keep my mascara
from running at the time,
1000
00:57:20,603 --> 00:57:23,940
but it was... That was painful. You know?
1001
00:57:27,861 --> 00:57:30,447
There was still the hate,
still the bigotry,
1002
00:57:30,447 --> 00:57:31,823
so much work to be done.
1003
00:57:31,823 --> 00:57:34,993
The next time someone says
to you, "Oh, you choose to be a lesbian,
1004
00:57:34,993 --> 00:57:38,788
and you choose to be a gay man,"
say, "No, I did not choose it."
1005
00:57:39,289 --> 00:57:40,582
"I was chosen."
1006
00:57:43,710 --> 00:57:48,631
To insist that male-male
or female-female relationships
1007
00:57:48,631 --> 00:57:50,258
must have the same status
1008
00:57:51,092 --> 00:57:53,219
{\an8}is patently absurd.
1009
00:57:53,761 --> 00:57:56,806
We need to stop the homosexual agenda,
1010
00:57:57,348 --> 00:58:01,019
which is going to take over
our town, our schools.
1011
00:58:01,895 --> 00:58:04,397
The Gay '90s were not so gay.
1012
00:58:05,231 --> 00:58:08,193
We had the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Act,
1013
00:58:08,193 --> 00:58:10,487
{\an8}and we had the Defense of Marriage Act,
1014
00:58:10,487 --> 00:58:13,740
{\an8}which defined marriage
as between a man and a woman.
1015
00:58:14,866 --> 00:58:16,451
It centers around children.
1016
00:58:16,451 --> 00:58:18,870
There's a big move
for gays to adopt children,
1017
00:58:18,870 --> 00:58:21,748
and if they get marriage,
now that you've said we can marry,
1018
00:58:21,748 --> 00:58:25,001
what's stopping us from saying men
and women are interchangeable as parents?
1019
00:58:25,001 --> 00:58:26,461
It's immoral.
1020
00:58:26,461 --> 00:58:28,505
It's unhealthy and destructive.
1021
00:58:28,505 --> 00:58:31,216
It was crazy.
1022
00:58:32,175 --> 00:58:35,220
Erik and Lyle Menendez.
One night, the parents are watching TV
1023
00:58:35,220 --> 00:58:37,931
and eating ice cream,
and they shoot them to death.
1024
00:58:38,431 --> 00:58:41,309
They can get married!
They got married in jail!
1025
00:58:41,309 --> 00:58:42,602
I can't get married.
1026
00:58:43,269 --> 00:58:45,647
Jerry Sandusky. Pedophile.
1027
00:58:46,856 --> 00:58:48,525
He had more rights than me.
1028
00:58:48,525 --> 00:58:51,611
Mary Kay Letourneau
marries her fucking student
1029
00:58:52,278 --> 00:58:54,072
and has the kid's baby.
1030
00:58:54,072 --> 00:58:55,949
It just made me crazy,
1031
00:58:55,949 --> 00:58:59,661
and at that point, everything shifted.
1032
00:59:00,328 --> 00:59:03,706
And once I had a child, that was it.
1033
00:59:04,624 --> 00:59:06,793
I came out as a gay parent.
1034
00:59:07,752 --> 00:59:10,004
Every comic talks about their family.
1035
00:59:10,004 --> 00:59:12,757
No one's going to tell me
I can't talk about mine.
1036
00:59:12,757 --> 00:59:14,425
I am a lesbian with two children,
1037
00:59:14,425 --> 00:59:16,844
and, uh, so I should tell you
a little bit about it.
1038
00:59:16,844 --> 00:59:19,806
I had... I had my kids
with my ex-partner, Wendy.
1039
00:59:20,890 --> 00:59:24,769
All right, that's not really her name.
She doesn't want to be identified.
1040
00:59:24,769 --> 00:59:26,145
She wants me to call her Wendy.
1041
00:59:26,145 --> 00:59:28,856
- Her real name's Sharon. Anyway, so, um...
1042
00:59:28,856 --> 00:59:33,570
What kind of message
does it give to your children
1043
00:59:34,195 --> 00:59:38,616
when you do not walk around with pride
1044
00:59:38,616 --> 00:59:42,954
and adulation for your family
and the family you have created?
1045
00:59:44,998 --> 00:59:47,709
We used an anonymous sperm donor,
who's actually sitting right here.
1046
00:59:47,709 --> 00:59:49,294
Thank you so much for being here.
1047
00:59:49,294 --> 00:59:52,380
Kids are really looking forward
to meeting you tomorrow. And...
1048
00:59:52,380 --> 00:59:54,799
When I started talking about
my family and my kids,
1049
00:59:54,799 --> 00:59:58,928
I absolutely did it
at my own expense in terms of my career,
1050
00:59:59,846 --> 01:00:02,307
but I could not do it any other way.
1051
01:00:03,224 --> 01:00:05,977
I could not look at my son's face
1052
01:00:05,977 --> 01:00:09,147
and say, "You don't talk about this,"
1053
01:00:09,647 --> 01:00:11,190
or "We should be ashamed,"
1054
01:00:11,816 --> 01:00:14,569
or "We're not the same as."
1055
01:00:14,569 --> 01:00:15,695
I couldn't do it.
1056
01:00:21,618 --> 01:00:23,286
I'm obsessed with Judy Gold.
1057
01:00:23,786 --> 01:00:27,040
{\an8}One of Judy's records, I remember
hearing her talk about having a child.
1058
01:00:27,040 --> 01:00:30,960
{\an8}I think, "Oh, she has a wife and a child."
1059
01:00:30,960 --> 01:00:32,837
"But she's gay. But she has a family."
1060
01:00:32,837 --> 01:00:34,130
And my mind exploded.
1061
01:00:35,965 --> 01:00:38,718
And then, it was like
1062
01:00:39,552 --> 01:00:42,972
normal family things,
not "gay family things."
1063
01:00:42,972 --> 01:00:45,183
- Hello, everyone!
1064
01:00:45,183 --> 01:00:47,268
Hello, my queers!
1065
01:00:47,935 --> 01:00:49,437
I love you all!
1066
01:00:50,438 --> 01:00:53,191
Comedy gives people the opportunity
1067
01:00:53,191 --> 01:00:55,443
to see the world
through someone else's eyes,
1068
01:00:55,443 --> 01:00:58,780
and a great comedian
will make you laugh and make you think
1069
01:00:58,780 --> 01:01:01,407
and maybe even... change your mind.
1070
01:01:05,870 --> 01:01:09,624
{\an8}When everybody knew Judy was a lesbian,
there weren't many places for her to go.
1071
01:01:09,624 --> 01:01:13,836
{\an8}The next place I saw her on television was
as producer on the Rosie O'Donnell Show.
1072
01:01:13,836 --> 01:01:17,298
I've lost staff members.
Come get your son. There you have it.
1073
01:01:17,298 --> 01:01:21,594
When I worked on the Rosie O'Donnell Show,
I thought, "This show is a phenomenon."
1074
01:01:22,178 --> 01:01:25,390
Everyone was watching it.
Every magazine cover.
1075
01:01:25,390 --> 01:01:29,686
And I remember thinking,
"If you only knew that we're all gay."
1076
01:01:29,686 --> 01:01:33,481
"We're all gay theater kids
putting on a show for you."
1077
01:01:35,566 --> 01:01:38,986
You know, when I had my deal
with Warner Bros. to do my talk show,
1078
01:01:38,986 --> 01:01:40,571
{\an8}I told them that I was gay,
1079
01:01:40,571 --> 01:01:43,449
{\an8}because they were spending
millions of dollars
1080
01:01:43,449 --> 01:01:46,452
ramping up this show,
and I just wanted them to know.
1081
01:01:46,452 --> 01:01:50,790
I said, "You know, just in case you care,
I want you to know."
1082
01:01:50,790 --> 01:01:54,919
I don't imagine I would ever come out,
because I didn't imagine it at that time.
1083
01:01:54,919 --> 01:01:57,505
You know, my show started in '96,
1084
01:01:57,505 --> 01:02:01,426
and that was pre-Will and Grace,
that was pre-Ellen coming out.
1085
01:02:01,926 --> 01:02:04,804
I mean, I remember thinking
when Ellen was gonna come out
1086
01:02:04,804 --> 01:02:08,141
as her character on her show,
that she was going to ruin her career.
1087
01:02:08,141 --> 01:02:11,144
I went in and I'm like,
"You gonna do this?" She's like, "Yeah."
