Photo: Michael Kushner
by Mia Phillips
Judy Gold’s comedy career emerged in New York’s straight clubs. At the time, most of her audiences probably believed she was straight, too. It goes without saying, a lot has changed in her career.
One thing that remains is Gold’s love of a live audience. The more difficult, the better. A tough crowd can be blamed on a variety of causes: a bad opener, a fight in the taxi cab on the way there, or maybe an awkward first date. For Gold, it doesn’t matter. “I love it best when a comic gets off in front of me and says, ‘They’re horrible, I hate this audience.’ That challenge to me is the most exciting,” says Gold.
While a music major in college, Gold aspired to be a star like Barbra Streisand or Carole King and took acting lessons in her spare time. However, in her sophomore year at Rutgers University, on a dare, she stood in front of her peers and performed her very first stand-up set. The feeling she experienced in that dorm lounge was “an out-of-body experience,” she says. In that moment, she knew that stand-up was her calling.
She quickly graduated to a larger audience, performing in clubs off campus. But finding a sense of ease on stage took time. “I was very intimidated in the beginning,” says Gold. “I remember my first year of doing stand-up, everyone would say, ‘you’re so off the cuff, why don’t you talk to the audience?’ and I couldn’t because I wasn’t comfortable enough up there.” Now, a veteran in her field, Gold commands the stage with a confidence only earned through experience. “The only way to get better is to get stage time,” says Gold.
One stage Gold has logged countless hours on is the one at the Post Office Café and Cabaret, where she’s performed every summer since 1992. “I love that room,” says Gold. Its intimate atmosphere, the “fantastic” crowds, and sentimental value make the upstairs stage a landmark of Gold’s career chronology.
In the early years of working at the Café, Gold would receive phone calls from then-owner Phyllis Schlossberg urging her to boost sales for her show. With stacks of flyers in hand, Gold would trek up and down Herring Cove Beach flagging down beachgoers to advertise to. Gold says she spent “hours on the beach going towel to towel saying ‘hey what are you doing tonight?’ That’s how we built our audiences.” Gold adds, “I had the best legs by the way.”
The Post Office stage witnessed the development of both Gold’s professional life and her personal life. When she couldn’t book a babysitter before her show, Gold’s son would sit backstage in fellow performer Varla Jean Merman’s dressing room while Gold did her set.
Gold’s career changed indefinitely after she became a mother. At the start, her stand-up material mainly highlighted her Jewish mother until she gave birth to her first son. Life as a gay mother provided a new source of material to draw on, so in 1996 she came out to Provincetown audiences on the Post Office stage. “At the time it was not a popular thing [for a performer] to do,” says Gold. By coming out, Gold now represented a marginalized community, and her career took on a new meaning. She sees the impact of this decision personified by fans who approach her to say how they didn’t think being a gay parent was an option until they saw her speak publicly about it.
“I grew up at a time where we were not represented at all anywhere,” says Gold. One community she continues to represent is the Jewish community, despite experiencing tension from her crowds around that subject. “If you stop talking about who you are because you’re afraid, then they win,” says Gold.
Gold’s current show, Call of Judy, is more overtly political, yet still personal. “I do not shy away from any topic,” says Gold. During a time of deep-seated division, Gold views comedy as a tool for unification; one that can have powerful effects. “A lot of the time you can change someone’s mind without them even realizing it,” says Gold. “Because laughter is so disarming.”
In 2020, Gold released her book Yes, I Can Say That: When They Come for the Comedians We’re All In Trouble about censorship within the field of comedy. “Satire is a weapon,” says Gold; one that can be wielded to speak truth to power. Knowing the impact her comedy has had on audiences, Gold understands what is at risk if those on stage become too afraid to speak authentically. “Even if I disagree with your speech or I find your jokes not funny, you have every right to tell them,” says Gold.
Apart from stand-up and writing, Gold is also known for her work on TV. This year she’s made appearances on Larry David’s new HBO sketch comedy miniseries Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness as well as Mindy Kaling’s Not Suitable for Work. The list of projects on Gold’s plate doesn’t end there. After her residency at the Post Office wraps up, she has something new, and yet to be announced, in the works.“I would get bored if I didn’t do multiple things,” says Gold.
Throughout her long and successful career, Gold has embodied many different identities, and after over 35 years, she continues to adapt. “This whole business is about reinventing yourself,” says Gold.
Call of Judy is performed at the Post Office Café and Cabaret, 303 Commercial St., Provincetown, Tuesdays at 7 p.m, Thursdays at 10 p.m. and Sundays at 8:30 p.m., through September 13. For tickets ($39 – $49) and information call 508.487.0008 or visit postofficecafe.net.
