Interview: Judy Gold Crusades for Free Speech in New Off-Broadway Show

Eight times a week at 59E59, comedian Judy Gold is fighting for her right to make people laugh. Gold began her crusade a few years ago in her book Yes, I Can Say That: When They Come for the Comedians, We Are All in Trouble. Now, with cowriter Eddie Sarfaty and director BD Wong, Gold transformed her truth-telling memoir into a similarly titled solo play, being presented by Primary Stages. Here, Gold tells us about her defence of her creative process.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

I was surprised by how seamlessly the book became the show.
It took so long. Thank God for BD Wong and his guidance. Eddie Sarfaty and I thought it wouldn’t be hard because it’s already written. But no, you have to have an epiphany on stage. You have to share your most intimate self with the audience. We’re taking them on a journey. BD brought out the important stuff and cut all the fat out, so I’m thankful to him. I didn’t imagine the show would have such an impact on people. And what’s interesting is that different parts of the show affect different people. And there are parts of the show that really trigger them, which is a word I hate. It’s really been such a journey. I don’t think I’ve ever put as much work into something as I did this.

Talk to me about triggering people, because this is a controversial subject, even though it shouldn’t be. Do you feel nervous?
I’ve never been fearful on stage because I’m telling the truth. Now, I notice that many comedians are fearful. That’s what gave me the impetus for the show, hearing these edgy and fearless comedians saying, “Do you think I’m gonna get in trouble for that?” And I’m like “What the fuck is going on here?” We now have social media, and people have the power to destroy a person whose only goal is to make you laugh because they took a joke not in the way that they intended. I’m sorry, we are not the people you should be attacking. The subtitle of the book is “When They Come for the Comedians, We Are All in Trouble,” because we are the truth tellers. And once you silence comedy, that’s the end of free speech.

You talk a lot in the show about your predecessors and influences, people like Bob Smith and Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller. What impact did those artists have in your life?
Bob was my best friend. He was doing stand-up in the late 1980s and he was an out gay comic. There were other out comics who would work at the Duplex or other gay rooms, but Bob, an all-American looking, non-threatening, very handsome Jimmy Stewart-type, was playing the mainstream clubs. He’d get on stage and, just matter of factly, after the audience already liked him, say, “I came out to my family during Thanksgiving. I asked my mother to please pass the gravy to a homosexual, and she passed it to my father.” That’s how he would come out. He was the first gay male comedian on Leno, he was the first out gay comedian to get an HBO special. He broke down these barriers by being a great comic and a great writer and being fearless, and he should be given the credit he deserves for being out in the mainstream clubs when there were no out people in the mainstream clubs.

There were no women, either, and they had to adhere to this self-deprecating style. If you look at old footage, they all come out, and basically, in a way, say “Hi, I know I’m a woman and should be cleaning the house and ironing your handkerchiefs. Ok, got that out of the way, here’s my act.” I talk about the idea that women aren’t funny and where it came from. Look, stand-up comedians have control of a room. They’re powerful. They are in charge. And that, in our society, is a no-no. Men are in charge, right? So I loved being able to go back and tell what it was like for me as a female comic.

In your estimation, where does comedy go from here?
I feel like this show is a call to action and a warning to people about the importance of humor and comedy and satire and our First Amendment rights. We live in America and we have free speech. I’ve been doing this since I was 19. It’s 40 years and I am not giving up. This banning of books? All this shit that’s going on right now? We’ve seen it before. Comics, as I mention in the show, were the first to speak about what was happening in Germany. The jokes enraged the public and weakened Nazi propaganda. Comedy is such a weapon. But it’s also a coping mechanism. And I am gonna fight ofr my right and everyone else’s right, even if I don’t agree with them, to free speech.