1088
01:02:11,144 --> 01:02:14,856
I'm like, "Wow. Are you nervous?
Are you scared?" She's like, "A little."
1089
01:02:14,856 --> 01:02:16,482
I don't know how this leaked out either,
1090
01:02:16,482 --> 01:02:20,027
'cause we were really trying
to build this up slowly and reveal it, uh,
1091
01:02:20,027 --> 01:02:22,947
in a way that would change people's
opinions, basically. Uh...
1092
01:02:23,448 --> 01:02:27,326
We do find out
that the character is Lebanese and, um...
1093
01:02:27,326 --> 01:02:29,245
- Lebanese?
- Yeah.
1094
01:02:29,245 --> 01:02:30,913
She said she was gonna do a bit on
1095
01:02:30,913 --> 01:02:33,833
that the character
was coming out as Lebanese,
1096
01:02:33,833 --> 01:02:35,084
and I said, "Okay."
1097
01:02:35,084 --> 01:02:38,337
So we were talking about jokes with that,
1098
01:02:38,337 --> 01:02:43,134
and I said, "I could say I like
baba ghanoush and Casey Kasem."
1099
01:02:43,134 --> 01:02:46,471
- I'm a big fan of Casey Kasem. Listen.
You go girl.
1100
01:02:48,556 --> 01:02:49,766
Maybe I'm Lebanese.
1101
01:02:49,766 --> 01:02:51,934
- You could be.
I could be Lebanese myself.
1102
01:02:51,934 --> 01:02:53,186
I didn't know that.
1103
01:02:53,186 --> 01:02:55,271
- You know, sometimes...
1104
01:02:55,271 --> 01:02:58,649
...that's sad 'cause I pick up sometimes
that you might be Lebanese.
1105
01:02:58,649 --> 01:03:02,361
I didn't want to leave her out there,
you know, without supporting her
1106
01:03:02,361 --> 01:03:05,072
and sort of claim no communion with her.
1107
01:03:05,072 --> 01:03:06,574
There's a Tori Amos song.
1108
01:03:06,574 --> 01:03:09,869
She sings,
"Your mom shows up in a nasty dress,
1109
01:03:09,869 --> 01:03:13,080
and it's your turn now
to stand where I stand."
1110
01:03:13,080 --> 01:03:16,417
"Everyone's looking at you.
Take a hold of my hand."
1111
01:03:17,168 --> 01:03:21,047
And that's what I felt about it.
Like, "I'm not gonna let you stand there."
1112
01:03:21,547 --> 01:03:24,342
"Take hold of my hand, right?
We're gonna do it together."
1113
01:03:24,342 --> 01:03:26,093
Half of Hollywood is Lebanese.
1114
01:03:26,093 --> 01:03:27,220
Really?
- Yeah.
1115
01:03:27,220 --> 01:03:28,387
People don't know!
1116
01:03:29,889 --> 01:03:32,767
Ellen's coming out
was a sea change in America.
1117
01:03:32,767 --> 01:03:35,770
{\an8}It was somebody that we saw every week
1118
01:03:35,770 --> 01:03:40,399
on an adorable little sitcom,
being honest about being queer.
1119
01:03:40,983 --> 01:03:41,818
Susan,
1120
01:03:42,568 --> 01:03:43,444
I'm gay.
1121
01:03:45,363 --> 01:03:47,824
The show was
immediately cancelled after that,
1122
01:03:47,824 --> 01:03:51,035
but it forced people to really think about
1123
01:03:51,035 --> 01:03:53,538
a queer person's inner life
1124
01:03:53,538 --> 01:03:57,333
and the fact that we had known
and come to love Ellen,
1125
01:03:57,333 --> 01:03:59,377
and then we learned that she was queer.
1126
01:03:59,377 --> 01:04:00,670
What happened?
1127
01:04:00,670 --> 01:04:04,215
Did she torpedo her own show
by pushing a gay agenda?
1128
01:04:04,215 --> 01:04:06,551
Or did this network
pretty much abandon her?
1129
01:04:06,551 --> 01:04:10,137
{\an8}The problem is that, to a lot of people,
1130
01:04:10,638 --> 01:04:15,184
{\an8}if I talk about my wife,
I'm talking about my life.
1131
01:04:15,184 --> 01:04:19,564
If I talk about my husband,
suddenly, I have an agenda.
1132
01:04:19,564 --> 01:04:23,276
We're all raised with,
"There's something wrong."
1133
01:04:23,276 --> 01:04:27,196
"You're not quite normal. You don't--
You just-- There's something wrong."
1134
01:04:27,905 --> 01:04:31,284
There's nothing wrong,
and someday people are gonna get it.
1135
01:04:34,954 --> 01:04:38,791
Have you noticed that some
of the most important who've come out
1136
01:04:38,791 --> 01:04:41,836
in such big ways
have been lesbian comedians?
1137
01:04:41,836 --> 01:04:46,424
{\an8}You would hear people be like,
"I don't like gays, but I like Ellen."
1138
01:04:46,424 --> 01:04:49,677
And you're like, "Okay."
1139
01:04:49,677 --> 01:04:53,139
And it's the power
of making someone laugh.
1140
01:04:53,139 --> 01:04:55,141
"This person makes me feel good."
1141
01:04:55,141 --> 01:04:57,435
"Maybe them being gay is not so bad."
1142
01:04:57,935 --> 01:05:00,062
I think women are just braver than men.
1143
01:05:01,647 --> 01:05:03,816
{\an8}I think the biggest--
Yeah, the biggest coming outs
1144
01:05:03,816 --> 01:05:06,986
{\an8}have been Ellen and Rosie and Wanda.
1145
01:05:09,447 --> 01:05:10,698
When I first came out,
1146
01:05:10,698 --> 01:05:14,410
it was the national day
of protest against Prop 8.
1147
01:05:15,119 --> 01:05:18,915
Two, four, six, eight!
God does not discriminate!
1148
01:05:18,915 --> 01:05:21,834
The woman who was
the head of the center, I guess,
1149
01:05:21,834 --> 01:05:24,086
started saying there's
someone in the audience,
1150
01:05:24,086 --> 01:05:27,798
and they are
a strong ally of our community,
1151
01:05:27,798 --> 01:05:32,178
{\an8}and I'm looking around like,
"Is Drew Barrymore here? Who's out here?"
1152
01:05:32,178 --> 01:05:35,222
You know, "Is it Pink?
Who's in this audience?"
1153
01:05:35,222 --> 01:05:36,849
"Who else is out here?"
1154
01:05:36,849 --> 01:05:39,352
And, uh, then she said Wanda Sykes.
1155
01:05:39,352 --> 01:05:42,104
I was like, "Oh shit.
They think I'm an ally."
1156
01:05:42,104 --> 01:05:45,816
"They don't-- That's right,
they don't know I am in the community."
1157
01:05:48,361 --> 01:05:50,655
{\an8}I got married October 25th.
1158
01:05:51,572 --> 01:05:52,740
{\an8}My wife is here.
1159
01:05:55,159 --> 01:05:58,245
And then when I,
uh, came back to my friends, uh,
1160
01:05:58,245 --> 01:06:00,247
and Alex was there, my wife was there,
1161
01:06:00,247 --> 01:06:02,249
they said, "You know
you just came out, right?
1162
01:06:02,249 --> 01:06:04,877
I was like, "Oh wow, I guess I did."
1163
01:06:04,877 --> 01:06:06,462
"I'm really out, huh?"
1164
01:06:08,339 --> 01:06:09,757
Thank y'all so much.
1165
01:06:10,257 --> 01:06:12,093
Look, I just... I just wanna say...
1166
01:06:12,093 --> 01:06:16,013
Look, the... Just give a big hand
for everybody you've seen tonight.
1167
01:06:16,013 --> 01:06:17,473
I mean, oh my God.
1168
01:06:18,766 --> 01:06:22,269
And I got... I got--
A lot of these performers,
1169
01:06:22,269 --> 01:06:24,021
I am standing on their shoulders.
1170
01:06:25,356 --> 01:06:29,527
The first Black female
I saw on stage, she was out.
1171
01:06:29,527 --> 01:06:30,653
Karen Williams.
1172
01:06:31,487 --> 01:06:32,697
She was just funny,
1173
01:06:32,697 --> 01:06:35,408
and she just happened to be gay,
and she just talked about,
1174
01:06:35,408 --> 01:06:38,452
"Yeah, you know, my girlfriend."
And I was like, "What?"
1175
01:06:38,953 --> 01:06:42,331
She said it on stage, and I looked around
like, "Did anybody hear that?"
