For more than two decades, Suzanne Westenhoefer has entertained crowds with her hilarious brand of stand-up comedy. On July 15, she brings her act to San Diego as part of the Birch North Park Theatre’s Stand Up for Equality comedy show.
When Westenhoefer began her career as a comedienne in the early 1990s, it was a vastly different world for the LGBT community. Before Ellen, Rosie and Will & Grace, Westenhoefer became the first openly gay comedienne on television.
While working as a bartender in New Jersey, people urged Westenhoefer to share her sense of humor through stand-up comedy. She immediately dismissed the idea, fearing that she would have to go back in the closet. But her friends persisted and she soon found herself challenged to do openly gay comedy at a straight club in New York. In a contest full of newcomers to the comedic scene, Westenhoefer – the only gay comedienne on the stage – won the show.
“Everyone was shocked,” Westenhoefer said. “One thing led to another. It snowballed like crazy. I went from open mic nights to headlining my own show in less than two and a half years.”
She soon found herself amid an influx of television talk shows devoted to “lipstick lesbians.” Westenhoefer appeared on episodes of Sally Jessy Raphael, Geraldo Rivera and others devoted to the so-called phenomenon of feminine lesbians.
“(The shows thought) ‘Oh look, a lesbian who has big hair and wears make-up!’ Now we would think that it’s a little insulting actually that they would do a show on feminine lesbians,” explained Westenhoefer. “But in 1991, that was a big deal that very feminine women could be lesbian.”
Over the past 20 years of her career, Westenhoefer has experienced an enormous shift in how audiences perceive her and her act. In the early years, both straight and gay crowds expected her to do a completely gay act.
“If you wandered off into other subjects, it was almost like an all gay audience just wanted to hear gay things and if it was an all straight audience, it would be like you left them with too many questions,” Westenhoefer said.
During the past decade, as audiences became more familiar with homosexuality, Westenhoefer has noticed that there’s less resistance to sharing other funny stories. She can intermingle jokes about her partner and getting married with everyday tales about anything from dogs to jury duty.
Westenhoefer is the type of comedienne that goes with the flow. Instead of preparing a script, she focuses on being improvisational and tells stories that relate to her life.
“They call it extemporaneous, which means that I know what I want to talk about but I won’t really know what it will be until I’m up on stage,” she explained. “I promise it will be funny. That’s the one thing I can promise.”
“The hope is when you leave my show is that your cheeks hurt,” Westenhoefer continued. “Not your bottom ones from sitting, but your top ones from laughing.”
Westenhoefer performs in San Diego on July 15 at 8:30 p.m. during the Stand Up for Equality comedy show at the Birch North Park Theatre. For more information or to buy tickets, visit birchnorthparktheatre.net.
