The Butterfly Club Presents HOW GAY AM I

Sunanda's debut solo show, How Gay am I? is a comedic multimedia exploration of her own queerness. The journey begins with an earnest story detailing her coming out to her conservative Indian parents, and ends with everyone in the audience going home gay. Think that's absurd? Wait till you meet all the other queerdos she could've been! The list of characters includes a traditional Indian girl who is likely a poon-jabbing Punjabi, a delinquent dyke with a TED Talk on "Why Everyone Should be a Lesbian, Today", and a lieutenant of the "Beef-Police". If that's not gay enough for you, be serenaded by some sing-song stand-up, and mesmerized by Mustachio, a genderless cruise ship crooner.

Sunanda is a Bangkok-native, adopted, third generation Indian lesbian who, more often than not, speaks like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. When she came out to her conservative Punjabi parents half a decade ago, she didn't realize that was only the starting point of self-discovery as a queermedian. She has often thought about all the ways to 'be gay', how gay she really is (87% is her official answer), and whether it's acceptable anymore to describe something lame as 'gay' like she did in the nineties. She's wondered what life she would've lived and who she could've been, had she not been raised in Bangkok. Sometimes she fantasizes about being a cruise-ship performer. A celebration of queerness and absurdity, this show is punctuated by turning conversion therapy on its head, and cementing the fact that we are all... gay.

Sunanda started in comedy as a producer, having worked with Broad City, Reggie Watts, Michael Che, and other talent who now work on Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Ilana Glazer, the curly haired half of Broad City, has said, "Sunanda is a bright presence!" Coming out as queer gave her the confidence to also come out from behind the scenes. Booked with Magner's International Festival in 2017 and winner of Bangkok's Big V Competition 2016, Sunanda has performed stand up at several festivals (The Comedy Comedy Festival, Funny Women Fest) and venues such as The Comedy Store, before moving to Melbourne. She also trained in and performed improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade and Groundlings in Los Angeles as well as winning diversity scholarships at both schools in 2017. Sunanda was also a writer for the incredibly competitive and prestigious CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase in 2017 and was on house sketch teams as a performer and writer at iO West, The Pack Theater, and ACME Theater in Los Angeles. She also trained at the Idiot Workshop with John Gilkey, of Cirque du Soleil and performed in an ensemble under his direction.

The Butterfly Club presents "How Gay am I?" - one queerdo's multimedia journey over a rainbow of characters

DATES: Mongay Sept 9 - Sungay Sept 15th, 2019
TIME: 10pm (50 mins)
VENUE: The Butterfly Club (downstairs), 5 Carson Pl (off Lt. Collins St.), Melbourne VIC 3000 Full: $35 / Concession: $31 / Members: $28 / Group (6+): $28 / Early Bird $26
TO BOOK TICKETS visit thebutterflyclub.com or melbournefringe.com.au or call (03) 9660 9666

To post a comment, you must register and login.