1176
01:06:42,331 --> 01:06:45,584
Lesbians calling out to Jesus
when they're having an orgasm.
1177
01:06:45,584 --> 01:06:47,503
Once again, the man gets the credit.
1178
01:06:48,713 --> 01:06:52,633
Growing up, my favorite
was, uh, Jackie "Moms" Mabley.
1179
01:06:54,218 --> 01:06:59,640
She was a Black woman,
and you didn't see that on TV, you know.
1180
01:06:59,640 --> 01:07:01,892
She's this character, but she was real
1181
01:07:01,892 --> 01:07:05,521
because she reminded me
of some of my aunts and my grandmother.
1182
01:07:06,022 --> 01:07:11,444
{\an8}I remember as a kid watching Moms Mabley
on things like the Smothers Brothers show.
1183
01:07:11,444 --> 01:07:14,113
{\an8}- You know Mom don't like old men.
- You don't?
1184
01:07:14,113 --> 01:07:17,074
{\an8}No. Any time you see me
with my arms around an old man,
1185
01:07:17,074 --> 01:07:18,784
I'm holding him for the police.
1186
01:07:20,119 --> 01:07:24,832
And I had no idea as a kid
that, uh, she was an out lesbian,
1187
01:07:24,832 --> 01:07:28,711
uh, that she came out
in her twenties in the '20s.
1188
01:07:28,711 --> 01:07:31,380
- Mr. Jones, this is Marcella.
- Hello, big boy!
1189
01:07:31,380 --> 01:07:33,632
I got your fish
and rice all ready for you.
1190
01:07:34,133 --> 01:07:36,260
You know, I'm from South Carolina myself.
1191
01:07:38,137 --> 01:07:40,097
If I could go back in time,
1192
01:07:40,097 --> 01:07:44,393
{\an8}I would be in drag
with Moms Mabley picking up women.
1193
01:07:44,393 --> 01:07:45,561
Are you kidding me?
1194
01:07:47,063 --> 01:07:50,107
Moms' brilliant use of comedy
1195
01:07:50,107 --> 01:07:55,071
{\an8}as a critic and disruptor
of the social dynamic of her time
1196
01:07:55,071 --> 01:07:56,989
was nothing short of genius.
1197
01:07:56,989 --> 01:08:00,159
I'm gonna vote
and vote for whoever I please,
1198
01:08:00,159 --> 01:08:02,328
and I'll thumb my nose at the Klan,
1199
01:08:02,328 --> 01:08:05,247
and I double dare 'em
to come out from behind them sheets
1200
01:08:05,247 --> 01:08:07,625
and face me like a man.
1201
01:08:07,625 --> 01:08:11,837
I see Moms Mabley in Wanda Sykes.
1202
01:08:11,837 --> 01:08:15,591
She sort of picks at the issues,
large and small,
1203
01:08:15,591 --> 01:08:18,385
of just living in the everyday world.
1204
01:08:18,385 --> 01:08:21,013
It's harder being gay
than it is being Black.
1205
01:08:21,013 --> 01:08:23,516
It is. 'Cause there are
some things that I had--
1206
01:08:23,516 --> 01:08:29,188
There are some things that I have to do
as gay that I didn't have to do as Black.
1207
01:08:29,188 --> 01:08:31,190
I didn't have to come out Black.
1208
01:08:34,193 --> 01:08:38,280
I didn't have to sit my parents down
and tell them about my Blackness.
1209
01:08:40,491 --> 01:08:42,159
I didn't have to sit them down.
1210
01:08:42,159 --> 01:08:44,370
"Mom, Dad, I got to tell y'all something."
1211
01:08:47,123 --> 01:08:48,666
"I hope you still love me."
1212
01:08:50,584 --> 01:08:52,086
"I'm just gonna say it."
1213
01:08:53,462 --> 01:08:54,755
"Mom, Dad...
1214
01:08:56,507 --> 01:08:57,383
I'm Black."
1215
01:08:58,467 --> 01:09:00,636
"What? What did she just say?!"
1216
01:09:00,636 --> 01:09:01,720
"Oh Lord Jesus!"
1217
01:09:01,720 --> 01:09:03,889
"She didn't say Black, Lord!
Did she say Black?"
1218
01:09:03,889 --> 01:09:08,394
"Mom, I'm Black."
"Oh no, Lord Jesus! Not Black! Oh my God!"
1219
01:09:08,978 --> 01:09:11,063
"Oh, not Black, Lord!"
1220
01:09:11,939 --> 01:09:13,941
"Anything but Black, Jesus!"
1221
01:09:15,401 --> 01:09:17,611
To watch her come out,
it felt really powerful.
1222
01:09:17,611 --> 01:09:20,364
Especially to see her
as a Black queer experience,
1223
01:09:20,364 --> 01:09:23,409
{\an8}and I also remember thinking to myself,
"This is how I feel."
1224
01:09:23,409 --> 01:09:25,369
{\an8}I hadn't been able
to put words to it before.
1225
01:09:26,745 --> 01:09:28,581
Wanda had a special
1226
01:09:28,581 --> 01:09:33,210
where she talked
about living with her French wife,
1227
01:09:33,210 --> 01:09:36,213
but it ultimately ended up being
this really heartwarming
1228
01:09:36,213 --> 01:09:40,426
and wonderful depiction
of domesticity between two women.
1229
01:09:41,010 --> 01:09:43,387
- I'm snoring now.
1230
01:09:43,387 --> 01:09:45,097
That's different. Yep.
1231
01:09:45,097 --> 01:09:46,056
Snoring.
1232
01:09:46,056 --> 01:09:50,019
You know, my wife, boy.
God bless her putting up with it.
1233
01:09:50,019 --> 01:09:52,855
You know, 'cause first, it started off
with just some deep breathing.
1234
01:09:52,855 --> 01:09:56,400
You know, just like...
1235
01:09:59,111 --> 01:10:00,529
And then it quickly escalated to...
1236
01:10:05,576 --> 01:10:06,577
How do I know?
1237
01:10:07,119 --> 01:10:08,829
Because my wife records it.
1238
01:10:10,414 --> 01:10:13,167
That was normalizing queerness,
1239
01:10:13,167 --> 01:10:19,006
and particularly normalizing
multiracial, female same-sex love.
1240
01:10:21,800 --> 01:10:24,595
Wanda and the lesbian pioneers,
1241
01:10:24,595 --> 01:10:29,141
they made it okay for me to say I'm gay.
1242
01:10:31,644 --> 01:10:32,686
When I started,
1243
01:10:33,437 --> 01:10:35,231
{\an8}lesbians terrified me.
1244
01:10:35,231 --> 01:10:37,274
{\an8}They fucking terrified me.
1245
01:10:37,274 --> 01:10:38,901
I had... I would... I would...
1246
01:10:40,027 --> 01:10:42,863
"What do they want?
Why are they looking at me?"
1247
01:10:43,739 --> 01:10:45,532
You know, "Leave me alone."
1248
01:10:47,326 --> 01:10:48,619
Then it all made sense.
1249
01:10:50,913 --> 01:10:52,831
And I realized how often
1250
01:10:52,831 --> 01:10:57,878
I have tried to mitigate
my own homosexuality
1251
01:10:57,878 --> 01:11:02,341
and, uh, make it palatable,
if not acceptable.
1252
01:11:03,092 --> 01:11:06,720
And I never have to do that again,
and that's very liberating.
1253
01:11:07,554 --> 01:11:09,515
I didn't know I was gay.
1254
01:11:09,515 --> 01:11:13,394
Growing up in the '50s and '60s,
nobody talked about being gay.
1255
01:11:13,394 --> 01:11:15,062
I had no idea what gay was.
1256
01:11:15,062 --> 01:11:17,815
I didn't know there were
gay people in my family.
1257
01:11:17,815 --> 01:11:22,152
And they weren't even down-low gay.
They were stereotypically flaming gay.
1258
01:11:23,904 --> 01:11:26,031
Like Aunt Butchie and Uncle Twirl.
1259
01:11:30,411 --> 01:11:34,581
It's very important
for queer comedians to be seen and heard.
1260
01:11:34,581 --> 01:11:38,836
There's kids out there and people
who live in areas where they're not seen.
1261
01:11:39,795 --> 01:11:43,299
So it's good to see us
speaking out for them.
1262
01:11:43,299 --> 01:11:45,175
That's encouraging to them.
