St. Petersburg & My First Cover
I performed with Scott Silverman and Michelle Balan in the largest Pride Festival in Florida last weekend in St. Pete. We were treated so well and Scott and I, who traveled together, were so grateful. At some point in the first night we wemt to 3 different clubs to promote the show and there was a man outside one of the clubs who made his beliefs known: “I don’t believe in fagotism!” We weren’t all that offended, we were just excited to learn a new word “fagotism”. We all embraced it and now use it as our own. The next day was pretty easy and Scott and I got breakfast at about 2pm and walked 16 blocks to get to the Dali Museum which was only 5 blocks away (wrong directions, twice). It was hot as H-E double hockey sticks. Poor Scott was melty (if fagotism can be a word, so can melty). The show was great and we were written up in their print publication, Watermark. Kind of cool, they put me on the cover. Ahem.. it was my first cover. I posted the article below in case any of you are interested.
After the Laughter in Paradise show, the next day was the Pride Parade. It was amazing and hot! There were 80,000 people there and Scott, Michelle and I rode in a convertible waving to everyone. People were sweet, we threw beads to people and hollared things like “Happy Pride” and “Hi Homos!” and Scott kept hollaring “Thanks for coming out!” After our portion of the parade was done, there were so many floats behind us, we watched for hours while walking around. While Scott and I were walking around, we ran into PJ and Paul, two of the stars from Shortbus, an amazing film, that you all need to see if you haven’t already. So I asked them for a photo, they agreed and were sooo cute. Thanks PJ and Paul.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stand-up Guy
Ian Harvie holds his place among men
By Steve Blanchard
St. Petersburg Ian Harvie holds his place in the record books whether he wants to or not. He is the first openly transgender male to work in stand-up comedy, and he’s proud of that fact.
Harvie will accompany fellow comedians Michelle Balan and Scott Silverman to Laugher in Paradise June 29 at the USF – St. Petersburg Activities Center on 7th Avenue South as part of this year’s St. Pete Pride festivities.
“I love St. Pete,” Harvie said during a telephone interview while visiting his girlfriend in Maine. “A friend of mine and I went on vacation one year on spring break and drove to Florida in his Volkswagen Fox. We went to the St. Pete/Treasure Island area, and we loved it.”
Harvie has performed at official Pride vents before, but he says every show he does is its own Pride event.
“It’s funny, because I used to play non-queer audiences all the time in mainstream comedy clubs across the country,” Harvie says. “I was comfortable there, and I used to have this fear of performing in front of queer audiences. I was afraid they would think I was a fraud. I would get so worked up about it.”
But eventually, Harvie did find the courage to face a GLBT audience, and he found out that the community had nothing but love to offer. Harvie made his television debut on LOGO’s Outlaugh Festival in January.
“I love performing for the queer community now,” Harvie enthuses. “You’re talking about one of the easiest audiences in the world. They’re the happiest group. I’m queer, they’re queer. They’re all there for Pride and for a good time. Talk about lobbing softballs!”
And as a transgender member of the GLBT community, Harvie offers unique perspectives on life, sexuality, family and substance abuse.
“As far as I know, I’m the only transgender presenting as male on the stand-up comedy circuit,” Harvie notes. “However, I am looking desperately for another one so I’m not so alone. It would be good to have someone else to help give a voice to that part of our community.”
Harvie rarely uses the acronym “GLBT,” and not just because the “T” he represents is at the end of that list. “Queer,” he believes, is more encompassing, but he is fine with those who use the “Gay Alphabet.” He’s just ready to move away from the new-kid position in that soup.
“I’m the new guy on that list, and I noticed that people are handing all the Ts the grunt work,” Harvie quips. “I gotta pick up the towels next to the pool so no one trips, polish the dildos so they’re nice and shiny, and take all the meeting minutes just because I’m the new guy. But I kind of like being the new guy because when the next letter is added, I can give them tips on how to handle the manual labor.”
Harvie always discusses his sexuality during his shows but never uses self-deprecating humor. Staying positive is what comedy is all about and the GLBT audience has too much to worry about without a comedian uncomfortable with who he is.
“My opening line to my trans material is about how science is trying to figure out why people like me feel as though they were born in the wrong body or shell,” Harvie explains. “That’s an educational statement, and it’s not condescending. It covers everybody. Who wouldn’t change a little something about themselves if they could? In my opinion, everyone is a little trans.”
Harvie has not undergone gender-reassignment surgery and discusses that on stage as well. He speaks of how he longs to jog as part of his fitness regimen, but his large chest presents a problem.
“Stuff like that works right into my material,” Harvie says. “There’s just so much to cultivate from my experience that it’s an ever-evolving routine.”
LYMI – XO,
Ianv