Breaking Down Barriers in the World of Comedy

A new show in downtown D.C. is bringing gay comedians out of the wings and on to the stage. "Gaylarious" is the brainchild of local comics Chris Doucette and Zach Toczynski, who say in stand-up comedy, homosexuals have been on the outside far too long. Rebecca Sheir sat down with the duo at Riot Act Comedy Theater where the show takes place each month, and learned how the "Gaylarious" concept began.

Interview Highlights:

On why Zach and Chris created Gaylarious: "I had met Zach about five years ago in Washington, D.C. doing stand-up comedy. And we thought we wanted to have a night of our own where we could select the comics that we would laugh at, the gay community would laugh at, and anyone who just likes fun, crazy, ridiculous, or over the top comedy would laugh at, and so on 14th Street, back in the day, Gaylarious was born."

How Gaylarious has evolved over the years: "When we first had it, it was this very small club. It was this little thing in a basement. We were handing flowers out in the streets, telling people who we were. We were pretty much the only two gay comics in Washington, D.C. And so that club closed down, and when we reopened years later, we worked our tails off, and we've got two shows and it's been successful.

Explaining the term, "gay-friendly" comics: "A gay-friendly show is free of a lot of the homophobic, misogynistic kind of crap that you hear every night in standup comedy today. And so you can come to a show like Gaylarious, and have a great time, and be ridiculous and over the top and silly. And it's not about being politically correct, it's not about being a gay rights activist, it's just about being funny and having a good time."

[Music: "The Facts of Life (Karaoke Version)" by Stingray Music (Karaoke) from Karaoke - in the Style of Various - Vol. 4]

Photos: "Gaylarious"