1263
01:11:45,175 --> 01:11:47,886
{\an8}In queer spaces,
there's a lot more opportunity
1264
01:11:47,886 --> 01:11:51,098
for women to headline,
for Black people to headline.
1265
01:11:51,098 --> 01:11:53,726
When I first moved to the States
and nobody knew who I was,
1266
01:11:53,726 --> 01:11:59,481
I got in doing Olivia, who does cruises
and resorts and stuff for women.
1267
01:11:59,481 --> 01:12:02,776
I was able to actually
start making money in America
1268
01:12:02,776 --> 01:12:05,904
as a comedian doing queer spaces.
1269
01:12:07,448 --> 01:12:10,326
In the '80s and '90s
and into the 2000s,
1270
01:12:10,326 --> 01:12:13,579
{\an8}queer venues and scenes
began to spring up.
1271
01:12:13,579 --> 01:12:15,664
{\an8}Some people call this
the "lavender circuit."
1272
01:12:16,248 --> 01:12:21,628
You would see folks
who are queer, Black, female identify,
1273
01:12:21,628 --> 01:12:23,672
{\an8}performing visibly.
1274
01:12:24,715 --> 01:12:28,302
When I started, there was Kate Clinton,
1275
01:12:29,053 --> 01:12:33,098
Karen Williams, Marga Gomez, Lea DeLaria
1276
01:12:33,932 --> 01:12:36,685
doing stand-up
at gay events, gay festivals,
1277
01:12:36,685 --> 01:12:39,355
or cabarets, where they
were doing their own show.
1278
01:12:39,355 --> 01:12:42,441
{\an8}For people who don't know
what a women's music festival is,
1279
01:12:42,441 --> 01:12:43,650
{\an8}this is what it is.
1280
01:12:44,151 --> 01:12:46,236
At a certain period in time,
1281
01:12:46,236 --> 01:12:48,572
large groups of women
converge in the woods,
1282
01:12:48,572 --> 01:12:50,908
where they share mosquitoes,
leeches, and chips,
1283
01:12:50,908 --> 01:12:52,785
and somehow become better lesbians.
1284
01:12:55,162 --> 01:12:57,331
I am a city girl, okay?
1285
01:12:57,331 --> 01:13:00,793
There are ax murderers in the woods.
I don't want to be there!
1286
01:13:01,460 --> 01:13:03,128
No!
1287
01:13:03,128 --> 01:13:06,965
{\an8}Felt like kind of a... an underground scene.
1288
01:13:06,965 --> 01:13:10,552
There would be a gay lineup
or a gay night.
1289
01:13:10,552 --> 01:13:13,931
{\an8}Gay comedians could perform,
be out, and do that stuff,
1290
01:13:13,931 --> 01:13:16,558
{\an8}and they were, generally,
of course, where the audiences were gay.
1291
01:13:16,558 --> 01:13:18,268
{\an8}The guy meant to introduce me,
1292
01:13:18,268 --> 01:13:21,772
{\an8}I know he meant introduce me,
as a Stonewall lesbian,
1293
01:13:22,523 --> 01:13:26,485
but he actually introduced me
as a Stonehenge lesbian.
1294
01:13:27,069 --> 01:13:28,654
{\an8}Come on, straight people.
1295
01:13:28,654 --> 01:13:32,157
{\an8}If you let us marry each other,
we'll stop marrying you!
1296
01:13:32,157 --> 01:13:35,953
{\an8}To me, there's nothing more humiliating
than a game of softball.
1297
01:13:37,871 --> 01:13:41,583
Because, you know, I can't throw anything
besides a really good brunch.
1298
01:13:44,586 --> 01:13:48,632
{\an8}When I was starting out,
it was very common for gay performers
1299
01:13:48,632 --> 01:13:52,636
{\an8}to be on the cruise ships
with the gay companies.
1300
01:13:52,636 --> 01:13:54,972
{\an8}You kind of knew your summers
were going to be busy,
1301
01:13:54,972 --> 01:13:59,393
'cause Pride was coming, and you just have
these certain things to expect.
1302
01:13:59,393 --> 01:14:02,604
My very first headliner show ever
1303
01:14:03,105 --> 01:14:04,481
was at Pulse, Orlando.
1304
01:14:05,858 --> 01:14:10,320
Those were the places
that were hiring me, gay clubs.
1305
01:14:10,320 --> 01:14:13,282
Those were the people
that were saying, you know,
1306
01:14:13,282 --> 01:14:16,535
"You're one of us. We wanna support you."
And it meant so much.
1307
01:14:17,035 --> 01:14:21,790
People would accept you and love you,
and they just want to have a good time
1308
01:14:21,790 --> 01:14:23,876
and laugh and support...
1309
01:14:25,043 --> 01:14:26,420
any gay entertainer.
1310
01:14:27,921 --> 01:14:29,214
{\an8}Those places,
1311
01:14:29,798 --> 01:14:34,470
{\an8}they're really important parts
of this comedy community.
1312
01:14:36,722 --> 01:14:39,725
I love those shows
because you've got a lot of gay people,
1313
01:14:39,725 --> 01:14:43,479
and they're from places where they're
in the closet or hide who they are,
1314
01:14:43,479 --> 01:14:46,398
and they get to completely be themselves.
1315
01:14:46,398 --> 01:14:50,360
And that release makes for
a great comedy audience...
1316
01:14:50,360 --> 01:14:53,822
...because they're just so happy
to just be who they are.
1317
01:14:57,659 --> 01:15:01,663
I was really blown away
after my special Sweet & Salty came out.
1318
01:15:01,663 --> 01:15:04,750
I was getting a lot
of messages from parents
1319
01:15:04,750 --> 01:15:09,046
who said their kids are using
my special as, like, a litmus test
1320
01:15:09,046 --> 01:15:11,298
to see how their parents responded,
1321
01:15:11,298 --> 01:15:14,843
and if they laughed and smiled,
their kid then came out to them.
1322
01:15:14,843 --> 01:15:15,802
"Mom,
1323
01:15:16,762 --> 01:15:17,763
I'm gay."
1324
01:15:18,430 --> 01:15:20,599
I know it sounds corny,
but laughter is medicine.
1325
01:15:20,599 --> 01:15:23,185
It helps you bond with people.
1326
01:15:23,185 --> 01:15:26,271
So we definitely need it.
1327
01:15:28,440 --> 01:15:30,484
I believe we should be aiming high.
1328
01:15:34,696 --> 01:15:38,700
Comedy should say something
to try to move us forward.
1329
01:15:38,700 --> 01:15:44,665
Still continuing to fight
for, um, equality.
1330
01:15:44,665 --> 01:15:47,876
I just love all y'all,
and thank you so much for being here.
1331
01:15:47,876 --> 01:15:51,380
Thank you for having us here,
and just thank you so much.
1332
01:15:51,380 --> 01:15:52,381
Appreciate y'all.
1333
01:15:54,258 --> 01:15:57,594
People who tell their truth
and are able to be authentic
1334
01:15:58,178 --> 01:16:01,181
and honest and give their life perspective
1335
01:16:01,181 --> 01:16:03,392
are doing a service,
especially when it's queer people.
1336
01:16:05,352 --> 01:16:06,937
- Hi, Eddie. Rosie.
Hi.
1337
01:16:06,937 --> 01:16:09,106
- Hi, Rosie.
- How are you? Good to see you.
1338
01:16:09,106 --> 01:16:13,318
There are so many people
that do stand-up in a fully-realized way.
1339
01:16:13,318 --> 01:16:15,904
I remember Eddie Izzard.
I always loved Eddie Izzard.
1340
01:16:20,993 --> 01:16:24,997
You watch her transformation
and the freedom that she feels to dress
1341
01:16:24,997 --> 01:16:27,249
and be and live who she truly is.
1342
01:16:27,249 --> 01:16:29,126
This isn't the glamorous part.
1343
01:16:30,002 --> 01:16:31,336
But you need this bit.
1344
01:16:32,170 --> 01:16:36,049
You know, that's something
that has just been mind-blowing to me.
1345
01:16:36,049 --> 01:16:40,804
How helpful, I think, for a world that's
often confused about what means what,
1346
01:16:40,804 --> 01:16:44,016
to have people stand in their truth
and their own real identity
1347
01:16:44,016 --> 01:16:46,059
and be able to express it for themselves.
1348
01:16:50,230 --> 01:16:51,857
I came out in '85,
1349
01:16:51,857 --> 01:16:55,277
{\an8}and then I started stand-up in '88,
and I started it in boy mode,
1350
01:16:55,277 --> 01:16:58,030
{\an8}and... 'cause I thought,
"I can't introduce this as well."
