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Bridget McManus gets physical on “The Queen Latifah Show”

In late 2007, I saw a stand-up comic on the internet and thought she was outrageous and outrageously funny. I knew I wanted to interview her for an article I was working on called, “Five Lesbian Comics You May Not Know but Should.” That was seven years ago and Bridget McManus has since become an AfterEllen staple — creator and star of the Logo TV show Brunch with Bridget, Grey’s Anatomy recapper, Afternoon Delight columnist, among others — but more importantly, she’s become one of my closest friends. Oh, and she married one of my other closest friends, Karman Kregloe, who is also the Editor-in-Chief here, and the one who gave me my first writing job. It’s a whole, big, incestuous ball of lesbian awesome.

Because of all that and much more, I could not be happier that Bridget McManus is now enjoying much deserved recognition and full-time employment as an on-air talent and warm-up comic on The Queen Latifah Show. I called her to talk about how it all came to be, why Queen Latifah‘s set pillows should fear her, and how she went from doing stand-up in back of a video store to being on network television every day.

AfterEllen: Hey, you. Bridget McManus: Hi weirdo.

AE: You’re a weirdo. You’re also a successful weirdo. BM: Thanks. So are you.

AE: No, I’m not. You’re the rising star on The Queen Latifah Show. BM: That’s very sweet. I’m very lucky to have a job on the show… [long pause] Can we start again? I have to get this dog off me.

AE: What is happening over there? Doesn’t Francine know I’m trying to interview you for the first time in years? BM: I know! I haven’t talked to you in an interview since 2007.

AE: I recently learned that was your first interview. I didn’t know that. BM: You took my interview virginity, Dara.

AE: As I am known to do. And now, you’re the hottest commodity on The Queen Latifah Show! How did you end up with such a sweet gig and how does it feel to have it? BM: I love working on The Queen Latifah Show. How I got there was, I worked on The Jeff Probst Show, the host of Survivor, as their warm-up comic. When that show wasn’t renewed, its producers went over to The Queen Latifah Show. And when Queen Latifah started shooting, they called me in to audition for the warm-up comic job. It was me and a bunch of guys. So I went in, they liked me, and they called me back. I became the show’s warm-up in September and I’ve been playing over there ever since.

AE: I love that you beat out a whole bunch of dudes. You’re basically Queen Latifah’s sidekick now. I think that makes you a princess. Or court jester? But wait, weren’t you the DJ for a hot second? BM: It was supposed to be funny, that I was DJ for the day but I don’t have any actual DJ skills. We have a real DJ named Hunter that works on the show. I just love him. He’s fantastic.

AE: I’ve been to the show taping, twice. BM: You’re a super fan.

AE: Listen, I need to come back when you’re doing a give-away. I want a flat screen TV and a copy of Herbie Hancock’s new autobiography. When are the big-ticket items being given away, so I can clear my schedule? BM: We’re giving away dream vacations in February. We just gave away a $5,000 vacation to Hawaii. And we gave a Costa Rican vacation to a 93-year-old woman. She was so overwhelmed. It was the sweetest thing.

AE: Aww. I hope she sends you pictures of herself on a zip line. Hey, speaking of being at the tapings: You are a total maniac when you’re working. You never stop moving, never stop dancing, never stop playing with the audience. You keep the energy up, for hours. How you do it every day? BM: [laughs] Well, that’s my job. I’ve been in enough TV audiences myself, and you get bored sitting for hours. So, when I come out to work, I go back to my All-American cheerleading roots.

My warm-up is different from other warm-up comics. Instead of an “act,” I’m very physical with the audience. Because people want to play, and dance and have fun. Queen Latifah will come out and take selfies, we give away T-shirts. I will find the couple who’s been married the longest and force them to get up and dance with each other and the audience always cheers. I feel like I’m at a party every day. And then, I get home and crash.

AE: Didn’t they recently try to calculate how many calories you burn every show? BM: They did! They put a little calorie counter on me. I burn 4000 calories a day. And sometimes, we shoot two shows a day. I should be really thin. [laughs] I also use a lot of deodorant at work.

AE: Queen Latifah seems to be very enamored with your antics. She loves when you do splits, as we all do. BM: Well, I’m usually in a dress, but I’ll do splits in a dress. Note, doing a split is just weird. It’s something that children do. So, when I do it, especially in a dress, people say, “What’s wrong with this person?”

Queen Latifah wanted to show the audience at home what happens in the studio before taping. So, I was dancing with her, doing The Running Man, and I thought it would be funny to do a split. But of course, we’re on TV, so just in case, I grabbed a pillow to cover my crotch — as ladies do. And then, I got up, put the pillow back on her couch, and ran back to my little DJ station. She said, “I cannot believe you put the pillow back!”

AE: I love this story. BM: Then, we had Florence Henderson on the show recently. Mrs. Brady! Florence said I needed–

AE: Xanax? BM: [laughs] Yes! But she also asked me to do a split. So I went down on stage, (I was wearing a dress again), I grabbed a pillow, did the split, and put the pillow back, again. Florence said, “Why would you put the pillow back?” Pillows are not safe around me.

