Kemah Bob is candid about the importance of “keeping room” for trans and non-binary people in comedy, pointing out that many people don’t feel safe in comedy clubs.
The comedian and writer pointed out that more needs to be done to create safe spaces in comedy as she gears up to host FOC It Upthe Femmes of Color comedy night and live podcast, produced by the team behind the Guilty Feminist.
‘Although I use she/them pronouns, there is not much certainty with me when it comes to my own [gender],’ told Tent metro.co.uk.
‘I identify as a woman, I use she/she pronouns, but there are so many unanswered questions that I don’t feel the need to answer around my own gender identity.
‘I do feel the need to leave room for those who also ask questions, who have found security, who feel secure, and for those whose identity deserves it and needs to be protected and respected.
‘What I’m grateful to be able to do with FOC It Up and what was important for me to be able to do was make sure that even though it’s called the Femmes Of Color comedy club, you don’t have to be a femme. It is for colored comedians who are not cisgender men. That means keeping room for not just non-binary comedians and not just trans-female comedians, but also trans-male comedians. I feel that trans men are often forgotten in the discourse.
“We often look at comedy clubs in terms of who’s performing and not in terms of audience. There are people who don’t feel safe in certain comedy spaces because they don’t want to be the butt of a joke. They don’t want their culture to be the butt of the joke, let alone their gender or their strangeness.
“What’s important to me about FOC It Up is that even if you don’t see a trans comedian in the lineup every week, you as a trans person, as a non-binary person can feel comfortable and know that you won’t.” to do. at the cost of being a joke.
“We have to take care of each other as best we can!”
She’s not wrong – and she’s not the only comedian to feel this way, after James Acaster opened up to Metro.co.uk about the importance from his critically acclaimed joke that evokes other comedians for ‘precipitating’ on the trans community.
Kemah points to Erika Ehler as a particularly exciting comedian on the track, and is also hyped to see what’s coming from the future of comedy.
“What I really like is people sharing their experience and being honest about who they are, and not just in terms of culture, or sexuality or gender or anything like that, but in terms of personality and kind of possession of who they are.” I’m excited to see more voices coming to the platform and more people having the opportunity to own who they are,” they said.
“I also think comedy is such a powerful tool and if you’re sitting in front of someone who says, ‘I’m like that and maybe it’s a little f**ked, but it’s who I am,’ I think it allows you to go, “Hey, I’m like that, and maybe it’s a little twisted, but it’s who I am.” I’m looking forward to that!
“And I’m excited that more people of color, more women of color, more transgender people and non-binary people of color are getting the chance to shine. I find those perspectives interesting and I think people often just need a chance to shine. I always say, “Lead me to the door, open the door, let me through the door, and what I do when I walk through it is up to me. I’ll take it from there.”
Kemah certainly showed what she can do, beating it up on the comedy circuit and hosting her own live night, as well as having her own drag alter ego and killing it on TV – and writing casually for iconic British comedy including Charlie Brooker’s Death to 2020 and Death to 2021.
“I find it so hard to satirize and joke about the most horrific things,” they admitted. “It’s so hard to laugh. I think at the same time it facilitates a little bit of healing for people by finding humor in these things. But it’s exhausting!’
Kemah, who is from Texas but now lives in London, believes she has ‘found her voice’ in the UK and has high praise for British comedy.
“I’ve developed an affinity for the place, I really like the culture, I like the style and I like what the comedy does,” they said. ‘I know the [Edinburgh] Fringe has a lot of problems and it’s quite problematic, but people from the US come to the Fringe because they see the opportunity to deal with different kinds of comedy and different kinds of comedians.
“What I was exposed to in LA when I was there, the comedy was a bit limited and I felt more free to find my voice here and not have to conform to a certain idea of how a comedian looks like me, would occur.
‘This is definitely my home… I would never want London not to be a part of my life, but I could very well avoid the winters’.
You and us both, Kemah. You and us both.
FOC It Up then takes to 21 Soho in London on July 17, July 31 and August 7 with tickets available here†
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