Jonathan Van Ness is known for being a hair and beauty guru on Queer Eye but has been serving stand-up comedy as of late. Van Ness will take a big step in their stand-up career when they take the stage to perform at Lil Rhody Laugh Riot which takes place March 27-30 in Rhode Island
Van Ness, who is set to perform on March 29 at the legendary Veterans Memorial Auditorium (The VETS), joins a roster of comedy icons and rising stars attending the fest including Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Leslie Jones, Matt Rife, Hannah Berner, Chris Distefano and more.
Their performance at the comedy fest comes after Van Ness’s first comedy special, Fat & Slutty which premiered earlier this year. Their set will include material from their new comedy tour Hot & Healed.
“When you have a special come out, you gotta retire that material and you gotta make new material. So now I m on Hot & Healed. So this is like a fully new hour set,” Van Ness told GLAAD’s Tony Morrison in a recent interiew. “I’ve been writing it since after the election. I debuted it in Phoenix, then I played five shows there, then I did four shows in Raleigh. I almost got nine performances of it under my belt at this point, but Lil Rhody (Laugh Riot) will be my first time doing it in a theater — my first time in a bigger venue.”
View this post on Instagram
Van Ness is part of a chorus of queer comedians that have been taking the stage — and now’s a better time than ever for queer comedians to have a voice. Van Ness tips their hat to trailblazer and former Gay of Thrones gu Margaret Cho for being one of the first openly queer and trans-inclusive comedians to hit the mainstream.
“She was my first entry into comedy,” said Van Ness. “I remember seeing her Comedesty After Dark on Comedy Centra. Then I got Notorious C.H.O. from Blockbuster once I figured out who she was. Without her and her possibility model, I would have never done stand up. “
Considering the current sociopolitical landscape, Van Ness admits that their new material leans into politics. “It’s a lot of Republican stuff. It’s a lot of trans commentary (and) on living as a gender non conforming person in this time,” they said. “I’m also dealing more with racism than I ever have…white people… honey… we got to talk about it.”
View this post on Instagram
In addition to politics, Van Ness waxes poetic about aging in the new hour to inform Gen Z “what’s coming”, but most of all, it’s about healing. “It’s about healing through division; healing through hard times; picking ourselves back up; finding the silver lining in in the storm,” they said. “I always want my comedy to do is allow people to celebrate and have a moment of laughter and levity.”
Get tickets now for JVN’s set at Lil Rhody Laugh Riot HERE and tickets to JVN’s Hot & Healed tour HERE.