dishin' it

Comedian Judy Gold dishes on coming out on stage, Provincetown, and her gay cruise disaster

By · Updated on January 26, 2024
Image Credit: Getty Images

Judy Gold is a comedy world legend, writing and performing for the better part of the past 40 years. But just because she’s been at it for a minute, that doesn’t mean she’s run out of things to say—far from it.

A veteran of stand-up comedy, Gold counts Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres among her contemporaries, but has been a loud and proud lesbian since even before the latter’s watershed “Yep, I’m Gay” moment.

She’s appeared in a number of film and television projects throughout her career, including a recurring role in Margaret Cho’s landmark sitcom All-American Girl, and served as a writer and producer on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, for which she’s won two Daytime Emmys.

More recently, Gold has appeared in a number of Off-Broadway productions, including this year’s one-woman-show “Yes, I Can Say That!,” adapted from her 2020 book of the same name, which tackles the intersection of comedy and free speech. She’s also hosted her own podcast, Kill Me Now, which began in 2015 and is still going strong with over 400 episodes.

Her latest on-screen role is in the coming-of-age buddy comedy Tripped Up, a foodie-focused road trip movie with more than a few queer characters. With the film hitting digital platforms this weekend, we invited Gold to be the latest guest of honor in our Q&A series, Dishin’ It. In our rapid-fire conversation, the veteran comic reflects on being out in the ’90s, how Whoopi Goldberg inspired her comedy, and her gay cruise gig gone wrong.

Is there a piece of media—whether a movie, TV series, book, album, theater, video game, etc…—that you consider a big part of your own coming-out journey, or that has played an important role in your understanding of queerness? Why does it stand out to you?

I think when I saw Whoopi Goldberg’s one woman show in 1984, it taught me the power of storytelling. I came out on stage as a gay parent in 1996, the year of my son Henry’s birth and the stories I was telling at the time were universal to all families and after a while the audience forgot that I was gay.

Your latest film role is the roadtrip comedy Tripped Up. Are you a big road-tripper yourself? Can you share any memories of a time a road-trip took an unexpected turn, for good or for bad?

I’ve been a standup comedian for over 40 years, and my whole life is a roadtrip. There’s too many stories to tell. Honestly, I prefer to be home and to sleep in my own bed.

In the movie, you play a character named Chef Missy—what’s a dish you love to cook, and what makes it such a favorite?

I love to make a roasted chicken, balsamic braised red cabbage, egg noodles and homemade challah. I love Shabbat and I love to eat.

You came out in the ‘90s when it felt like openly gay comedians were few and far between, but now there’s a whole wave of queer performers coming up in the scenes. What’s one way you think comedy has changed—specifically for LGBTQ+ comics—since you came out?

When I came out on stage in the straight clubs, people would walk out. There was a definite shift in the reaction of the audience. Today when I walk into a comedy club, it’s not even an issue. Now performers in our community can be their authentic selves on stage, that’s progress.

You’ve performed for thousands and thousands of people all over the country, but do you have any stand-up horror stories of a “gig gone wrong” that you can share?

I think we want to keep this interview under 100 pages. But I’ll just say, I was onstage on a gay cruise, when a fire broke out and the electricity went out.

Related:

Gay cruise line pleads with guests to stop making adult content on their ships

Any guests caught posting explicit material from the cruise may be kicked off the ship entirely.

Where’s one of the first places/spaces you can remember that made you feel a part of a queer community?

Provincetown has always made me feel a part of the queer community, but volunteering at the first AIDS WALK NEW YORK in 1986 gave me a purpose and made me an activist.

With Halloween fast approaching, we’re curious: What’s your favorite Halloween costume you’ve ever worn and why?

I was Eleanor Roosevelt and my partner Elysa Halpern was FDR at Bette Midler’s Hullaween party in 2010.

Who is a queer or trans chef/artist/performer/creator that you think is doing really cool work right now? Why are they someone we should all be paying attention to?

Jake Cohen. He’s incredibly talented, his cookbooks are awesome, he’s a real mensch and a proud Jew. What more could you ask for?

Related:

Judy Gold draws the line and crosses it in her solo show ‘Yes, I Can Say That!’

Both funny and cautionary, Judy Gold warns of cancel culture in her new solo play, directed by BD Wong.

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