Brava for Women in the Arts will present Kate Clinton (known as the lesbian Jon Stewart of Comedy Central infamy) in her latest one-woman show, “Talking a Blue Streak” on June 10-11 at 8pm and June 12 at 3pm at Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th Street. Clinton calls herself a faith-based, tax-paying, America-loving political humorist. She has worked through economic booms and busts, Disneyfication and Walmartization, gay movements & markets, lesbian chic & queer eyes, and 10 presidential inaugurals. She still believes that humor gets us through peacetime, wartime, and scoundrel time.
Clinton has performed nationally for the past 25 years from Joe’s Pub in NYC to the Herbst Theater in SF and back to New York for several off-Broadway runs, with hundreds of comedy club dates in between. She has been featured at Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, the Toyota Comedy Festival in New York, and Marshall’s Women in Comedy Festival. She has come a long way from her first performances in Unitarian Church basements.
In her new show, “Talking A Blue Streak,” Clinton riffs from the trenches of her U.S.O. (Utah Seems Odd) Tour from the tiny island nation of New York City to her favorite blue and red states, including the permanent vegetative state of Florida. She encounters blue state folks with such a level of post-traumatic-stress that they could use a pill the size of a hubcap. Meanwhile, red state folks celebrate the return of the original girlie-man to the White House—Mr. Karen Hughes—who’s all set to co-produce “Extreme Makeover: International Edition” with Condi Rice and a measly $86 billion. On the Pope front, Clinton was shocked to find she wasn’t even mentioned in the will—given her role as Irreverend of a Queer Nation for gay marriage, which has proven to be the quintessential wedgie issue. That’s right: Clinton observes that “queers are the butt thong between the cheek of the church and the cheek of the state.”

ith Clinton, you’ll laugh so hard, all of your cheeks will hurt. Or so says producer Lisa Geduldig; and knowing Kate, it’s quite probably true.
Clinton’s two decades-plus of material are on record in her seven comedy collections including “Comedy You Can Dance To,” “Read These Lips,” and the recently released “The Marrying Kind.” In June, the former high school English teacher will celebrate the publication of her second book, What the L?, a laugh-out-loud collection of essays chronicling what happened to a lot of L’s: lesbians, liberals, leftists, lawyers, Ellen, lifestylists, leaders, lords, liars, and lapsed Catholics during the reign of W. Her first book, Don’t Get Me Started, was based on past and present monologues; its audio companion was named “one of 1998’s best audio books” by Publishers Weekly.

A sought-after member of the Commentariat, Clinton has appeared on Good Morning America, Nightline, Entertainment Tonight, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, The Roseanne Show, Comedy Central, Lifetime, MSNBC, CNN, and C-Span. But for the ultimate recommendation, Melissa Etheridge once said, “Kate Clinton cracks me up.” That’s enough for me. I’ve gotta witness this genius again and again. For tickets by phone: 647-2822 or online: brava.org.
Kate Clinton comes to SF this weekend on the heels of taping an episode of The L Word in Vancouver, in which she will play a therapist. Also, she will be on KPFA this Friday on the Morning Show for a panel on lesbian culture with Kate and the authors of books on dyke drama and Dinah Shore.