Cameron Esposito took a break from shopping for button down shirts that fit a woman’s chest in the men’s department to speak with Equality365. We talk about weddings, life as a comedian, Jay Leno and annoying stereotypes. She is performing live at the Neptune Theater tomorrow with her fiancee, Rhea Butcher. Get your tickets here.
How did it feel when Jay Leno called you the future?
It felt accurate (laughter). It felt amazing. That dude is a pro, he is just a pro. He has been working for such a long time. He went right to the Tonight Show. He never took time off from doing shows around LA. The thing I like about stand up is that it is like a craft. I think people that have been at it for a long time are like craftsmen. It means a lot to make people laugh at shows. It means even more to be complimented by people that work in the same field.
What has been the hardest part about planning your wedding?
Just that I never even thought about having a wedding until this point. The wedding is coming up so quickly and I never thought I would get married in the first place. I am trying to learn how to do everything all at once. I know some people think about their wedding day their entire lives. For me it is all brand new.
Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher
What it is like to be engaged to another comedian?
It is very serious. Our household is very funny because she is the funniest person I know but at the same time it is very serious. We just take everything very seriously.
I read that you used to date the captain of the football team. Are you inviting him to your wedding?
No, that might be a little weird. He didn’t invite me to his wedding. I will wish him well next time we see each other though.
What do you think about this whole Kim Davis saga?
I try not to think about it at all. It is infuriating. It has nothing to do with faith. I went to a Catholic college and majored in theology so I have read the Bible. I have even read a lot of interpretations about it. It was written a really long time ago by people in an entirely different culture. There is some stuff in there that makes sense to me as a person especially if you think about it philosophically like a beautiful poem. Some things really make sense, like be cool to each other. All the other stuff she is bringing in is just wrong. It is not based on anything. The fact that she is a divorced person says it all. The Bible says that divorce is not a thing. I know in my heart that the nation has already changed on this, both officially and unofficially. We have won hearts and minds. She’s just a liar. I just don’t care anymore. We won! I do care about the people in her state and county that are affected by her and her actions. I really feel for them. It sucks.
How do you keep your material fresh?
It is hard. I tour so much that it makes it even harder. I released my last album a year ago so now I am doing all new material. I am making a new album in December. I have been doing the stuff I am doing now for about a year. I will tape it and get it out of my system. It is a weird thing to talk about the same thing for a year but it also allows for a kind of expansion on the jokes that you wrote. I think that is how you keep it fresh. You never limit about what you are going to say about a certain thing. You might keep a punchline but you add fifteen sub-punchlines. You might add some details that you didn’t think of the first time you wrote it. I you just keep honing and adding specificity. Then taping it, getting it the hell away from you and starting all over again.
Cameron Esposito
We recently had the one year anniversary of the deaths of both Joan Rivers and Robin Williams. What are your thoughts on them or how they affected you?
Wow, that is a hard one. I didn’t ever meet Joan. I did a couple of shows with Robin but we really didn’t know each other. There are a couple of people in my community that knew that quite well. You can talk about Joan being the first woman to really take a stand and say all bets are off. She was constantly challenging herself to move through the next taboo. Robin was somebody who was always challenge himself by working with what he had in the moment, improvise or create some character that made sense to him in that moment. It also feels weird since these are people that friends of mine new very well. I always feel like deference to those relationships. I know how they affected me as a comic but it is strange when they were maybe a best friend to someone I know. It is a small community, not that many people do this with their lives.
Can you pick just one LGBTQ stereotype that really offends you?
(Laughter)I don’t know. I don’t think I get really infuriated. I am kind of lucky. I am usually talking to people that are either cool or I have a microphone in my hand so I can yell at them if they say something that is completely insane. I think maybe the only thing that has really frustrated me is the whole Conan set that I did. It is about a guy yelling me at me while I am on stage that I looked like a woman that doesn’t sleep with men. I think the stereotype is that I wouldn’t want to be called a lesbian. Maybe they think they would be offending me if they said that I looked gay. I guess they don’t want to assume that I am a lesbian, like that is a bad thing. I mean, I am wearing a tie; it is fine if you assume. It just makes me think that they are thinking it would be a bad thing. They didn’t want to assume this bad thing about me. I don’t think it is a bad thing. I totally think people need to stop thinking that way. I think it is ridiculous that people think it is negative to think that someone looks gay. Yea, I totally look gay. I am gay.
