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Family Matters Take a look at the first installment of our newest regular feature: a photospread of YOU! See Page 36 Vote on November 7! Virginians for Justice releases results of state-wide candidate survey on gay issues by Kathleen Vickery Staff writer When gays and lesbians head to the voting booth November 7 to elect Virg_inia senators and · representatives, most will try to evaluate each · candidate on .his 0r her record (or campaign promises) regarding issues that aren't necessarily gay-specific ... what they plan to do about the state of public schools, for example, or how they stand on social responsibility issues. But most ·gays and lesbians will also care very randidate is to introduce or support .:ivil rights mea- 1 .res for gays. Virginians for Justice (VJ), the state's only bi-partisan organization to lobby legislators for gay civil rights, in cooperation with seven regional gay advocate groups, conducted a survey of the candidates. The questionnaires. were mailed to all 248_ candidate. 21 percent of all candidates responded to the survey, up from 11 percent two years ago. Four percent of those responding stated that their policy is to not participate in surveys. The percentage of respondents increased this year, according to Patrick Heck, VJ's Legislative Coordinator, in large part because of the help of regional groups which encouraged local residents to call their candidates- and encourage them to return the surveys. "Often, even one phone call from a single constituent can be enough to cause a candidate to take some kind of action. It's amazing how few people realize the power they actually do have to influence candidates and elected officials," Heck said. The other groups who cooperated in conducting the survey were Alexandria Gay & Lesbian Community Association, Arlington Gay & Lesbian Alliance, Charlottesville Campaign for , Human Rights, Fairfax Lesbian & Gay Citizens Association, Hampton Roads Lesbian & Gay Pride Coalition, Richmond Lesbian & Gay Pride Coalition, and Roanoke Valley Gay & Lesbian Alliance. The survey questioned candidates about six general areas of interest: hate see Elections,_ page 1 Urvoshi Vaid One of the country's most famous gay rights activists discusses the future of the gay movement See Page 3 Bob Smith: Out to be funny by Rosemary Doud Staff writer Comedian Bob Smith is known to many from his appearances on Comedy Central 's Out There gay comedy special, his own HBO special, and as the first openly gay comedian to be invited to perform on The Tonight Show. He is also coauthor (with Jaffe Cohen and Danny McWilliams) of Growing Up Gay, and performed with Cohen and McWilliams as the ensemble Funny Gay Males. A recent guest of the Multicultural Student Union at Old Dominion .<;:; University, Bob performed his ] stand-up comedy act for an § appreciative audience on-= October 1 I, National Coming Bob Smith Out Day. After the performance, he spoke with Our Own. Our Own: Were you funny as a kid? Bob Smith: Yes, I was pretty funny. I wrote stuff in high school - class shows - and they went really well. One of the first ones I did was a Tarzan parody, because I wanted to have the captain of the football team be Tarzan in a loincloth. It was like a light bulb going on over my head - oh, yeah, I'm really funny! And then when I got out of high school, there was a jazz club in Buffalo that wanted stand-up comedy so I went. I was 18. I tried it, and it worked really well. I did five minutes. I was so nervous, I was praying, "Dear God, don't let this be a nightmare." And got asked back! Going up there, telling jokes and getting $20 for it was like the big time to me. The thing I like about standup comedy is that it's really immediate. You can think of a joke and try it out that night and see if it works. It's like instant theater. You're the director, actor, writer. There's no set script. In fact, it's bad if you do it the same every time. 00: Do you use the same material at straight clubs that you do at gay ones? BS: I do. I can rearrange the lines, or edit a little, I talk about my family, my birthday. It really works well for the straight audiences. 00: You don't have to explain more to straight crowds? BS: Some things I do, a few things, but honestly not too many things. If I did my whole show then I would have to set up things for them, but I usually do a shorter set for them. I always find things I know straight and gay audiences can relate to. 00: Was that a surprise to you, that straight audiences accepted and. could understand your humor? BS: No, because I started out in straight comedy clubs doing gay comedy, and that's where I came up with most of my jokes. 00: But at the beginning, wasn't that a surprise? BS: You're right. When I first did it, I had written these jokes about being gay, and I didn't know if they were funny or not, and my roommate Michael read them and said they were, really funny, and that I should try them out. So, I went to a comedy club in New York in 1986, and they went over great, and ever since I always talk about being gay. I've always thought you can talk about anything in stand-up comedy, and you just have to be aiming at being funny. 00: How would you characterize your humor? BS: I'd like to think that I'm sharp and funny, like with topics like gays in the military, or the Catholic Church's attitude, but I , feel like Ann Landers says, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." I think that's true. 00: Is there such a thing as gay humor? BS: I love lesbian comedians like Kate Clinton and Suzanne see lob Smith, page 1
Object Description
Title | Our Own, November 1995 |
Creator | Unitarian-Universalist Gay Community; Unitarian-Universalist Gay Community |
Date | 1995-11 |
Description | November 1995 issue of Our Own Community Press. |
Number of Pages | 44 |
Subject | Gay liberation movement; Gay rights; Gay men; Lesbians; Virginia; Periodicals |
Coverage | Norfolk, Virginia; Hampton Roads, Virginia |
Publisher | Old Dominion University Libraries |
Source | Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Perry Library |
Relation | Our Own Community Press, 1976-1998 |
Language | English |
Media Type | Newspapers |
Type | Collection |
Format | Text/pdf |
