“My Story” is a continuing series with comedians telling their stories and explaining their views on the Black Comedy scene and their place in it.
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Being Black, Gifted, and Gay
I was asked by friend and fellow comedian, Elon James White, to participate in what I found to be a very exciting venture—to contribute to the Black Comedy Project. Naturally, I was a little suspicious, because in all of the years that I have worked as an out, African-American comedian, whose family lineage is also Latino, I have never felt truly accepted on some of the stages of comedy. I told Elon, that if I participate in this project, then I need to be able to talk about also being gay in this scene. He was actually offended that I would think that (The Black Comedy Project) would censor me like that.
Here in NYC, I have managed to play all of the major venues, but primarily as part of their gay-themed shows. And there have been quite a few “urban” show venues that I have been invited to play and then have had the offer rescinded because of my orientation. Or worse, I remember being asked to do a gig at an urban club, and having the crowd turn on me before I was able to utter one word of my actual act, because I spent the set fighting with a bunch of misinformed people. Was I surprised? Not really. The African-American community has been notorious for homophobic stances sanctioned by rappers, reggae artists, our own government, and for some, God.
Rarely have there been opportunities for me to just be seen as a comedian, or for people to simply accept who I am, without prejudice. A closeted comic once asked me if I thought it was a mistake to talk about being gay onstage. Now, this comedian is working all of the time, and he has a lot of women following him around after shows. Later that night, you could find him working an occasional gay bar or its backroom. More →
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