“The great thing about West Hollywood is, it’s such a melting pot,” said Pease, 23, who said he tailors his act depending on the makeup of the audience. If an audience has a strong response to a joke, he’ll be ready with a few more on the same topic. If they don’t get it (not all audiences are savvy to his STD testing material), it’s time to move on.
Now a comedy tour is giving Pease the opportunity to hone his “inappropriately adorable” act for audiences around the country. Though Pease himself wrote that the “Young, Hot, and Gay Tour” “sounds like a low-budget porno shot in Glendale,” it’s actually a month-long tour that’s taking Pease and fellow out comics Heather Turman and Tara Egnatios to mainstream and LGBT venues in 13 cities.
They started in Ventura on Jan. 7, then headed to Boise, where Pease was touring the penitentiary (just to soak up the local color of solitary confinement) when WEHOville.com caught up with him via phone. After a couple of gigs in Denver, they will head east for performances in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. Pease said the tour has been a chance to spread positivity about the LGBT community, plus it’s been a chance for him to develop professionally.
“You’re living your comedy dream and honing your craft,” he said.
Pease’s comedy dream started in his New Jersey childhood, when he engaged in a “constant prank war” with his brother and sister. But it really took shape when he participated in a San Francisco open mic night—at a laundromat, of all places.
“I loved it,” Pease said. “I loved that sick pleasure and that adrenaline rush of, ‘Everybody’s laughing at me.’ ”
In 2011, Pease headed to the Southland to pursue a career in stand-up. When he was starting out, Pease begged his roommates and “random people” to go to his gigs. He quickly made his mark; he’s now a regular at both the Comedy Store and the Laugh Factory, and he frequently performs at other clubs as well.
Pease is just one of the LGBT comics who has cut his stand-up teeth in Wehoville. With two comedy clubs on the nearby Sunset Strip, and standup classes available in the area, Wehoville serves as an incubator for comics who bring a wide range of experiences to the stage.
