GLHSGOW
FESTIUHL
5 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT
RUSSELL KANE
Since the age at eight he has written ehort etorlee but hae never been pubflehed
‘The one creative constant I've always had lS to write fiction. I read that you should get yOur rejection slips and decorate yOur room with them. I literally ended up with a wall covered with them.’
Before he became a stand-up he began a postgraduate course In Modernism
'I got right into the theory of creativity and critical appraisal and I thought, “Right. l need something a bit more poncy now". so I went and started a part time MA. it went swrmmlngly then comedy came along. I lost my girlfriend, my flat. my career, and my MA was half complete.’
He ueed to work In copywritan and advertlelng
‘I only just stopped working full time before my 2006 Edinburgh show. I was nearly dying, they were both using the same part of the brain so the right side was completely wrthered.’
He had never watched Ilve comedy or etand-up on TV before he tried It hlrneelt
‘lt's always a bit double edged to say it but I might as well be honest; I had no interest in it. I didn't even know Eddie Murphy was a stand-up comic until I was about 20.’
He wee Initially reluctant to try stand- up becauee he dldn‘t than he was particularly funny
‘I was the typical one in the group who was quite amusing when you're out. nothing speCial. Loads of people get up on stage thinking that if I make my friends laugh, I can make strangers laugh and end up looking like a tit. It was a guy I was working with at the ad agency who dared me.’ (Marissa Burgess)
I Blackfn'ars, Thu 20 Mar, 8. 30pm, £7 (£5).
Bethany Black
Standianut
A means of effecting social change? Or a way to get chicks? Allah Radcliffe talks to a trio of lesbian comedians who are winning over the mainstream
land-up coined) has alwass prmided a platform for historicall} oppressed minorities. l‘rom the self-deprecator} Borscht belt humour of Mel Brooks and Rodne} Dangerfield through Richard l’r}or‘s fearless exploration of racism to the feminist material of Lin Tomlin. comics llilVL‘ ttsed humour to engineer change. It‘s now a decade since stand— up lillen l)e(ieneres came out as a lesbian. both publicly and on her own prime-time sitcom. and while the show‘s ratings nose-di\ ed sllttl‘ll} afterwards. l)e(ieneres bla/ed a trail for openl_\ ga)’ female comedians performing to the masses. Of the handful of lesbian comedians performing at this year‘s (ilasgow (‘oined} Festival. Lea l)el.aria is the undoubted \eteran. The stand-up and jaw intisician pie-dated DeGeneres by becoming the first opcnl} ga_\ comic to appear on television in the [ISA back in 1993. l)el.aria. whose comedy output includes DVD releases [fill/(like in (1 (Irina Shop and Hot Lime/i. once said of her work: 'l'm here to educate those heterosexuals who are lesbian- impaired'. While her brash. irrevercnt material is unashamedly political. l)el.aria is determined that her routines shouldn't get bogged down in politics at the expense of humour. 'l-jVer} socio- political movement has gone hand in hand with a cultural. shall we say. rexolution. and stand-up comedy has been a large part of that equatioth she says. ‘Although most of us are jtist tr} ing to get laid.‘ Fellow L'S comedian Sabrina Matthews kicked off her career in the ultra-liberal. bohemian environs of San Francisco‘s Ba} Area.
agrees that shared c\periences which pla} well to a lesbian audience might not innnediateh appeal to a straight audience or ga} male audience; a successful stand up routine should offer a tini\.ersal appeal. ‘I guess lesbian coined} is coined) told from that perspectne. bill it wouldn't be good coined} if exeryme couldn‘t ‘I cnio} bringing that perspectne to a room lull of people who nnght not realise the} can understand it. I poke fun at in} self. bill tnostl_\ it‘s about haxing its all laugh together. .i\nd it's not all about being a lesbian a whole act about an} one thing would get old.’ .-\s .\latthews implies. the tertn 'lesbian coineds' becomes somewhat litnited when
relate.‘ she sa} s.
applied to the aria} of performers w ho fall under that umbrella. .\ prime e\anip|e is Manchester cotnedian Bethan) Black. perhaps the world's
‘MOST OF US ARE JUST TRYING TO GET LAID'
onl} out goth lesbian post op inaleeto—female transse\ual stand—up. Black feels that perlorining before mainstream audiences can bring about stic‘ltll change. .-\lilc‘l' tlll. tt \\ L‘ll'lllltl joke lttl‘ct'\ the audience to identif} with the teller. ';\s a comedian )ou'\e got a great responsibility If )ott can get people laughing the} don't feel threatened. laughter can be persuasnc.‘
Black‘s show. li’r'l/l lfr'r'onlr's llr'r. tl'accs lltc comic‘s stor} through a llL'l‘Htlls breakdown. suicide attempts. coining otit to her falnil} as a transsewal then coining ottt as lesbian. ha\ing surger} and exentuall} finding lox c and acceptance. l)espite the unique nature of her stor_\. she feels it translates for mainstream audiences. '.i\ number of people come awa} front this show with a little more understanding and a little more acceptance. If I can make one transperson's journe} a little easier then l'\e done in} job.‘
Bethany Black, Brel, Tue 11 Mar, 9pm, £6 (£5); Lea DeLaria, Tron Theatre, Fri 14 Mar, 8pm, £12 (£10); Sabrina Matthews is part of Continental Airlines Present America Stands Up, The Stand, Sat 22 Mar, 8pm, £10(£8).