A comedian's progress: Gays, straights laughing
By Cathalena E. Burch
cburch@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.05.2009
If you're going to see comedian Kate Clinton on Sunday, wish her happy birthday.
She'll turn 62 on Monday.
It's not a milestone birthday. She has no big plans. She's not even traumatized by the thought of turning another year older.
"I have a harder time with the middle ones, like 65," she said last week from her home in New York City. "I remember 55 was like, 'Ow.' But what are you going to do? All I can do is hydrate."
She's a big proponent of H2O. It's her youthful elixir, the secret formula that makes her look at least 10 years younger. Her shock of thick, gray, short-cropped hair does little to betray her years.
"I just started doing yoga, which is hilarious," she says when asked if she works out. "I don't even know what they're talking about. I'm keeling over and crashing. But I just want to keep mobile. . . . I do some weightlifting and definitely some walking."
And she laughs. Laughter is another youthful elixir and one that Clinton has given — and taken — freely and often, going on nearly 30 years as a professional comedian.
"When I started and I was talking about being a lesbian, no one ever stole my material," she says. "I think my career has mirrored the progress of the gay movement. I don't think people are as homo-ignorant as they used to be. They're not unaware that there are actual gay people in the world having lives and wanting to get married and having children and trying to serve openly in the military. So I think that in a lot of ways I'm able to do a lot more material of a wider range."
Clinton was a trailblazer of gay-centric comedy as one of the first openly lesbian comedians.
Are we at the point where an openly gay comedian can do a show that appeals equally to straights?
"Absolutely. I think that it is that kind of lovely melding that we've had. I still want to be considered a lesbian and a bit of an outsider; it's been a great edge. It's my niche. . . . But sometimes I look at my shows and say, 'Oh my God — I didn't do anything gay.'
"What people are uncomfortable about now — and I think it is a level of the civic dialogue that's gotten so corrupted — is hearing an opinion that they didn't have politically."
The last time we spoke in 2000, you said it was easier to come out as a lesbian than it was to come out as a Democrat.
"Well that certainly has shifted. I love people who say to me, 'What are you going to do without Bush?' I tell them, 'I'll always have the pope.' And apparently the Cheneys aren't going anywhere, so we'll still be able to fill the comedy hour."
Are you a fan of (President) Obama?
"I am, and I was fully prepared to be disappointed in him as well. It's been lovely as opposed to the despair of the last eight years."
Do you feel 62?
"You know, I don't. What wears me out is the travel. Now it's not only insane security, but we're all freaked out by the (H1N1 swine flu) virus. Oh, it's really tense. If I could teleport myself to places — luggage is always a problem — I would be very happy.
"I am grateful that I have been able to make a career that has allowed me to go this long. And I intend to go further. And people say, 'Well, you really think so?' 'Yeah. Two words: George Burns.' "
You are incredibly Web-savvy. You have video blogs, a blog on The Huffington Post. How did you become so techy?
"The kids. If you want to reach the kids, that's what you have to do. And I'm Twittering now. It's hilarious. I used to say, 'I would know if I Twittered, wouldn't I?' It sounds filthy."
So if we break out in a big chorus of "Happy Birthday," will you blush?
"Heck no. I might even sing along. And if you want me to give sizes and colors, I'll let you know (what I want)."
0 Comments on this story
