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Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
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Julie Goldman readies her offensive
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| Julie Goldman readies her offensive | ||
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by Miryam Gordon -
SGN A&E Writer The Julie Goldman Offensive September 11-14 Theatre Off Jackson Is Julie Goldman is offensive? That's the question her title, The Julie Goldman Offensive, raises. Goldman's answer is: not to her. "I don't think I do offensive comedy. It's a double meaning. I'm on the offense and the question is: what is offensive? The material I'm doing is politics, Hillary, Obama, religion, gender, Gayness. To some people, that's all considered offensive. Being a woman is considered offensive. For me, tackling some of these controversial issues, I'm asking you why am I considered offensive. Why can't we talk about things? Why can't I exist in this world without thinking that my opinions are offensive? McCain and Palin are offensive to me. Saying a woman can't have an abortion after she's raped is offensive to me." Goldman has performed this show only once, in New York. "I'm trying to polish it. It's a script. This is more like a rant monologue, it's a very solo show. It's a theatrical piece. I hope it's funny, but not every single thing is a laugh. I want people to be entertained, but also to think about things in a different way, or not be afraid to talk about controversial things, and to have opinions of things and be able to stick to them, even if it's different from what media tells you you should be feeling." So, it would be the kind of thing that could be an HBO special? "If I could do this show as an HBO or Showtime special, that would be a check off my dream list." Goldman thinks that her title signals what kind of show you're going to get. "Hopefully people who want that kind of material will want to come and feel fired up and have a good sense of humor." So what kinds of humor are funny to Goldman? "I find a lot of things funny, things I find absurd. I am very entertained by poop humor. I think it's hilarious. I love it. It's mindless and stupid and makes me laugh. Farts are funny. I'm sorry. "Women in general don't like the poop humor because it's like 'guy humor,' and don't we have something better to do with our time? And frankly, no, I like mindless things that make me laugh. Women just think about things a little more and sometimes I don't want to think. But I also like Lily Tomlin and George Carlin and those who are making social cultural commentary, muckraking. I'm not a fan of joke telling. George Carlin, that kind of humor is very conversational, just talking or ranting. "Seinfeld is boring. I don't care about airplane food or toilet seats being up or down. That's boring. I love The Simpsons and South Park. It can be dirty and shitting and it has a point. It's completely social commentary and smart. You can have things that are fart humor, but it's more than that. Stuff that points out the absurdity of life. Why take anything too seriously? The only time I really get annoyed by comedy is when it's really mean-spirited or is just mean for the sake of being mean." There are subtle differences between "insult humor" and "being mean" to Goldman. She differentiates it by saying, "Lisa Lampanelli uses humor to show the absurdity of using stereotypical language to lighten it up. Mean humor is 'faggot this, faggot that,' or stuff that is pointedly picking someone out and making them the brunt of joke. "There are those subtle, blurry lines in comedy that you can't even articulate. I know in my gut it's funny and not offensive, but I couldn't tell you why. It comes down to someone's intention, and sometimes it will rub one person one way and one person another. And there's no telling. A lot of comedy is like that. Most of it. That's why, as a comedian, you can't please everybody because it's going to be different across the board. Especially if you're a comedian that's trying to do something out of the box, you're never going to please everyone. Seinfeld didn't say anything, Ellen didn't make me think about anything, I didn't retain it. You're more likely to appease and please more people that way." Comedy performance, both acting and standup, is really all Goldman knows how to do. "I started in standup when I was 15 in Boston. I grew up outside of Boston, then pursued it in college and in New York and that's all I've been doing all my life. It's the only thing I wanted to do. "Even as a young kid, comedy was always in my life. I would re-enact movies like History Of The World, Part One. Do all the characters, all the scenes, watch it over and over. Even in elementary school we had Allan Sherman and George Carlin records and I would obsess over them and re-enact them. I don't know if my family was happy about it, but they were not surprised when I started doing standup. "Then I won a contest in college. When I came out in college, between 19 and 20, I was doing standup. It just became a natural thing to add it into my act, because my whole thing was about me and my personal story and my opinions and I needed to be honest. Even from the beginning [in grade school], talking about my teacher being mean to me, I've always had a sense of justice to talk about. It's still a big thing for me; it's a form of activism for me. I want to say what is true and things that enrage me and that are ridiculous." What does Goldman hope people will say about her act? "On small scales, I talk a lot about Gay marriage in my act and people come up to me and say, 'I've never thought about that, and you've changed my mind.' Even on a very basic level, after a show, if someone says, 'I feel these things, and you've made me feel things,' then I feel that's something. That makes me feel great. One of the activities Goldman is now known for came from trying to promote The Big Gay Sketch Show on LOGO. She started interviewing celebrity Lesbians in webisodes on afterellen.com, called "Celesbian Interviews." She's now got about 25 of them online. "It turned into a world by itself, and having fun with the interview format and mocking the person I'm interviewing. It's gone further toward talking about doing a late night talk show, but not just Lesbians. I want to do a late-night talk show and do everybody." For ticket information, go to www.brownpapertickets.com or call 1-800-838-3006. |
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