GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

October 9, 1998

Evenings Out

Funny alone, but hilarious together

Three gay comics team up to keep everyone in stitches

by Kaizaad Kotwal

It's the nineties and the notion of out gay comics is already becoming a somewhat passé phenomenon. But ten years ago in 1988, when a trio of stand-up comics formed Funny Gay Males it was a big deal.

Funny Gay Males has been a decadelong collaboration of three very funny and uniquely quirky guys: Bob Smith, Jaffe Cohen and Danny McWilliams.

These three stand-ups were working the comedy circuit in straight clubs across New York when Cohen got an offer to put together a show at the Duplex Club, where well-known comics like Woody Allen and Joan Rivers also got their starts. Funny Gay Males started to sell out houses at the Duplex every weekend and the rest is part of gay comic history.

Smith said that he is amazed to be speaking of the longevity of Funny Gay Males in terms of a decade, "which'in gay years is like seventy." He also jokes that they have been around for so long that their "publicity photo is a daguerreotype."

Once this trio started up, the rave reviews they got in New York publications and the several awards they garnered helped them to quit their day jobs in 1990. Smith, Cohen and McWilliams finally were able to make a living at comedy.

After their New York success, Funny Gay Males took their act to Provincetown and onto shows like the Joan Rivers Show. Around that time, the three also collaborated on a book titled Growing Up Gay which won a Lambda Literary Award. The group continued to perform regularly up until 1995. Since then, even though the group was not officially disbanded, they have not worked together much.

In April of this year they reunited at the Gay and Lesbian Festival in Toronto where their act was

taped for a Canadian television network. Toronto instilled in the three a desire to work with each other again and they are next bringing their act to the Wall Street nightclub in Columbus for National Coming Out Day, October 11. The three have appeared at Wall Street before, and Smith said that "they loved working there and are looking forward to coming back."

Regular fans of the trio are sure to want to show up to see this reunion, and new fans will be enthralled and entertained by the unique brand of comedy that each brings to the group. But Smith said that they are also fans of each other.

"I have seen these guys' work a million times and yet each time I will crack up at what they are doing," he said.

Smith promises that there will be a lot of new material along with some of their best older vintage comedy.

"We will each do solo stuff for about twenty-five to thirty minutes and then we will do a threesome at the end."

This comedic orgy promises to have many laughs, including Smith's take on the XFiles and Cohen's "How to be a Sissy in Gym Class." McWilliams said that he intends to do some segments from his very funny and very crazy one-man show titled "Twelve Angry Women."

"My comedy is basically full of oneliners and great jokes,” McWilliams said.

Both Smith and McWilliams agreed that they would love to do more with Funny Gay Males if the price is right and if the opportunities arise.

In the meantime they are

all busy on their own work. McWilliams continues to tour with his one-man show and is a regular on the New York City circuit.

Smith is writing another collection of essays due out from Rob Weisbach books next fall. His book Openly Bob beat David Sedaris' Naked for the Lambda Literary Award and will soon be out in paperback.

Funny Gay Males will appear at the Wall Street Club in Columbus on Sunday, October 11. Tickets are $15 and the doors will open at 7:00 pm for the 8:00 pm curtain. Please call 624-464-2800 for tickets and further information.

Jaffes Cohen, Danny McWilliams and Bob Smith