ALOK on the power of queer comedy
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00:00 I said, "Mom, I'm not hot enough to be a cross-dressing hooker,
00:04 and you, my dear, are half responsible for that fact."
00:08 ♪♪
00:13 My name is Alok, as in "tell me a joke, Alok,"
00:17 and I'm a stand-up comic based in New York City.
00:19 I feel like I was always doing comedy on stage,
00:22 just kind of riffing and improvising,
00:24 but I didn't really call it stand-up
00:26 because I didn't see people like me
00:28 represented in the mainstream stand-up world.
00:30 So it took me having to learn more about queer comics,
00:34 trans comics, to realize that I could be part of that world, too.
00:37 I just want to establish that this is a safe space
00:40 for members of the heterosexual community.
00:42 You're allowed to laugh at me for the next hour
00:45 and not get called transphobic.
00:47 I pledge allegiance to camp.
00:49 Camp has always been a practice of self-worth for queer people.
00:53 What camp has allowed me to do in comedy
00:54 is to recycle all the vitriol that I experience
00:58 and just make it something more beautiful.
01:01 I think that that was my sort of intro
01:03 into stand-up and comedy.
01:05 And then once I've been there, I started to realize,
01:07 actually, I didn't just have to be one thing.
01:10 Listen, I know you might not be used to a comic
01:13 with this caliber of fashion sense,
01:15 but I figured if you were already gonna laugh at me
01:18 outside on the street,
01:20 then I might as well gather you in one place
01:22 and charge you for it.
01:24 If you're not gonna call me a comic,
01:26 then at least refer to me as an entrepreneur.
01:29 I think that there's still an unresolved history
01:32 of a lot of mainstream stand-up
01:34 not being a hospitable place for trans talent,
01:37 but I'm hoping to change that.
01:39 Thanks so much, everyone.
01:40 You've been an amazing crowd.
01:42 Have a great night.
01:44 [thud]
01:47 ♪♪
01:49 ♪♪
01:59 ♪♪
02:02 (thud)
02:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]