We’re not New York, not Chicago, not even San Francisco, but despite its size, Seattle’s Queer comedy community holds its own. Known for producing colorful, campy comedians who know how to produce raucous laughter without needing to rely on hack tactics like punching down, the scene has withstood many changes in recent years. Still, it remains a national highlight that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
“The Seattle scene truly runs the gamut, though it has one of the largest Queer comedy scenes I’ve seen,” said Billie Manton, a local stand-up comedian and “The Tallest Woman in Seattle Comedy,” in an interview with the SGN. “There are plenty of spaces and mics that are what you’d probably imagine when you think of stand-up comedy: white dudes making jokes about their dicks and degrading women. However, there are also plenty of places that focus largely on uplifting minority voices, like the Comedy Nest at Common Objects, Twatties at Saint John’s, or Sussy Mic at Vermillion.”
“I will say that [the scene] has ebbed and flowed between vivacious and dismal,” added Keeks Kahusi, another Seattle-based stand-up comedian. “I came into the scene when there were some great Queer and non-men-focused mics, and the one that has stood the test of time is the Comedy Nest. A lot of great mics and comedy locations have closed down in the past few years, which is no shock. With the rise of fascism, an art so rooted in questioning power is losing performance spaces. Or [it’s] something about the economy.”
Queerness and comedy
For comedians, life doesn’t imitate art; it is art. Comics are known for finding humor in the mundane and writing about their everyday lives. For Seattle’s Queer comedians, this means that it’s nearly impossible to separate their art from their identities. “It’s not just my identity as a Gay person, but I also think about my identity as an Asian person, and a brown Asian guy,” said Ricci Armani, Seattle-based comedian and creator of My Straight Friends.
Armani started performing comedy in Seattle around 2019. At the time, he worried about how his identities might isolate him from the audience. “I very much wanted not to be pigeonholed as the Gay comedian or the Asian comedian. So I wrote about things that weren’t necessarily tied to my identity,” he said. “Now I’m in this place where I know I can be funny without having to talk about these things. I’m coming back now and being like, ‘How do I talk about these things without sounding like I’m pandering to the audience?’”
If his hit touring show, My Straight Friends, which ran at the legendary Comedy Store in LA and featured Kathy Griffith as a guest, is any indication, Armani has definitely found the right balance. Since starting, he has become well known for his crowd work and quippy anecdotes. “I do so much crowd work, which has gotten me into trouble, but not enough trouble,” he said with a smirk.
“I’ve heard it said that in comedy, there are comedians who are Queer, and there are Queer comedians,” Manton explained. “I consider myself part of the latter, as so much of my comedy as of late has revolved around my early transition.” Like Armani, Manton began finding significant success in the comedy scene once she embraced her Queer identity.
“I’ve often joked that I didn’t really become funny until I started taking estrogen, as it allowed me to express myself in ways I never thought possible,” Manton said. “All of my favorite jokes, the ones I’m most proud of, revolve around my identity and my journey. They’re not necessarily for every audience, but I feel like I’ve changed some hearts and minds through my jokes. I recently had someone tell me that watching me speak candidly about my journey gave them the confidence to finally come out. If shining my light helps others shine theirs, I consider time invested in comedy to be a success.”
Manton’s stories about her experiences in transition have started to reach a lot more people. Recently, Manton headlined Tacoma's Pride Show at the Spanish Ballroom.
For Kahusi, there is no comedy without queerness. “Unfortunately, I’m straight. I’m just here as an ally,” Kahusi said. “I’m JOKING. I cannot shut up about being a dyke on stage. Being Queer has made me the comedian I am today, and being a Queer comedian has made me the person I am today. Viewing the world through such a beautiful lens of loving non-men so deeply and finding humor in navigating this identity has brought me so much joy.”
Getting a start
Kahusi’s journey into the comedy scene began like many great love stories, with heartbreak. “After college, I had my first Lesbian breakup (YIKES), so, with plenty of time on my hands, I went to a well-known open mic at Jai Thai in Capitol Hill,” she said. “From there, I was obsessed with the attention. My career has changed so much since then. Instead of doing five minutes, sometimes I get to do seven-minute sets. But actually, I have gotten to open for amazing comedians and do my own hour.”
Today, Kahusi is known around the scene for her boundless energy and infectious spirit. “I love being a boisterous storyteller with big tits,” she added. “It’s kind of my thing — I don’t think anyone has ever done that before. With every show, I want it to feel like the audience is at a basement party and they are listening to some weirdo diving into their insane upbringing and nonconsensually sharing their view on how the world works. If there is an opportunity to lie on the floor to exaggerate my point, I will take it.”
Like Kahusi, Armani also got his start by walking into an open mic. Growing up, he’d been inspired by Comedy Central acts like Amy Schumer and Dane Cook. His perspective shifted when he first saw Joe Koy perform. “I was like, ‘Oh, Asian people are doing this!” Still, he put off trying comedy for years. Finally, a friend dragged him to an open mic. “I saw it, and I was like, oh my God, I'm funnier than all these people. And so I just started going to open mics all the time and then it just, I never stopped.”
Manton started comedy in her twenties, technically speaking. “I started comedy on the day before my 30th birthday, telling myself that I could then argue that I’d been doing comedy since my twenties,” she joked. Manton first performed at the Comedy Nest, a mic she now helps to produce. While that might make a heartwarming story, it doesn’t come close to Manton’s favorite comedy memory.
Earlier in 2026, Manton was booked to perform at the Joketeller’s Union. “I’d recently received my updated Social Security card the night before, so live on stage, I ate my deadname Social Security card, so that I could expel my deadname one final time,” she said. “Still to this day, one of my favorite performances I’ve ever done.”
Feeling seen
While they’ve all hit different milestones and become known for different styles of comedy, there’s one thing Armani, Manton, and Kahusi all have in common. “I just really want audience members to have a good time and see themselves in anything I have said,” Kahusi explained about her favorite part of doing comedy. “Having Persian people, Gay people, sexy people come up to me after the show and say that they feel seen has been so fulfilling. I get so much joy out of it, and I will always have so much to learn from comedy.”
“I hope that people can come to my shows and feel seen.” Manton added. “I want to give audiences a place to hear stories that aren’t often talked about in mainstream television and film.”
“[Comedy] has made me believe in myself in a way that I didn’t know I could, especially when I pause and look back to see the things I’ve done in the last four or five years,” Ricci said. “It’s given me a lot of confidence. And it’s given me a healthy amount of fear too, which I think I could use a little bit more of. The only thing it’s not giving me is a free trial of Ozempic, but yeah, that’s fine.”
Ricci Armani will host My Straight Friends at the Tacoma Comedy Club on September 30.
Billie Manton will host her one-woman show, “Billie’s Dollhouse,” on October 16 at Common Objects in Belltown. She will also appear with Gwen Rose at Laughs Comedy Club on October 15 (on an all-Trans lineup!) and in “Clocked!,” Seattle’s premier all-Trans comedy showcase, at Old Stove Brewing on November 20.
Keeks Kahusi will debut another hour-long special at the beginning of 2027 and is also starring in the local coming-of-age film Summer of Eden.
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