The comedy of Travon Free will be highlighted June 9 at Martinis Above Fourth as part of the Laugh Out Proud series. Laugh Out Proud is San Diego’s only comedy show geared towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Free, a Compton, California resident, will be performing as a comedian in San Diego for the first time, though he has been here before.
“I have played against SD State and UCSD in my college basketball days,” Free said in an email interview with LGBT Weekly, adding, “and the first girl to break my heart is from San Diego, but don’t tell her I told you. Nah, you can tell her, she knows what she did!”
Free is hardly new to the comedy circuit or the comedy world. He is also an accomplished writer and actor and can be seen in the shows Chelsea Lately, Tosh.O, Party Down, House and Southland to name a few.
“I always had a love for comedy. I used to sneak and listen to my mom’s Eddie Murphy and Bill Cosby albums when she wasn’t home and I wanted to be a comedy writer for TV.” Free added, “When I told my comedy writing professor that I was only interested in writing he read my material and told me I was much too funny to just write and practically forced me to do stand up. I gave it a shot and killed my first time ever doing it and never looked back.”
Free wrote his first book, Stop Hetero-Supremacy, which came out in February of this year, and will be following it up with a second book about coming out; he is also currently writing a screenplay with one of his writing partners.
Free commented that only a few things make him laugh. “People willing to cross the proverbial line are always funny to me when done properly. If you can tell an offensive joke in a funny way, I love it.”
He also added, “Republicans crack me up. I have a mixture of dark, dry, silly and bold humor. I’m not afraid to say something if I think it’s funny and I don’t believe in ‘too soon.’ Funny is funny no matter if it’s five years from the event or five minutes.”
Free is joined by local San Diego comedians Star Dell’Era, Sean Wherley and Sarah Burford and San Francisco comedian Yuri Kagan.
The show begins at 8 p.m. and is free with a two-menu item purchase and to those 21 and up first come first served. Martinis Above Fourth will be open for dinner prior to the show. Reservations are required and can be made by visiting martinisabovefourth.com or by calling 619-400-4500.
Martinis Above Fourth is located at 3940 Fourth Ave., Suite 200, in Hillcrest.
