JiveTurkeyOnRye
12-22-2010, 11:02 AM
It's a minor victory but I'm excited about it and decided to share. I'm back in Ohio for the next two weeks for the holidays and also because I'm performing at my home club, the Columbus FunnyBone, where I got my start in stand up and have performed at in some capacity for the past ten years.
Aside from their weekly open mic show, I have never worn a skirt onstage there, and even then it was a kilt for St. Patrick's Day. Last spring, as I was preparing to move away, I did some of the material about my crossdressing at a show, when dressed in pants, and it didn't go that well and so I was scared to do it there again. I've gotten pretty confident about a lot of the material having done it in LA a lot, but there's a big difference between those crowds and midwestern crowds.
I start my regular shows tonight, but last night I was there for a big charity event they do every year which involves bringing together a lot of the comics from the city and surrounding area or just people passing through. It's a big event with a lot of comics, most of which I haven't seen in over a year, and it's always a lot of fun. It was also my 29th birthday. I had just been talking to a friend on the phone earlier that day about how I was really good in the first half of the year about doing things that frightened me, but had slipped down back to comfort zones as the year progressed.
So as I was getting dressed to do the show, I decided, well no time like the present, and heck it is my birthday, so I decided, I really want to wear a kilt. I was pretty nervous about it when I first arrived at the club. As I walked to the club from my car, two teenage girls were standing out in the parking garage and one of them laughed very loudly and rudely as I walked by, which wasn't a confidence booster when I was already nervous, but I just plowed through.
When I first arrived at the club I was hyper aware of how I was dressed and I noticed the occasional glance from people in a "what the f....?!" type manner. Then a couple of comic friends of mine busted my chops about it, the host, who is a really great guy, asked me if I was planning on talking about it onstage and I said probably and he said "Well if you don't, you know everyone after you will!"
I started feeling better about it after a few different women told me how awesome my outfit looked. The club owner's wife was sitting at the bar and she and her sisters, all made a point of saying how much they loved seeing a guy in a kilt and also that I rocked my boots. From then on it was just mingling as usual.
So finally it came time to get onstage, and I was introduced by the host who told them it was my birthday so I had some goodwill to start with, and I went onstage. The second I got in view, people laughed in reaction to my outfit and I said "Well, I feel like there's something I need to address right off the bat," which they laughed at but I cut them off and said "But it's not what you think it is..." then I went into talking about how I'd been in LA for 8 months, and I things I missed about Ohio audiences and how I didn't miss the snow. So I did a handful of jokes and things were going well, and then, when *I* felt like talking about it, I said "So have I exhausted the amount of time I can go without talking about the fact that I'm wearing a skirt?" which they laughed at and a woman said "Yeah!" so I went into it, I said this was a kilt but I also wore actual skirts, and I did a handful of my best jokes about crossdressing, then I got the light cause my time was up, I did my closing joke, and I got offstage.
The rest of the night was a blast, and how I was dressed wasn't a problem for anyone, people kept shaking my hand and telling me how funny I was, that they'd seen me at this show last year and how great I'd been both shows. One girl said she was going to get a mirror on her shoe so she could see what was under my skirt, I said "you could just ask" but what I wish I'd have said was "your phone number would work just as well."
Then as the night wound down I was getting tired, so I was leaving and as I was heading out into the parking garage, I passed two women who had been at the show. They asked me if my legs were cold and I said "Not really, because I'm actually wearing nude pantyhose." and they couldn't believe it. I'd worn them with knee socks and boots over them so they weren't obvious at all, and I actually had to bend down and pull on the leg a little bit to show them where they were. One of them said "You should just wear thick tights like me!" and she pulled on her leggings the same way, and I said "who says I don't?" which she laughed at. Then her friend commented on my boots and said "Are they men's or women's?" and I said they were women's and she said "Well hey as long as they fit, more power to you, they look great!"
