You were in Austin for Moontower Comedy Fest earlier this year. Can you share one memorable experience in Austin?
If I’m going to go to Texas, particularly Austin, it’s all about the food. So I basically ate chips and queso every single day. I tried to find the best queso. It’s not on the West Coast, it’s not on the East Coast, it’s only in Texas. I had to go and eat it every day. The best queso I had was at Chuy’s. It was so good!
How did you get into comedy?
I started doing stand-up and improv and all things comedy as a freshman in high school. I was taking an improv class at my temple in Boston. There were these stand-up comedians that came to talk to us, and I asked them, “How do you do stand-up?” And one of the local comedians, Tony V, said why don’t you come to The Comedy Connection and do five minutes? So I spent the next six months preparing and I went and started doing stand-up. I’ve been doing it ever since.
Has your comedy always been about gay things?
Before I came out, it was not. Then when I came out [at 19], it definitely became a theme for me. My comedy is very personal to me. It comes from my perspective and who I am, and a big part of me is my identity as a lesbian.
How did your traditional, Jewish family impact your coming out experience?
Coming out was hard and, of course, my mom didn’t want me to be gay. My dad thought he turned me gay. It’s been a long road, and to this day, my mom would be thrilled if I came home with a man. She thinks it would make my life easier. I’ve gotten to a point where you’re going to think what you’re going to think and I’m going to do me, you do you. As long as we can have a good time together, it’s fine. But they’re very supportive.
You were on Logo’s Big Gay Sketch Show for three seasons. What was your favorite sketch of all time, and why is it your favorite?
My favorite sketch is the May–December Romance sketch, where everyone throws up on each other. It was the most fun to do, and I laughed from beginning to end. Even if you watch the sketch now, you can probably see me laughing in it. I got into so much trouble because I couldn’t stop. I just love the poop and farts kind of humor, and so that was a dream come true, having to put fake vomit in my mouth and having to spew it out. It was silly and stupid and completely and utterly fun.
What’s your new Web series, Gay Street Therapy, all about?
So my creative partner, Brandy Howard, and I also do another Web show called In Your Box Office on Autostraddle.com, and we’ve been trying to write these movies and other Web shows. Gay Street Therapy was born out of another man-on-the-street idea for a show. What we do is we go to a lesbian party, like we just shot at Dinah Shore, and we’re meeting lesbians and we’re talking to them and asking them questions and giving them advice. Some of the advice is good; some of it is not. Take it or leave it. We’re just going to give you tough love. A lot of the girls had a lot of interesting things to say. It’s just a silly advice Web show.
Is there any type of audience that makes you nervous?
In front of strangers, I’m great. This past weekend when I was in Boston, my mom and dad and my sister and their friends and family came, and that makes me nervous. I would rather be in front of 10,000 strangers than my parents.
