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AE: How did you pick the four comics for Laughing Matters…More!?
AM: It was a harder pick the second time because the first one I picked the pioneers-- the women who started doing lesbian comedy first and are still doing it--‘cause there were some that did it a long time ago, there was Robin Tyler and Lea Delaria, there were others that started out but weren't so much doing it anymore.
This one wasn't as easy because there's a lot of really talented lesbian comics. I wanted to make Laughing Matters because I'd producing these live shows for a very long time and I could see the impact that they have on our community and they are like our celebrities. In producing their shows and filling up theaters with a 1000 women and seeing the impact that they had on those women and knowing that if I ever hosted a VIP reception where we used to meet and greet the performer I would see that women really wanted to know who they were. They wanted to meet them up close and personal, so that was also a reason I wanted to make that first movie aside from celebrating their courage for being out and their talent.
(The four comics in Laughing Matters…More!) have all been in different shows that I've produced. I wanted them all to be diverse in both their backgrounds but also in their comedic style, and they are that. They are as different as four women who have the same careers, but they are as different as any four women could be…
I love that Sabrina just embraces being butch, she's not afraid of that and is proud of it and it's a part of her act and I love that. Vickie is so femme, she's more femme than any straight woman I've ever met (laughs). And they embrace who they are as people. And Rene is really, really smart, she has that intellectual humor…And then Elvira, oh my God, I love Elvira. Elvira's style to me, I can't even look at her without cracking up. She's so animated. I think they're all brilliant in their own way. I love them all.
AE: It's amazing that someone who came out late in life and struggled with her lesbian identity is the go to person for lesbian social life in L.A.
AM: It's amazing but I am really clear that had I not taken these paths, had I not been married, had I not felt the struggle of coming out, I wouldn't have gotten it, I don't think I would have been able to do this good. I really get it. I get women calling me crying and they're married and they're trying to figure out what to do next and I can take an hour and talk to them and give them all sorts of advice or really not even advice but comfort because I've been there. I understand it. And I also understand it's great to come out into an organization like Women On A Roll and walk into a room whether it's an event of 30 women in a conversation group or 300 women on a yacht party, it doesn't matter, you walk in and you kind of feel at home.
AE: Has your work in the lesbian community ever supplanted what you had financially with your corporate job?
AM: Not financially, but it's been very rewarding in so many ways. It's been what I'm supposed to do and I am fulfilled everyday and I will tell people, “I feel like I live my life like a millionaire.” And I know millionaires and I don't know if they're even as happy as I am. I wake up every single day and plan my day exactly how I want it to be and decide what I want to offer and decide where my time is going to be spent and who I'm going to talk to and when I'm going to work out and who I'm going to put in my next show and I'm very fulfilled and lucky that I have found my purpose.
For more info on WOAR go to womenonaroll.com;
for Laughing Matters More...! go to alloutfilms.com or outfest.org
Lydia Marcus is a Film Critic and Entertainment Journalist who has written extensively about queer and indie film since 1995. This native Los Angeleno has contributed numerous cover stories to Frontiers, Girlfriends, and the LN (Lesbian News), where she also writes the monthly “At The Movies” column. She has also contributed reviews, features and photos to many websites and publications including The Los Angeles Times, AOL, The Advocate, Planetout.com, Gay.com, indieWIRE.com, IN LA, GO NYC, AfterElton.com and AfterEllen.com. Email Lydia at filmcritic@earthlink.net
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