1351
01:16:58,614 --> 01:17:02,159
"Blood is thicker than water" means
that you should be kind to your relatives.
1352
01:17:02,159 --> 01:17:04,453
But custard is thicker than blood.
1353
01:17:05,579 --> 01:17:07,873
Does this mean
we should be nice to trifles?
1354
01:17:08,790 --> 01:17:12,294
As time went on, I'd feel it taking off.
I'd been pushing for it to take off.
1355
01:17:12,294 --> 01:17:16,506
And I thought,
"I need to tell people that I'm..."
1356
01:17:16,506 --> 01:17:18,258
It was TV, was the thing at the time.
1357
01:17:18,258 --> 01:17:20,636
TV, trans.
The language has changed over the years.
1358
01:17:20,636 --> 01:17:23,639
And pull that into society.
We were outside society.
1359
01:17:24,139 --> 01:17:27,100
I think it was LGB at that time,
but, you know...
1360
01:17:27,100 --> 01:17:28,644
The T wasn't there.
1361
01:17:28,644 --> 01:17:30,062
So I came out in '85.
1362
01:17:30,062 --> 01:17:32,147
Thirty-seven years ago.
1363
01:17:32,773 --> 01:17:35,525
Um, people had come out as trans before.
1364
01:17:39,571 --> 01:17:43,367
The concept of transsexuality
really just bursts onto
1365
01:17:43,367 --> 01:17:48,413
the public radar screen in 1952 and 1953,
1366
01:17:48,413 --> 01:17:51,708
primarily due to this woman
named Christine Jorgensen.
1367
01:17:56,254 --> 01:18:01,385
Christine Jorgensen was
the first major transsexual celebrity.
1368
01:18:01,385 --> 01:18:04,388
She was the Caitlyn Jenner
of her generation.
1369
01:18:05,472 --> 01:18:09,559
Christine Jorgensen would, you know,
come out on stage and tell a few jokes,
1370
01:18:09,559 --> 01:18:13,271
sing a little and dance a little
and do a quick change number.
1371
01:18:13,772 --> 01:18:18,235
So it's like the first trans celebrity
in modern times
1372
01:18:18,777 --> 01:18:20,862
kind of has a comedy act that she does.
1373
01:18:23,115 --> 01:18:25,450
So I started talking about it onstage,
1374
01:18:26,118 --> 01:18:28,453
but not wearing a dress,
not wearing lipstick.
1375
01:18:28,954 --> 01:18:33,291
Journalists were saying,
"Well, he is saying this and blah-blah..."
1376
01:18:34,167 --> 01:18:37,295
"Um, is this a joke?"
I thought, "Okay, I'll throw on a dress."
1377
01:18:42,968 --> 01:18:44,678
If you're a woman,
you can talk about sexism.
1378
01:18:44,678 --> 01:18:46,638
'Cause men can never really get there.
1379
01:18:46,638 --> 01:18:48,849
If you're an ethnic minority,
you can talk about racism.
1380
01:18:48,849 --> 01:18:51,852
But for me, personally, white male
middle-class, completely fucking useless.
1381
01:18:53,687 --> 01:18:57,357
There's no angles there. You can't say,
"When I was growing up, I had it...
1382
01:18:57,357 --> 01:18:59,192
all right. Uh..."
1383
01:19:00,569 --> 01:19:04,448
If anything's working in my favor,
it's, "Thank God I'm a transvestite."
1384
01:19:04,990 --> 01:19:06,408
"Oh, so you are?"
1385
01:19:06,408 --> 01:19:09,953
"Trans, TV, whatever,
however you're defining it."
1386
01:19:09,953 --> 01:19:12,205
"But you look a mess."
That was their next thing.
1387
01:19:12,789 --> 01:19:15,625
Okay. Um, I've only got
a couple of dresses, so fuck off.
1388
01:19:15,625 --> 01:19:18,962
So I thought, "I better work on the look
to try and get that better."
1389
01:19:19,671 --> 01:19:22,132
And it became this thing
stronger than before.
1390
01:19:24,426 --> 01:19:27,095
Being honest about being trans
1391
01:19:27,679 --> 01:19:29,723
caused some positives and some negatives.
1392
01:19:31,391 --> 01:19:34,186
They were kind of
a little bit thrown by me, I think.
1393
01:19:34,186 --> 01:19:36,104
Going, "What do we make of this person?"
1394
01:19:37,272 --> 01:19:41,359
Also, if you're trans and you're wearing
makeup back in those days
1395
01:19:41,359 --> 01:19:43,612
they thought,
"Oh, it's all about the makeup."
1396
01:19:43,612 --> 01:19:46,198
Everyone knows my stuff.
It's got nothing to do with it.
1397
01:19:46,198 --> 01:19:47,616
I just happen to be trans.
1398
01:19:47,616 --> 01:19:48,825
My stuff is Python.
1399
01:19:48,825 --> 01:19:51,495
My stuff is talking about haircuts
and banjos and pigs in space
1400
01:19:51,495 --> 01:19:54,247
and... and the end of the world
and the beginning of the world.
1401
01:19:54,247 --> 01:19:58,460
But in America, it was different.
The Founding Fathers landed in 16...
1402
01:20:00,003 --> 01:20:02,339
They set off from Plymouth
and landed in Plymouth.
1403
01:20:02,339 --> 01:20:03,548
How lucky is that?
1404
01:20:05,717 --> 01:20:06,927
"This is Plymouth?"
1405
01:20:08,345 --> 01:20:09,846
"We just come from Plymouth."
1406
01:20:10,388 --> 01:20:12,724
"We've gone around in a circle, lads.
Back on the boats."
1407
01:20:14,142 --> 01:20:17,437
They finally got there, said, "Ah,
this is where our God has brought us to."
1408
01:20:17,437 --> 01:20:19,397
"We can...
we can practice our religion here."
1409
01:20:19,397 --> 01:20:22,025
"We can raise a family.
There's nobody here."
1410
01:20:22,025 --> 01:20:23,068
"Excuse me."
1411
01:20:23,068 --> 01:20:24,820
-"There's nobody here..."
1412
01:20:25,612 --> 01:20:29,324
"Yes, a land empty of human exist--
Who the fuck are these guys?!"
1413
01:20:30,283 --> 01:20:32,953
When Eddie Izzard
got on that stage
1414
01:20:32,953 --> 01:20:38,667
in that magnificent silk print gown,
robe, whatever it was,
1415
01:20:39,167 --> 01:20:43,213
she shifted who we thought
could have a perspective.
1416
01:20:43,213 --> 01:20:46,800
Like, she took people
who were only objects,
1417
01:20:46,800 --> 01:20:49,219
and she gave them agency
1418
01:20:49,219 --> 01:20:53,139
with such wit
and such charm and such glamour.
1419
01:20:53,139 --> 01:20:55,058
We knew that gay people existed.
1420
01:20:55,058 --> 01:20:57,769
We understood that gay people
were out there,
1421
01:20:57,769 --> 01:21:00,313
but we only really understood trans people
1422
01:21:00,313 --> 01:21:03,441
as, like, a one-off joke
on Night Court or something like that.
1423
01:21:03,441 --> 01:21:08,071
We as a society have always seen
trans women as objects,
1424
01:21:08,071 --> 01:21:10,240
and then we don't consider trans men.
1425
01:21:25,171 --> 01:21:28,842
Being trans
is very different to me
1426
01:21:29,384 --> 01:21:32,304
than, you know, just being gay on stage.
1427
01:21:34,264 --> 01:21:36,308
'Cause I used to just be gay on stage.
1428
01:21:37,434 --> 01:21:40,770
Our next performer's
first comedy album, Butcher,
1429
01:21:40,770 --> 01:21:43,648
debuted at number one on iTunes.
1430
01:21:43,648 --> 01:21:47,569
Please welcome the only guy here
who actually likes sports,
1431
01:21:47,569 --> 01:21:49,362
River Butcher!
1432
01:21:55,452 --> 01:21:58,580
It's like this thing
that you can talk about or not talk about.
1433
01:21:59,915 --> 01:22:03,335
{\an8}It's not something that you
should have to talk about all the time,
1434
01:22:04,002 --> 01:22:07,714
{\an8}because it's your gender identity
and how you're walking through the world,
1435
01:22:07,714 --> 01:22:10,592
but I also don't want
to be, like, afraid to talk about it.
1436
01:22:11,426 --> 01:22:14,012
I love being this guy
in a room full of people.
