Wed, August 22, 2007
Standup and shout
Yuk yuk’s plays host to lineup of gay comics
By ANN MARIE MCQUEEN, SUN MEDIA
Wed, August 22, 2007
Standup and shout
Yuk yuk’s plays host to lineup of gay comics
Scott Capurro doesn’t hesitate when asked about possibly closeted Hollywood celebrities who are frequently the target of gay rumours.
The 44-year-old gay San Francisco comic, who headlines Ottawa Yuk Yuk’s 3rd Annual Laugh Out Proud weekend starting tomorrow, says show business is full of people putting on a straight face for their public.
“I think it’s pathetic and sad, but you know, show business, as an adult, it’s like drama in high school: Who’s attracted to it? All the queers, you know what I mean?” he says. “So many famous actors in interviews and radio shows and stuff, they’re all gay men. (Many) women in comedy in America, they’re all lesbians, too.”
Capurro says just like in pro sports, while their colleagues in the industry might be aware of their same-sex orientation, fans of big, closeted stars are not.
“The thing is, I’ve never dealt with it, because I’ve always been out. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand the stress and the tension people put themselves through just so they can make a movie,” he says. “But I do think there’s a lot of money at stake, and whenever there’s a lot of money at stake, then people start faking it.”
Capurro doesn’t see the point of trying to force celebrities out of the closet either, like gossip blogger Perez Hilton did with singer Lance Bass and actor Neil Patrick Harris. He just doesn’t buy the argument it will change anything, or inspire any youngsters struggling to accept and announce their own sexuality.
“Has it mattered?” he says. “Don’t the fag-haters still hate the fags?”
Capurro points to his mother, who despite being supportive of her openly gay son and remaining close friends with a gay ex-husband, still can’t bring herself to ask if he is dating anyone.
“She’s fine. But she still talks to me like, ‘Honey, have you made any new friends?’ ”
Capurro thinks the only thing that will truly bring about a general acceptance and understanding is time — decades of it.
“I think it’s a generational thing. I think older people have to die first,” he says, with a little laugh. “Sorry, I do.”