PRIDE: Comedy festival is about celebrating queer joy
The Uncloseted Comedy Pride Festival, now in its third year, is on this weekend at The Staircase Theatre.
The first Uncloseted Comedy Pride Festival happened really as a fluke but this weekend will be the third annual festival dedicated to queer joy and it’s a fluke no longer.
Uncloseted started as a one-off Pride show at Levity, then became a monthly event, says Uncloseted founder Rae Lockdust. When the shows shifted to The Staircase, Lockdust wondered if they should put on a big show that year.
“It was basically, why not a festival? Let’s go! It’s a very weird show and I love it so much.”
At a queer comedy festival performers don’t have to come out or explain themselves, says Lockdust. That allows them to be a more vulnerable version of themselves.
“The audience is already with them and they are never going to be the butt of jokes like they can be at other comedy festivals.”
And at a time fraught with peril for LGBTQIA people south of the border and a surge in hate and hate crimes in Canada, gathering together to laugh and build community at a queer comedy festival is more important than ever before.
Each day of the festival and each monthly event on the second Thursday of the month, begin with a social and some trivia in collaboration with Queer Coffee Hamilton. Social time for the audience involves a conversation starter card game,, along with Queer Coffee’s own That’s Gay icebreaker.
“There are not a lot of comedy shows that start with a name and pronouns circle,” Lockdust says with a laugh. Each show also has a Star Audience Member who is presented with a “weird craft” that Lockdust has made. (As we speak for this story, they are working on a tweed bow tie.)
The criteria for the Star Audience Member changes with each show. Sometimes it’s someone Lockdust hasn’t seen for a while, other times it’s someone whose anxiety normally keeps them away.
The headliner for this year’s show is DeAnne Smith, who has toured internationally for their four solo shows, won numerous awards, and performed alongside Hannah Gadsby. This is a full circle moment for Lockdust.
“DeAnne was headlining the night I discovered queer comedy and found space for my voice in comedy.”
Lockdust, who grew up in Welland, says they had performed in theatre as a young person and when they were in nursing school and struggling to find happiness, they thought about when they had last felt joy.
“I realized it was when I was on stage, so I took an improv course. I was so shy, I leaned up against the wall the whole time.” But after getting some encouragement from people in the class, Lockdust dove into improv and gained all sorts of confidence.
From there, they realized they were drawn to writing jokes and tried out standup for the first time in 2017. It was an “awesome” experience. Lockdust started doing open mic nights, including one in the back of a Chinese restaurant in New York City in 2018. They then took a standup course at Second City in Toronto in 2019. When the pandemic hit, Lockdust, who works as a social worker, hosted comedy events by Zoom. Uncloseted came to life out of that.
This year’s festival features regular performers at Uncloseted:
– Ava Val, a John Candy Award-winning trans comedian who has made multiple appearances at the prestigious Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, as well as for JFL Vancouver and Toronto and The Halifax Comedy Festival. She is a cast member of the third season of the award-winning Drag Heals on OutTV, has written for This Hour Has 22 Minutes and earned a unanimous round of “yeses” from the judges of Canada’s Got Talent, season 3.
– Bee Bertrand, a trans comic who runs several shows in Toronto, was on the Just For Laughs New Faces Showcase in 2019 and describes his brand of comedy as “storytelling, absurdity, and wholesome vibes.”
– Alice Rose, a trans comedian and producer, and the creator of Comic Sans Productions, a network of comedy shows that highlight diverse marginalized talent.
– Robert Watson, a gay writer, entertainer, and host of Gay AF comedy shows.
The Uncloseted Comedy Pride Festival is June 13 and 14 at The Staircase Theatre, 27 Dundurn St. N., Hamilton.The full show lineups and tickets are here.