1437
01:22:14,012 --> 01:22:16,890
So lets say 50 people, 50 people,
1438
01:22:16,890 --> 01:22:19,184
and somebody just beelines past 49 people
1439
01:22:19,184 --> 01:22:22,479
and is like,
"Hey, what are your pronouns?"
1440
01:22:23,897 --> 01:22:26,608
You don't need to know
those 49 other pronouns, just this guy?
1441
01:22:26,608 --> 01:22:29,569
What is it about
this robust sideburn and then...
1442
01:22:30,820 --> 01:22:34,115
...one other sideburn that's really trying
that is confusing you?
1443
01:22:34,699 --> 01:22:37,077
Somebody today that I just love to watch
1444
01:22:37,077 --> 01:22:39,412
what they do with gender
is Solomon Georgio.
1445
01:22:39,412 --> 01:22:41,539
Just the in and out of it.
I just love it.
1446
01:22:41,539 --> 01:22:45,418
It's, like, so fun and joyful,
and... and people love it.
1447
01:22:45,418 --> 01:22:48,922
Solomon Georgio!
1448
01:22:51,633 --> 01:22:55,470
Comedy has always helped me
through my self-identity journey.
1449
01:22:56,304 --> 01:22:58,473
When I started stand-up,
I'd always wear suits.
1450
01:22:58,473 --> 01:23:02,102
{\an8}I don't know why. Like, I just...
I wanted to be... I want to be a showman.
1451
01:23:02,102 --> 01:23:06,356
I wanted to actually start off
by sincerely apologizing to everyone.
1452
01:23:06,898 --> 01:23:09,859
Um, I did my best to look decent,
1453
01:23:10,568 --> 01:23:12,278
but I ended up looking amazing.
1454
01:23:13,863 --> 01:23:16,032
I definitely spoke in a deeper voice,
1455
01:23:16,032 --> 01:23:18,618
and I definitely didn't
allow myself to cross my legs.
1456
01:23:18,618 --> 01:23:22,372
I didn't allow myself to enjoy
any feminine qualities that I had.
1457
01:23:22,372 --> 01:23:26,251
I definitely hid them back,
and I've learned through stand-up
1458
01:23:26,251 --> 01:23:28,420
that not only should I not do that,
1459
01:23:28,420 --> 01:23:32,132
it is actually a benefit to me
to embrace myself.
1460
01:23:32,132 --> 01:23:34,134
As you can tell by my outfit,
1461
01:23:34,134 --> 01:23:36,553
I have been, um,
aggressively gay this year.
1462
01:23:39,472 --> 01:23:42,392
I think
it's my own personal journey
1463
01:23:42,392 --> 01:23:46,730
and sort of accepting that I might fall
in a bigger spectrum than I do.
1464
01:23:47,397 --> 01:23:51,359
And I think the greatest influence for me
and my gender expression,
1465
01:23:51,359 --> 01:23:53,945
especially with comedy,
was watching Eddie Izzard's Dress to Kill.
1466
01:23:54,988 --> 01:23:59,200
I can constantly look back at that special
and find something to pull from it
1467
01:23:59,200 --> 01:24:01,119
and understand about myself
1468
01:24:01,119 --> 01:24:03,038
and the absurdity
of the culture we live in.
1469
01:24:05,290 --> 01:24:08,084
When your stories
aren't being told,
1470
01:24:08,585 --> 01:24:13,131
{\an8}or people like you aren't given
the opportunity to perform,
1471
01:24:14,382 --> 01:24:18,887
it makes it harder for you
to imagine you having access to that.
1472
01:24:21,556 --> 01:24:23,600
And I think it changes
your view of the world,
1473
01:24:23,600 --> 01:24:27,604
because you've been shown
by society that it's a no.
1474
01:24:27,604 --> 01:24:29,898
- Am I getting the right pronouns here?
- With me?
1475
01:24:29,898 --> 01:24:32,233
- Yeah. Pronouns. Okay.
- I'm she/her.
1476
01:24:33,151 --> 01:24:34,277
And you're a "they"?
1477
01:24:34,277 --> 01:24:36,905
I'm trying it.
I'm trying to be "they," yeah.
1478
01:24:36,905 --> 01:24:40,992
{\an8}I don't necessarily want to be talking
about gender and... and sexuality,
1479
01:24:40,992 --> 01:24:44,662
but I feel like I should
because everyone else is,
1480
01:24:44,662 --> 01:24:48,583
and people with huge platforms
are talking about it
1481
01:24:48,583 --> 01:24:51,878
and punching down
at this very small population of people.
1482
01:24:52,879 --> 01:24:55,757
It wasn't that long ago
when adults asked a kid,
1483
01:24:55,757 --> 01:24:59,302
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
they meant, "What profession?"
1484
01:24:59,302 --> 01:25:02,472
"Penis equals man? Okay, boomer."
1485
01:25:03,515 --> 01:25:08,353
{\an8}In stand-up comedy, they're always
looking for somebody to make fun of.
1486
01:25:08,353 --> 01:25:12,482
At the moment, it's transferred to trans,
as... as Dave Chappelle discovered.
1487
01:25:14,734 --> 01:25:17,362
Humor is the razor-sharp edge
of the truth.
1488
01:25:17,362 --> 01:25:19,405
There's no such thing as just kidding.
1489
01:25:19,405 --> 01:25:22,534
So if anybody does homophobic jokes,
they mean it.
1490
01:25:26,246 --> 01:25:27,622
A,B,C, common mark.
1491
01:25:28,498 --> 01:25:31,501
A lot of these jokes
and a lot of these ideas,
1492
01:25:31,501 --> 01:25:35,922
I'm not solely blaming them
for the violence, but I see the harm
1493
01:25:35,922 --> 01:25:38,925
when the comedy special
is being played across the nation,
1494
01:25:38,925 --> 01:25:43,429
{\an8}and that certainly can contribute
to how people will go out in the world
1495
01:25:43,429 --> 01:25:46,057
and treat people
who are different from them.
1496
01:25:49,769 --> 01:25:53,189
The problem with these hurtful comments
1497
01:25:53,189 --> 01:25:56,901
{\an8}that you hear from comedians
is that it dehumanizes us.
1498
01:25:56,901 --> 01:25:59,988
They are obsessed with our genitals,
1499
01:26:00,530 --> 01:26:02,198
where we go to the bathroom.
1500
01:26:02,782 --> 01:26:06,452
I don't care
what you think your intentions are
1501
01:26:06,452 --> 01:26:09,164
or how we're supposed
to interpret your jokes.
1502
01:26:09,664 --> 01:26:11,958
If we're telling you it's transphobic,
1503
01:26:11,958 --> 01:26:14,878
you can't go,
"No, it's not. No, it's not."
1504
01:26:18,173 --> 01:26:21,885
As trans comedians,
we definitely have a specific...
1505
01:26:22,927 --> 01:26:25,263
experience with certain obstacles,
1506
01:26:25,263 --> 01:26:30,143
because transgender issues
are so much in the news right now,
1507
01:26:30,143 --> 01:26:31,811
and so people are really heated.
1508
01:26:31,811 --> 01:26:36,232
I miss the good old days when the men
who dressed as women were real men.
1509
01:26:36,232 --> 01:26:39,152
{\an8}They don't qualify
for the Women's World Cup
1510
01:26:39,152 --> 01:26:43,031
{\an8}because they used to be a woman,
but now they don't want to be a woman.
1511
01:26:43,031 --> 01:26:47,035
{\an8}You know, the way that you can tell
who holds all the power in a society
1512
01:26:47,035 --> 01:26:48,620
{\an8}is by who you can't make fun of.
1513
01:26:48,620 --> 01:26:49,621
{\an8}- Right?
- That's right.
1514
01:26:49,621 --> 01:26:51,331
{\an8}These are the people
you can't make fun of.
1515
01:26:51,331 --> 01:26:54,834
{\an8}So it's very clear they hold all
the institutional power in our culture.
1516
01:26:55,501 --> 01:26:59,589
Being a woman
who is Black and who is trans,
1517
01:27:00,256 --> 01:27:04,677
and being on the receiving end
of... of these jokes,
1518
01:27:05,929 --> 01:27:08,681
it's easier to read them
than to watch them
1519
01:27:08,681 --> 01:27:11,935
and see the room full of people laughing.
1520
01:27:13,228 --> 01:27:14,812
{\an8}"Gender is a fact."
1521
01:27:14,812 --> 01:27:17,482
{\an8}"You have to look at it
from a woman's perspective."