So all in all, really glad I did it and really happy with the turnout. I'm probably not going to wear a skirt to the club for the rest of my shows there because I have some other material I want to do, but I'll probably wear them to some shows I'm doing around town before I head back home, though it's hardly new to anyone at those shows, that's where I started coming out onstage.
Aside from their weekly open mic show, I have never worn a skirt onstage there, and even then it was a kilt for St. Patrick's Day. Last spring, as I was preparing to move away, I did some of the material about my crossdressing at a show, when dressed in pants, and it didn't go that well and so I was scared to do it there again. I've gotten pretty confident about a lot of the material having done it in LA a lot, but there's a big difference between those crowds and midwestern crowds.
I start my regular shows tonight, but last night I was there for a big charity event they do every year which involves bringing together a lot of the comics from the city and surrounding area or just people passing through. It's a big event with a lot of comics, most of which I haven't seen in over a year, and it's always a lot of fun. It was also my 29th birthday. I had just been talking to a friend on the phone earlier that day about how I was really good in the first half of the year about doing things that frightened me, but had slipped down back to comfort zones as the year progressed.
So as I was getting dressed to do the show, I decided, well no time like the present, and heck it is my birthday, so I decided, I really want to wear a kilt. I was pretty nervous about it when I first arrived at the club. As I walked to the club from my car, two teenage girls were standing out in the parking garage and one of them laughed very loudly and rudely as I walked by, which wasn't a confidence booster when I was already nervous, but I just plowed through.
When I first arrived at the club I was hyper aware of how I was dressed and I noticed the occasional glance from people in a "what the f....?!" type manner. Then a couple of comic friends of mine busted my chops about it, the host, who is a really great guy, asked me if I was planning on talking about it onstage and I said probably and he said "Well if you don't, you know everyone after you will!"
I started feeling better about it after a few different women told me how awesome my outfit looked. The club owner's wife was sitting at the bar and she and her sisters, all made a point of saying how much they loved seeing a guy in a kilt and also that I rocked my boots. From then on it was just mingling as usual.
So finally it came time to get onstage, and I was introduced by the host who told them it was my birthday so I had some goodwill to start with, and I went onstage. The second I got in view, people laughed in reaction to my outfit and I said "Well, I feel like there's something I need to address right off the bat," which they laughed at but I cut them off and said "But it's not what you think it is..." then I went into talking about how I'd been in LA for 8 months, and I things I missed about Ohio audiences and how I didn't miss the snow. So I did a handful of jokes and things were going well, and then, when *I* felt like talking about it, I said "So have I exhausted the amount of time I can go without talking about the fact that I'm wearing a skirt?" which they laughed at and a woman said "Yeah!" so I went into it, I said this was a kilt but I also wore actual skirts, and I did a handful of my best jokes about crossdressing, then I got the light cause my time was up, I did my closing joke, and I got offstage.
The rest of the night was a blast, and how I was dressed wasn't a problem for anyone, people kept shaking my hand and telling me how funny I was, that they'd seen me at this show last year and how great I'd been both shows. One girl said she was going to get a mirror on her shoe so she could see what was under my skirt, I said "you could just ask" but what I wish I'd have said was "your phone number would work just as well."
Then as the night wound down I was getting tired, so I was leaving and as I was heading out into the parking garage, I passed two women who had been at the show. They asked me if my legs were cold and I said "Not really, because I'm actually wearing nude pantyhose." and they couldn't believe it. I'd worn them with knee socks and boots over them so they weren't obvious at all, and I actually had to bend down and pull on the leg a little bit to show them where they were. One of them said "You should just wear thick tights like me!" and she pulled on her leggings the same way, and I said "who says I don't?" which she laughed at. Then her friend commented on my boots and said "Are they men's or women's?" and I said they were women's and she said "Well hey as long as they fit, more power to you, they look great!"
So all in all, really glad I did it and really happy with the turnout. I'm probably not going to wear a skirt to the club for the rest of my shows there because I have some other material I want to do, but I'll probably wear them to some shows I'm doing around town before I head back home, though it's hardly new to anyone at those shows, that's where I started coming out onstage.