Jean, who “came out” as straight to the 90-percent lesbian audience, has said her motivation to start Brew Ha Ha was the “one-vagina limit” she encountered in other venues.
Discouraged because she continually encountered bias against female, LGBT and ethnic comics, Jean and partner Chris Clobber, comic, “animal-sound specialist” and joke writer, formed Brew Ha Ha a year and a half ago. The comedy club now auditions up to six new comics each week for upcoming acts.
Brew Ha Ha is so popular that Jean says expanding to new locations is imminent. “If you’re a comic,” she said, “call me and get some stage time.”
Brew Ha Ha’s shows run three nights weekly. Visit: brewhahaentertainment.com for more information, or call (619) 922-9057.
Brew Ha Ha
ain’t no ho hum
By Celene Adams GSD Reviewer
If variety is the spice of life, the Brew Ha Ha Comedy Show is one smokin’ tamale.
The San Diego-based troupe prides itself on featuring a diverse roster of comics, from all ethnic groups, sexual orientations and genders, and if its first all-lesbian show—on Sun., March 20—was any indication, the result is a riot.
From Julie Wheeler, a tough yet tender spike-haired sprite who regaled the standing-room-only audience with tales of her “best girlfriend ever (a Pentecostal who spoke in tongues)” to “Granny Pearl,” a Southern-style black mama who confessed to taking her sushi with gravy, the laughs came loud and long.
The no-cover, no two-drink-minimum event at Gio Bistro Wine Bar in La Mesa, packed a lot of punch for a free, Sunday night affair. “We work off donations,” co-producer Diane Jean said. “Mainly we’re just supporting comedy. We regularly feature more women, more gays and lesbians and more comics from ethnic backgrounds.”
Many of the jokes at the all-lesbian show focused on same-sex relationships, such as comic Lauren Holiday’s crack that her older wife isn’t so much a “cougar,” as a “beaver,” and headliner Sarah Bur-ford’s quip that before the [brief in Calif.] legalization of same-sex marriage, all she had to do after a break-up was “call U-Haul.” But other comics took potshots at the economy, the absurdity of phar-maceutical advertising, and even the handkerchief code—a surreptitious way for gay men to signal sexual preferences to each other.
“If the aqua hankie means, ‘I’m into water sports,’ and the turquoise hankie means ‘I’m into cock ’n’ ball torture,’” quipped Holiday, “I’d say those boys better be careful. There’s a lot of color-blind men out there.”
Brew Ha Ha produces three shows in San Diego. Along with alternate Sunday nights at Gio, the troupe hosts 90-minute shows at the Island Juice Bar, near San Diego State University, on Friday nights, and at Twiggs Coffee House, in University Heights, on Saturday nights. La Mesa, however, is its most recent venue.
“You’d be surprised how many LGBT people there are in La Mesa,” Jean said. “The show’s been received very well.” A hundred guests registered for Sunday night’s six-comic show, she added.
Gio Bistro Wine Bar, with its ambient lighting, cloth-covered tables, dark wooden bar and intimate atmosphere, contributes as much to the experience as the comics themselves. Guests can dine before the show, and drinks are served throughout—the wait staff gliding noiselessly among tables to avoid disrupting the acts.
Star Dellera was among a half dozen comics who participated in Brew Ha Ha’s first lesbian show at Gio Bistro Wine Bar on Sun., March 20.