For the Christmas episode, I sewed Queen Latifah a Frosty the Snowman pillow. And an audience member recently made me a pillow too! I think she did it so I would stop abusing Queen Latifah’s pillows.

AE: Which reminds me. You painted a Queen Latifah Thanksgiving painting. BM: You mean Queen Laturkey!

AE: [laughs] Yes! Only you would do that. BM: The fact that they let me be myself is insane.

AE: I heard the show wanted to keep the Laturkey painting on the set, but Queen Latifah wanted to take it home. And now, one of your paintings lives in Queen Latifah’s house. BM: She so sweet, so generous. And she’s so funny! When you watch her movies or watch her perform, you can see she’s a star. She has such charisma and she’s so dynamic, but she’s even better in person. Queen Latifah is a shining, bright light and she’s even more extraordinary to work with.

AE: That’s really rare. As we both know… BM: I think show business can make people crazy. People are desperate or are reaching for a goal they haven’t acquired yet. So, there are people who are unhappy. I’ve been extremely lucky that I work with really happy, really generous people.

AE: You also work with your wife, right here on AfterEllen. BM: Yes, I work with a person named Karman Kregloe. She’s one tough boss!

AE: I know! It’s as if she thinks she’s in charge or something. BM: And she’s really cute. [laughs] We’re celebrating our six-year anniversary.

AE: Just so you know, I continue to take credit for you guys getting married. If I hadn’t interviewed you, you would never have met her. Basically, I gave birth to both of you. BM: Thank you Dara. I can’t thank you enough.

AE: I still remember when Karman and I met you face-to-face at the Comedy Store in Hollywood. You could not take your eyes off her. I was talking to you and you weren’t listening. In fact, you wouldn’t even look at me. Love at first sight is kind of rude. BM: And I am more in love with her today than I was then. She just gets better and better.

AE: Your life just gets better and better. Didn’t you just shoot a movie for Queen Latifah? What is it? BM: I did! It’s a romantic comedy called, November Rule. I just finished shooting it, and I play the funny coworker of the female lead, played by Tatyana Ali. It’s for Queen Latifah’s production company, Flavor Unit Entertainment, and she’s executive producing it.

AE: From stand-up, to Brunch with Bridget, to working on The Jeff Probst Show, and now, Queen Latifah? Who knew from such hard-working beginnings, you’d end up where you are now. BM: I once did stand-up in the back of the video store.

AE: I remember that! BM: I thought it was going to be in the back room of the store or some kind of performance space. But no. It was in the store. In the aisles, while people were shopping. Someone told me I should cancel, but when I make a commitment, I stick to it.

AE: I admire that. How do you even deal with those kinds of “surprises?” BM: It was a really awkward situation. It made no sense. But I like being able to call it as it is, “Hey remember when I performed in front of the John Wayne section?”

AE: [laughs] I still wish it was the porn section. BM: Gross, Dara.

AE: Are you out on The Queen Latifah Show? Was there ever a conversation with anyone about how to handle that? BM: Everyone working on the show knows. I couldn’t be closeted if I tried.

AE: Some people feel like it’s your rainbow-given duty as a gay person to come out if you have the chance to further visibility. Do you agree? BM: I think it’s personal. Imagine someone trying to get you to come out of closet before you’re ready? You can’t. It’s your own timing, your own business. If you’re going to be an out person, ideally, you should be super excited about it. When people are closeted and don’t want to be out, that’s their business. All you can do is be yourself.

AE: So, you’re against outing celebrities? BM: I have no interest in dragging people out of the closet. You don’t know what people are going through. I’m lucky. My sister is gay. My family is supportive. And that is a rarity. Not enough people get to live like that. The fact that I can be out, and I love being out, is a blessing.

AE: Who is more excited about you being on The Queen Latifah Show, your own mother, or Karman’s mother, Gail? BM: You know what’s funny? My father-in-law, Kreg, is crazy about it. Big fan. He watches the show, and then emails us and gives feedback. When Queen Latifah said she was going to do something at the Grammys, but she couldn’t say what, he emailed me and said, “I know she can’t say but can you tell me what it is?”

AE: That is excellent. Was his enthusiasm a surprise to you? Usually, dads are not terribly effusive. Usually, it’s the mom. BM: Every time my mother goes out in Windsor Connecticut, she tells people, “You should watch my daughter, Bridget, on The Queen Latifah Show.” She’s very proud of me. But Kreg is a TV connoisseur, so, it’s delightful that he watches every day. He’s fantastic.

AE: You should fly Karman’s parents out and they can be your special guests. BM: Oh my God. You think he’s going to get on a plane? Kreg’s not going to get on a plane. He hasn’t been on a plane in years.

AE: He wouldn’t do it for this? BM: I’m telling you, he’s not going to get on a plane. I’d have to bring Queen Latifah out to his house. And she would have to sit next to him on the couch.

AE: Sure, why not? Maybe the show could do a field segment at Karman’s parents’ house, just so Kreg can meet Queen Latifah. BM: That would be great. He could show her all the things he found with his metal detector.

AE: I would totally watch that. BM: Only you and I would watch that.

AE: And Kreg. BM: And Kreg.

Follow Bridget on Twitter @bridgetmcanus and visit her Facebook page.

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