There is nothing like spending an afternoon chatting with Leslie Jordan on the phone while he is at the Cracker Barrel. He is a character. He talks about everything from his family, traveling, getting robbed in Seattle, new shows, Donald Trump, Ty Herndon, all the way to telling me he had a dog named Earl as well. He is performing in Triple Threat the amazing variety show hosted by Kimball Allen. This show is next week on March 31st at the Triple Door on the main stage. You don’t want to miss this amazing show! Get tickets here!
Check out our interview with Leslie Jordan!
How do you stay so positive and always keep a smile on your face?
Well, I heard a wonderful quote one time from Warren Beatty about his wife Annette Bening. He said, “My wife Annette was born with the most amazing capacity for happiness.” It just struck me. I thought well, that is really true. You see babies that are just fussy all the time and you see others that are happy all the time. I am like the happy ones. I am just a happy soul. Before I get up on my high horse or anything, I do have to point out something a friend told me. He said, “Career success contributes a lot to someone happiness.” I have been at it for thirty-three years. It hasn’t all been up up up. I am a recovering addict. I am twenty years beyond all that but there is still a story there.
The one and only Leslie Jordan
How do you stay creative?
That is something that has changed over the years. That is a good question because today I had the most creative morning I have had in quite a while. I really want to land. I want to stop traveling so much. I am a cabaret performer that doesn’t sing and I am still in demand. I am working on all new material. I have been formulating all of this new material and a new show for quite some time. There have been rewrites all over the place. Well, this morning it all just came together. I don’t know why it all happened this morning because it has been percolating for so long. I may even present some of the brand new stuff in Seattle. Some of the stories are in my book. Everybody remember to buy my book! That is just how my creative juices work. I formulate and reformulate until eureka!
Do you have a message for LGBTQ youth?
I actually have a couple. One source of my shame is that I got sober at forty-two years old and I had never voted. We were just in the bars all the time. Who had the time, you know what I mean? I think it is just so important for our young gay community to get out and vote. If you don’t vote then you can’t complain. If you think your vote doesn’t matter, you are wrong. It does matter and it does count! You have got to vote. We were the generation that marched in the streets. That is all well and good but that doesn’t change things. You have to work within the system.
The second one is that many years ago I had to make a decision. I had so many charities asking me for help. I can’t do everything. I try but I can’t. One that I never say no to is The Trevor Project it is a suicide hotline. When they started maybe twenty years ago, the majority of calls came from the Deep South the Bible Belt where I grew up. My message to young people is that you aren’t alone anymore. There are so many options. If you are in a family that has those strong religious beliefs that are against being LGBT you don’t have to kill yourself. I know that you feel trapped but there are so many options. You have to get out of there. They are wrong. You aren’t wrong. Call the Trevor Project and find a way out.
