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Stand-up Tue Jun 22 2010
It's a Hot D8 @ Hamburger Mary's
Comedy isn't often both hip and queer, at least according to one of Chicago's hippest, queerest comedians, but it will be this weekend when The Hot D8 Campaign kicks off a mini tour in the midst of Gay Pride weekend.
"It's the opposite of that Gay Gays of Gay-type Tour," said Cameron Esposito, who performs with ukulele-strumming funnyman Ben Lerman and awkward-come-lovely comic Mo Welch in the queer-themed standup show.
"I think it's really hard for people to get on board if you're not also being like, 'Hey, here's something less shocking,'" Esposito said. "I like just getting into people's heads and rocking their world, but not making them feel uncomfortable while they're doing it."
June is Gay Pride Month and Chicago's community typically sends the month out with a bang on its last weekend. But Pride Weekend isn't members-only -- and you don't have to ride in on a six-foot dildo to take part.
"One of the things I like about performing with Ben is that he and I can treat it like there's a promise that there's some queerness involved," Esposito said, "but not everything is about glory holes."
The Hot D8 show gets its name -- and sexy poster styling -- from the No H8 Campaign denouncing California's Prop 8 legislation, which states The Sunshine State only validates marriage between a man and a woman. Duct taped celebrities have been photographed with "No H8" on their faces to signal their opposition to the law.
"The campaign has been really successful in that it has gotten so many big names, people from Cindy McCain to Jane Lynch, but it's also a really funny premise because it's about activists and speaking up -- but everybody's mouths are taped shut and nobody's talking," Esposito said. The Hot D8 Campaign kicks off Friday in Chicago and continues on a mini-tour through Cleveland, Baltimore, Provincetown and Boston. The shows don't all tie into Pride Month, but folks can expect an approachable, inclusive way to laugh about same-sex issues. "People are going to see something where there's a little bit less pressure to have your penis out and a little more pressure to laugh about penises."
Doors for The Hot D8 Campaign open at 7:30 pm with the show at 8 pm, at Mary's Attic (above Hamburger Mary's), 5400 North Clark. Tickets are $12.