1522
01:27:17,982 --> 01:27:22,278
{\an8}"Look at it like this. Caitlyn Jenner,
whom I've met. Wonderful person."
1523
01:27:22,779 --> 01:27:25,573
"Caitlyn Jenner was voted
Woman of the Year
1524
01:27:25,573 --> 01:27:27,200
her first year as a woman."
1525
01:27:27,700 --> 01:27:29,077
"Ain't that something?"
1526
01:27:29,827 --> 01:27:31,621
"Beat every bitch in Detroit."
1527
01:27:32,872 --> 01:27:34,791
"She's better than all of you."
1528
01:27:35,375 --> 01:27:38,294
"Never even had a period.
Ain't that something?"
1529
01:27:41,965 --> 01:27:44,384
{\an8}I'm both Black and transgender,
1530
01:27:44,884 --> 01:27:48,012
{\an8}and it's worth
talking about the two things,
1531
01:27:48,012 --> 01:27:49,389
the parallels between them,
1532
01:27:49,389 --> 01:27:52,183
but you can only
really understand those parallels
1533
01:27:52,183 --> 01:27:56,646
if you're actually identifying
with fucking both.
1534
01:27:56,646 --> 01:27:59,732
{\an8}They are not actually doing jokes.
They're just lecturing people,
1535
01:27:59,732 --> 01:28:03,611
and they think that anything they say
is okay 'cause they're a comedian,
1536
01:28:03,611 --> 01:28:05,613
but it's like, well,
if you're not telling jokes,
1537
01:28:05,613 --> 01:28:07,824
it doesn't matter
if you're a comedian or not.
1538
01:28:09,367 --> 01:28:12,829
These comedians are viewed as
1539
01:28:13,621 --> 01:28:17,125
"the greatest minds of their generation,"
1540
01:28:17,125 --> 01:28:20,003
and the millions of people
that listen to them are like,
1541
01:28:20,003 --> 01:28:23,756
"Oh my God!
Everything that they say is so brilliant."
1542
01:28:24,340 --> 01:28:26,009
It's dangerous for us.
1543
01:28:40,898 --> 01:28:43,276
My issue is less
with Chappelle and more about
1544
01:28:43,276 --> 01:28:46,321
the people in charge
of platforming his ideas.
1545
01:28:46,321 --> 01:28:48,114
Saying something like gender's a fact.
1546
01:28:48,114 --> 01:28:51,534
Even the World Health Organization
says gender's a social construct.
1547
01:28:51,534 --> 01:28:56,331
But if something is factually not true,
I think it's dangerous to platform it,
1548
01:28:56,331 --> 01:28:58,333
'cause surely there's a responsibility
1549
01:28:58,333 --> 01:29:01,419
when there's actual
real-world violence happening.
1550
01:29:05,882 --> 01:29:11,262
I just think we are in the midst
of a really pernicious backlash
1551
01:29:11,262 --> 01:29:14,932
and scapegoating
of all things queer and trans.
1552
01:29:14,932 --> 01:29:16,684
And, you know, I'm curious,
1553
01:29:16,684 --> 01:29:21,272
you know, how... how comedy
will step up to address that.
1554
01:29:22,065 --> 01:29:25,526
Now please welcome
one of the UK's greatest exports,
1555
01:29:25,526 --> 01:29:28,488
actor and comedian, Eddie Izzard!
1556
01:29:30,907 --> 01:29:32,950
People are coming out as trans,
1557
01:29:32,950 --> 01:29:36,621
and we realize there's
a lot more trans people than you thought.
1558
01:29:36,621 --> 01:29:38,831
And just like in the '80s,
1559
01:29:38,831 --> 01:29:41,209
there's a lot of gay people, people.
1560
01:29:42,085 --> 01:29:44,754
And other people are reacting
like, "No, no, no, no."
1561
01:29:44,754 --> 01:29:46,964
It's the same thing. They're scared of it.
1562
01:29:46,964 --> 01:29:48,549
It's fear of the unknown,
1563
01:29:48,549 --> 01:29:52,678
and that's why it's so important
for trans people to get onstage,
1564
01:29:52,678 --> 01:29:55,431
make people laugh, and someone say,
1565
01:29:55,431 --> 01:29:57,725
-"I really... I liked her."
1566
01:29:57,725 --> 01:29:59,769
I know in America,
you still believe in God.
1567
01:29:59,769 --> 01:30:02,021
He isn't there, kids. Um...
1568
01:30:03,106 --> 01:30:07,402
But well done for still believing in him
after World War II.
1569
01:30:07,402 --> 01:30:09,987
Sixty million dead
and he didn't come and help. But...
1570
01:30:11,614 --> 01:30:12,990
People might say I'm an atheist.
1571
01:30:12,990 --> 01:30:16,411
No. I believe in something.
I believe in us. I believe in humanity.
1572
01:30:16,411 --> 01:30:19,414
I believe there's more goodwill
than ill will in the world.
1573
01:30:19,414 --> 01:30:20,957
That is my belief.
1574
01:30:23,543 --> 01:30:25,294
Good night. Thanks for being here.
1575
01:30:29,173 --> 01:30:32,468
Comedy itself has gone
into a different phase.
1576
01:30:32,468 --> 01:30:35,471
People now want to hear more about you,
1577
01:30:35,471 --> 01:30:39,642
and a lot of LGBTQ comics
have led that way.
1578
01:30:39,642 --> 01:30:41,894
I don't think my mic was on at first.
1579
01:30:41,894 --> 01:30:43,146
That was by design.
1580
01:30:43,146 --> 01:30:44,856
Yeah. Exactly.
1581
01:30:44,856 --> 01:30:48,943
In 2012, I had beyond...
1582
01:30:50,111 --> 01:30:51,696
a rough time.
1583
01:30:51,696 --> 01:30:55,658
{\an8}So I just went onstage and decided to...
1584
01:30:56,200 --> 01:30:59,787
to talk about
exactly what was going on in my life
1585
01:30:59,787 --> 01:31:04,792
rather than whatever nonsense
I had been talking about previously.
1586
01:31:04,792 --> 01:31:08,296
I was diagnosed
with bilateral breast cancer,
1587
01:31:09,046 --> 01:31:12,341
and I ended up getting
a double mastectomy.
1588
01:31:14,260 --> 01:31:17,305
And before I had a double mastectomy,
1589
01:31:17,305 --> 01:31:20,183
I was already pretty flat-chested,
1590
01:31:20,892 --> 01:31:26,856
and I made so many jokes over the years
about how small my chest was,
1591
01:31:27,356 --> 01:31:33,070
that I started to think
that maybe my boobs
1592
01:31:33,696 --> 01:31:34,864
overheard me...
1593
01:31:38,159 --> 01:31:40,495
...and were just like...
1594
01:31:40,495 --> 01:31:41,829
"You know what?"
1595
01:31:43,581 --> 01:31:44,832
"We're sick of this."
1596
01:31:47,168 --> 01:31:48,377
"Let's kill her."
1597
01:31:49,545 --> 01:31:53,257
Used to be that you would watch comedians,
and you were like, "Tell me a joke."
1598
01:31:53,257 --> 01:31:56,719
"What's your setup? What's your punchline?
We don't want to know your story."
1599
01:31:56,719 --> 01:31:59,347
It's very different now.
It's very personal.
1600
01:31:59,931 --> 01:32:04,101
You got Hannah Gadsby, who shared
some very intimate things about her life.
1601
01:32:04,101 --> 01:32:08,231
She really burst open a door
to a whole different style of comedy.
1602
01:32:08,231 --> 01:32:11,567
I put myself down in order to speak,
1603
01:32:11,567 --> 01:32:14,862
in order to seek permission to speak,
1604
01:32:14,862 --> 01:32:17,281
and I simply will not do that anymore.
1605
01:32:17,281 --> 01:32:20,368
Not to myself
or anybody who identifies with me.
1606
01:32:22,078 --> 01:32:26,874
{\an8}I realized that I was telling
my story in a really, really toxic
1607
01:32:27,583 --> 01:32:30,044
{\an8}and homophobic almost way.
1608
01:32:31,087 --> 01:32:32,713
I was aware that I was different,
1609
01:32:32,713 --> 01:32:35,883
and when I was onstage,
I always had to talk about that.
1610
01:32:35,883 --> 01:32:38,719
I had to solve the puzzle that is me
1611
01:32:39,387 --> 01:32:43,558
for my audience,
before they felt comfortable to laugh.
1612
01:32:43,558 --> 01:32:45,226
A little bit of housekeeping, people.
