A Funny Time to Be Gay - 9780684818962

In A Funny Time to Be Gay, Ed Karvoski Jr. traces the evolution of gay and lesbian comedy from the few pioneers in New York’s Greenwich Village in the seventies, to the mavericks who played San Francisco’s famed Valencia Rose in the eighties, to the comics who starred in their own TV specials in the nineties and continue to headline comedy clubs. 

Among the more than 30 humorists spotlighted…

· TOM AMMIANO - longtime San Francisco elected official

· JUDY CARTER - three-time author including The Homo Handbook

· KATE CLINTON - three-time author including Don’t Get Me Started

· SABRINA MATTHEWS - star of own Comedy Central special

· BOB SMITH - three-time author including Openly Bob and star of own HBO special

· JASON STUART - frequent TV guest appearances

· ROBIN TYLER - performer, producer and proprietor of a women’s cruise line

· SUZANNE WESTENHOEFER - star of own HBO special

· DANNY WILLIAMS - longtime MC at RSVP Cruises

… and more!

“To the next generation of showbiz hopefuls who are gay or lesbian and choose not to hide it: make a grand entrance onto the comedy-club stages and television and film studios.  The closet door has been set ajar.  As any of these openly gay and lesbians comics will tell you, ‘A funny thing happened on the way out of the closet!’”

-- Ed Karvoski Jr., from author’s introduction