Format - Digital | Item was scanned as individual tiff files at 400 dpi, 24-bit color, then converted to a PDF; archival master is tiff. |
Date Digital | 2016 |
Digitized by | Brandon Sharpton |
Digital Collection | Our Own -- http://dc.lib.odu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/ourown |
Rights | Digital image copyright 2016, Old Dominion University Libraries. All rights reserved. For more information contact Special Collections and University Archives, Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529. |
File Size | 73621178 Bytes |
Identifier | ourown-1995-november.pdf |
Description
Title | Our Own, November 1995, pg 1 |
Date | 1995-11 |
Description | November 1995 issue of Our Own Community Press. |
Type | Text |
Full Text | Family Matters Take a look at the first installment of our newest regular feature: a photospread of YOU! See Page 36 Vote on November 7! Virginians for Justice releases results of state-wide candidate survey on gay issues by Kathleen Vickery Staff writer When gays and lesbians head to the voting booth November 7 to elect Virg_inia senators and · representatives, most will try to evaluate each · candidate on .his 0r her record (or campaign promises) regarding issues that aren't necessarily gay-specific ... what they plan to do about the state of public schools, for example, or how they stand on social responsibility issues. But most ·gays and lesbians will also care very randidate is to introduce or support .:ivil rights mea- 1 .res for gays. Virginians for Justice (VJ), the state's only bi-partisan organization to lobby legislators for gay civil rights, in cooperation with seven regional gay advocate groups, conducted a survey of the candidates. The questionnaires. were mailed to all 248_ candidate. 21 percent of all candidates responded to the survey, up from 11 percent two years ago. Four percent of those responding stated that their policy is to not participate in surveys. The percentage of respondents increased this year, according to Patrick Heck, VJ's Legislative Coordinator, in large part because of the help of regional groups which encouraged local residents to call their candidates- and encourage them to return the surveys. "Often, even one phone call from a single constituent can be enough to cause a candidate to take some kind of action. It's amazing how few people realize the power they actually do have to influence candidates and elected officials," Heck said. The other groups who cooperated in conducting the survey were Alexandria Gay & Lesbian Community Association, Arlington Gay & Lesbian Alliance, Charlottesville Campaign for , Human Rights, Fairfax Lesbian & Gay Citizens Association, Hampton Roads Lesbian & Gay Pride Coalition, Richmond Lesbian & Gay Pride Coalition, and Roanoke Valley Gay & Lesbian Alliance. The survey questioned candidates about six general areas of interest: hate see Elections,_ page 1 Urvoshi Vaid One of the country's most famous gay rights activists discusses the future of the gay movement See Page 3 Bob Smith: Out to be funny by Rosemary Doud Staff writer Comedian Bob Smith is known to many from his appearances on Comedy Central 's Out There gay comedy special, his own HBO special, and as the first openly gay comedian to be invited to perform on The Tonight Show. He is also coauthor (with Jaffe Cohen and Danny McWilliams) of Growing Up Gay, and performed with Cohen and McWilliams as the ensemble Funny Gay Males. A recent guest of the Multicultural Student Union at Old Dominion .<;:; University, Bob performed his ] stand-up comedy act for an § appreciative audience on-= October 1 I, National Coming Bob Smith Out Day. After the performance, he spoke with Our Own. Our Own: Were you funny as a kid? Bob Smith: Yes, I was pretty funny. I wrote stuff in high school - class shows - and they went really well. One of the first ones I did was a Tarzan parody, because I wanted to have the captain of the football team be Tarzan in a loincloth. It was like a light bulb going on over my head - oh, yeah, I'm really funny! And then when I got out of high school, there was a jazz club in Buffalo that wanted stand-up comedy so I went. I was 18. I tried it, and it worked really well. I did five minutes. I was so nervous, I was praying, "Dear God, don't let this be a nightmare." And got asked back! Going up there, telling jokes and getting $20 for it was like the big time to me. The thing I like about standup comedy is that it's really immediate. You can think of a joke and try it out that night and see if it works. It's like instant theater. You're the director, actor, writer. There's no set script. In fact, it's bad if you do it the same every time. 00: Do you use the same material at straight clubs that you do at gay ones? BS: I do. I can rearrange the lines, or edit a little, I talk about my family, my birthday. It really works well for the straight audiences. 00: You don't have to explain more to straight crowds? BS: Some things I do, a few things, but honestly not too many things. If I did my whole show then I would have to set up things for them, but I usually do a shorter set for them. I always find things I know straight and gay audiences can relate to. 00: Was that a surprise to you, that straight audiences accepted and. could understand your humor? BS: No, because I started out in straight comedy clubs doing gay comedy, and that's where I came up with most of my jokes. 00: But at the beginning, wasn't that a surprise? BS: You're right. When I first did it, I had written these jokes about being gay, and I didn't know if they were funny or not, and my roommate Michael read them and said they were, really funny, and that I should try them out. So, I went to a comedy club in New York in 1986, and they went over great, and ever since I always talk about being gay. I've always thought you can talk about anything in stand-up comedy, and you just have to be aiming at being funny. 00: How would you characterize your humor? BS: I'd like to think that I'm sharp and funny, like with topics like gays in the military, or the Catholic Church's attitude, but I , feel like Ann Landers says, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." I think that's true. 00: Is there such a thing as gay humor? BS: I love lesbian comedians like Kate Clinton and Suzanne see lob Smith, page 1 |
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