1613
01:32:45,226 --> 01:32:47,353
Um, I'm a lesbian.
1614
01:32:47,353 --> 01:32:49,438
- What? Ah!
1615
01:32:49,438 --> 01:32:50,982
Oh no!
1616
01:32:50,982 --> 01:32:52,942
And as you get more
and more experience,
1617
01:32:52,942 --> 01:32:56,445
the frustration builds
until you then do a show like Nanette,
1618
01:32:56,445 --> 01:32:57,905
and just go, "Fuck it."
1619
01:33:02,910 --> 01:33:05,079
Back then, in the good old days,
1620
01:33:05,079 --> 01:33:07,915
uh, lesbian meant something different
than it does now.
1621
01:33:07,915 --> 01:33:10,668
Back then, lesbian wasn't about sexuality.
1622
01:33:10,668 --> 01:33:13,713
A lesbian was just
any woman not laughing at a man.
1623
01:33:16,882 --> 01:33:19,885
"Why aren't you laughing?
What are you, some kind of lesbian?"
1624
01:33:19,885 --> 01:33:20,803
Classic.
1625
01:33:22,179 --> 01:33:26,100
In the '90s,
it was jokes first, identity second,
1626
01:33:26,100 --> 01:33:30,605
and now its identity-forward,
which I think is so much more exciting
1627
01:33:30,605 --> 01:33:32,481
and much more fertile.
1628
01:33:32,481 --> 01:33:34,650
To be the first Asian-American,
1629
01:33:34,650 --> 01:33:38,154
out gay man to have
a Netflix special feels really...
1630
01:33:39,322 --> 01:33:40,323
overwhelming.
1631
01:33:41,449 --> 01:33:44,243
Netflix gave him a special
and they won't give me a special?
1632
01:33:48,623 --> 01:33:49,832
It's 'cause he has abs...
1633
01:33:51,917 --> 01:33:52,960
and I'm pregnant.
1634
01:33:53,711 --> 01:33:56,297
{\an8}There's like a whole wave of us coming,
1635
01:33:56,297 --> 01:33:58,924
{\an8}and we're not only taking
a little piece of the pie,
1636
01:33:58,924 --> 01:34:01,552
we can actually take over.
1637
01:34:01,552 --> 01:34:04,388
You know, we can tell our own stories.
We can be authentic.
1638
01:34:04,388 --> 01:34:06,098
When I am getting fucked,
1639
01:34:06,098 --> 01:34:09,143
I sound like someone's dad
woke up in the middle of the night
1640
01:34:09,143 --> 01:34:10,728
and didn't turn the lights on.
1641
01:34:12,188 --> 01:34:13,773
Oh my God, no!
1642
01:34:13,773 --> 01:34:15,691
Ow! Goddammit!
1643
01:34:17,026 --> 01:34:19,403
Shit! Shit! Shit!
1644
01:34:20,279 --> 01:34:22,990
Hold on! Hold on! Hold on! Hold on!
1645
01:34:24,408 --> 01:34:26,160
Jesus Christ! Who put that there?
1646
01:34:26,744 --> 01:34:31,165
{\an8}I've played in a lot of corners of America
that I wasn't supposed to really.
1647
01:34:31,749 --> 01:34:35,795
{\an8}And I've had people walk out.
I've had people yell at me after the show.
1648
01:34:35,795 --> 01:34:40,299
I have had people stick around
after the show and told me, "Thank you."
1649
01:34:40,299 --> 01:34:43,844
"Meant a lot to see
a gay performer be funny."
1650
01:34:44,595 --> 01:34:46,180
I've had people write me afterwards
1651
01:34:46,180 --> 01:34:48,349
and say they saw something
a different way.
1652
01:34:48,849 --> 01:34:50,476
It makes me wanna keep doing it.
1653
01:34:59,151 --> 01:35:02,446
Can we hear it
for this incredible, historic cast?
1654
01:35:05,282 --> 01:35:10,496
Comedy's the one thing
that is still getting in there and saying,
1655
01:35:10,496 --> 01:35:13,582
"No, we can all laugh at this." You know?
1656
01:35:13,582 --> 01:35:18,587
And I do think it is
a powerful tool for, you know, equality.
1657
01:35:21,424 --> 01:35:25,553
Queer people taught America
to stop being scared of us
1658
01:35:25,553 --> 01:35:27,012
by making jokes.
1659
01:35:28,180 --> 01:35:32,935
There's a lot of people who put
their careers on the line by coming out.
1660
01:35:32,935 --> 01:35:35,938
With every person that did it onstage,
1661
01:35:36,564 --> 01:35:39,775
it cracked that door open
a little bit more, a little bit more.
1662
01:35:40,276 --> 01:35:44,697
It's just a totally different world.
In comedy, in culture.
1663
01:35:44,697 --> 01:35:46,699
It isn't a verboten thing.
1664
01:35:46,699 --> 01:35:49,076
It isn't a hidden thing.
1665
01:35:49,076 --> 01:35:52,371
It's the mainstream.
It's like the subtext became the text.
1666
01:35:53,998 --> 01:35:57,376
Hellish things are happening,
but there's more positive people out,
1667
01:35:57,877 --> 01:36:01,505
and you just need to be out,
and you need to punch above your weight.
1668
01:36:02,298 --> 01:36:04,300
If you're gonna be a comedian,
be the best comedian.
1669
01:36:04,300 --> 01:36:06,969
If you're gonna be a librarian,
be the best librarian.
1670
01:36:06,969 --> 01:36:10,431
That's what we have to do, and women
and people of color need to do this.
1671
01:36:10,431 --> 01:36:13,934
And when we hit boring,
when LGBTQ hit boring,
1672
01:36:14,435 --> 01:36:15,603
then we've made it.
1673
01:36:16,771 --> 01:36:20,941
I must have a lot of hope for the future,
because I'm thinking if I live to be 100,
1674
01:36:20,941 --> 01:36:23,068
I get to live 18 more years.
1675
01:36:23,569 --> 01:36:25,863
So if I want to live all that time,
1676
01:36:25,863 --> 01:36:30,743
I must be sort of hopeful
about some... some kind of decent survival.
1677
01:36:31,327 --> 01:36:33,329
Maybe I can live to be 110.
1678
01:36:57,812 --> 01:36:59,647
{\an8}I shouldn't have this fucking baby.
1679
01:37:00,397 --> 01:37:01,899
{\an8}But I'm gonna. I'm gonna.
1680
01:37:02,775 --> 01:37:03,609
{\an8}I'm gonna.
1681
01:37:03,609 --> 01:37:05,194
{\an8}It's Steve Bannon's baby.
1682
01:37:06,028 --> 01:37:07,363
{\an8}So it's an important baby.
1683
01:37:09,990 --> 01:37:13,536
Growing up, I was like, "I wanna be...
I wanna be Martin Luther King."
1684
01:37:13,536 --> 01:37:17,456
And then I became
Martin Luther Queen instead.
1685
01:37:19,834 --> 01:37:22,211
I have a lot of characters
that no one's ever seen.
1686
01:37:22,211 --> 01:37:26,423
My entire garage
is full of, like, costume chests.
1687
01:37:26,423 --> 01:37:30,052
My wife is like,
"Can we please get rid of these?"
1688
01:37:30,052 --> 01:37:32,888
"I mean, you're a grown woman now."
1689
01:37:32,888 --> 01:37:35,558
I'm like. "They're my costumes!"
1690
01:37:37,977 --> 01:37:40,187
"These are my costumes!"
1691
01:37:43,023 --> 01:37:45,067
James Adomian isn't gay, by the way.
1692
01:37:45,067 --> 01:37:47,820
And everybody knows that.
It was a career choice.
1693
01:37:50,531 --> 01:37:52,741
There was this place
called Rusty's Bagels.
1694
01:37:52,741 --> 01:37:54,618
And as a performer, you'd go there,
1695
01:37:54,618 --> 01:37:56,787
but you had to buy
a bagel and cream cheese
1696
01:37:56,787 --> 01:37:58,289
before you could get onstage.
1697
01:37:58,289 --> 01:38:00,416
I mean, how much more do you want?
1698
01:38:00,416 --> 01:38:02,960
Should I write a book
and sell it to you?
1699
01:38:08,173 --> 01:38:10,968
The reason why Queer women
are great comedians
1700
01:38:10,968 --> 01:38:13,512
is because we just don't
care about what guys think,
1701
01:38:13,512 --> 01:38:15,264
and we just don't care.