We're Funny That Way

As a record of some talented gay and lesbian comics, this is an interesting little film. I wish I could say as much for the film makers. The incessant, dull, 'talking heads' interviews are a total waste. One wishes they had left well enough alone and just recorded the performances. As it all you get is truncated little bits that leaving you aching for more (or less in some cases). I don't particularly like comics as a rule, but there are some very amusing bits here.

The movie is dated now but these were some of the pioneers of queer comedy and at the time it was made the fight was much different than it is today. (So were budgets and costs for making documentaries.) And when you look back and see where these peeps came from and where they went and how they were around long before Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell (not that they're not brave, they are) these people deserve credit for their roles in queer history and should not be overlooked or forgotten. Lea DeLaria was the first gay comic to appear on national television when she appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show and Bob Smith was the first gay comic to appear on the Tonight Show. It seems crazy that there was a time when that was an issue but it was and it was a BIG DEAL when it happened. So go easy on this little doc. It has it's time and place in queer history and it's worth the time to watch just to know what it was like to be out and queer before people came to understand the spectrum of sexuality and gender.