Laughing Matters

Meet the Cast:

Kate Clinton is one of America's brightest political comedians and was among the first to do stand-up comedy as an "out" lesbian. Her humor is plucked from the daily headlines and combines with her savvy send-ups of modern family relationships and illuminating perspectives on life as a gay American.

Clinton, born and raised in New York, celebrated her 20th anniversary as a performer in 2001. It was in March 1981, that this high school English teacher first took her act from the classroom to comedy clubs and theaters--and she never looked back.

She has appeared on Good Morning America, Nightline, Entertainment Tonight, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Roseanne Show, The Arsenio Hall Show, Leeza and numerous news and talk shows on Comedy Central, Lifetime, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNN, and C-Span. She hosted In The Life and The World According To Us.

Kate has six comedy albums to her credit including Babes in Joyland, Comedy You Can Dance To and her most recent, Read These Lips. Kate's first book, Don't Get Me Started, was published by Ballantine in 1998. Based on past and present monologues, it's filled with thoughts both insightful and riotous. The audio companion was named "One of 1998s Best Audiobooks" by Publishers Weekly.

Clinton writes monthly columns for The Progressive and The Advocate in which she waxes by turns comical and philosophical about the state of our nation and those who have put us in such a state. She has written pieces for the New York Times and George magazine among others. Kate served as a writer on The Rosie O'Donnell Show during its rollout period in 1996.

As an actress, humorist, panelist and host, Kate has performed at the 2001 V-Day celebration of "The Vagina Monologues" in a sold-out Madison Square Garden benefit to end violence against women. At Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism she joined Dick Cavett, President Clinton's speechwriter Mark Katz and Moderator Ted Koppel for the Alfred I. DuPont Forum Money, Humor & Spin in Election 2000 broadcast on PBS. In 1999, Correct Me If I'm Right premiered off-Broadway at the Westbeth Theatre Center. The New York Times called it a "terrific one-woman show." Throughout 1996, Kate's show, All Het Up, toured cities across the country. In 1993, Kate's Out Is In, debuted in Los Angeles to rave reviews and then moved to New York where it enjoyed a 3-month run off-Broadway.

Kate resides in Provincetown, Mass. In 2001 she was listed in the New York Magazine's "Gay Power 101."

Marga Gomez

Marga Gomez grew up in a showbiz family --her father was a Cuban comedian and emcee in New York, her mother a dancer. After her father's unfortunate discovery--Marga in bed with another girl--she moved to San Francisco.

Marga's stand-up career in San Francisco coincided with the comedy boom...

Suzanne Westenhoefer

As a child in Pennsylvania, Suzannne Westenhoefer always loved being the center of attention, so she naturally gravitated to acting school. After graduating from college, the pretty blonde moved to New York City and immediately found work--as a bartender. On a dare she entered a comedy contest at a...

Karen Williams

As a single lesbian mom living in Berkeley in the 1980s, Karen Williams started doing stand-up comedy "because it was something I could do that didn't cost anything." Known for her quick repartee, insightful commentary and audience rapport, Williams is a comic craftmaster, a gifted actor, a...

Vickie Shaw

Vickie has performed in almost every state in the US over the last five years and has headlined in various venues including: Michigan Womyn's Festival, National Women's Music Festival, Monterrey Beach Women's Festival; and the Dinah & Lina Shore Golf Tournament in Southern California and at...

Rene Hicks

Take a woman born and raised in SF, California under the strict, watchful eye of her dad, a Pentecostal preacher, who insists she goes to college to make something of herself. She earns a business degree and after graduation she passes the CPA exam and goes to work at one of the largest accounting...

Sabrina Matthews

Sabrina Matthews is an openly lesbian comic who relates the absurd in everyday life in a witty anecdotal style.

"Sabrina's brand of comedy is infectious," says afterellen.com, and she "regularly draws out big laughs from both gay and straight audiences."

Her hilarious half-hour comedy...

Elvira Kurt

A Second City Alumnus, Elvira has had many years of comedic success in the U.S. and Canada, most recently hosting, writing and producing 78 episodes of the Comedy Network's hit late night talk show, Popcultured with Elvira Kurt, a satirical take on the inane and excessive world of pop...

Bruce Vilanch

Bruce Vilanch is a two-faced fella: Bearded, he is one of the most sought-after comedy writers in Hollywood, winner of a bunch of Emmys and noted as the " Hollywood Square" just to the left of Whoopi. Shaved, he spent two years as Edna Turnblad, Baltimore housewife and superstar, on tour and on...

Andre Kelley

Taken from a crashed rocket ship in a Kansas cornfield, Andre was adopted and raised in a small town not far from his play-brother Clark Kent....

Actually, he's the corn-fed, beef-eating, milk-drinking, hay-bailing, thicker-than-Snicker, country-ass farm boy that Instinct magazine calls,...

Eddie Sarfaty

Comedian and writer Eddie Sarfaty has appeared on The Today Show, Nightline and on Comedy Central's Premium Blend. He is a regular at Caroline's and Gotham Comedy Club in New York and has performed at Montreal's Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, New York's Toyota Comedy Festival and at festivals in...

Alec Mapa

Alec Mapa is a GLAAD award-winning actor, activist, playwright and journalist. He can currently be seen on the ABC show Desperate Housewives, where he recurs as Eva Longoria's best gay pal "Vern." Alec recently completed four seasons on the UPN comedy Half and Half. Moviegoers know Alec from the...

Scott Kennedy

The Hollywood Reporter calls Scott, "...one of the most successful gay stand-up comics to ever tour the world." Scott co-founded the Gay Comedy Jam, which toured to sold-out crowds in more than 150 cities across the US and Canada.

A native Texan, Scott is a favorite on CMT Countdown on...

Bob Smith

Born in Buffalo, Bob Smith has the distinction of being the first openly gay comedian to appear on The Tonight Show and also have his own HBO Comedy Half-hour. Other TV appearances include Politically Incorrect, The Late, Late Show, Entertainment Tonight, Tom Snyder and Comedy Central's Out There....