Photo: Jeremy Tan
Kristin Key Makes Provincetown Debut
by Steve Desroches
Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which became the official national anthem of the United States in 1931, capturing imagery of “broad stripes and bright stars,” “dawn’s early light,” and “rockets’ red glare.” Comedian Kristin Key has penned the “Lesbian National Anthem,” sung to the tune of “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” (or “God Save the King” if you’re from across the pond), that brings a tear to the eye, via laughter, as she so eloquently sings about Subarus, dog rescues, and cargo shorts. The song comes off her Lesbian Army album and is a beloved staple of her shows, even when the audience is mostly straight.
Key is at an inflection point of her career as she’s on a steady rise in popularity. She began stand-up comedy when she was just 19, and over the past 25 years or so has been nose to the grindstone. And it’s paying off, testament to her talent and work ethic. It seems counterintuitive, but coming out as a lesbian on stage really helped her, pushing her towards the big time.
“Oh, absolutely,” says Key, from a hotel room in Portland, Maine, on tour. “It absolutely helped. Being honest is the best thing you can do. If you hide and try masking yourself it will hurt your career. I looked at Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell, and I thought you needed to stay in the closet until you had success and money, and then you could come out. But visibility is too important, and maybe it’s not easy, but when it comes to the art form of comedy, honesty and vulnerability is so important. It’s how you connect with an audience.”
It was a journey to get to that point of course. Raised first, ironically enough, in Liberal, Kansas, in a conservative family with her father a Church of Christ minister, her family relocated to Amarillo, Texas, when she was 11. She had a bit of a Footloose childhood in that dancing and instrumental music were forbidden according to her father’s church. The devil was seemingly everywhere, so much so that women wearing pants and/or watching secular movies could send someone to Hell. Being gay or lesbian was so reviled it actually never came up from the pulpit or in Bible study. But when Key personally came out at 16, she made a quick turnaround back into the closet due to the intensely negative reaction of her family.
Key stayed in the closet personally and professionally until 2015 when, at the age of 35, she came out again, but this time on stage at an anti-bullying fundraiser. But even then, she hesitated to write much material about her personal life and lesbian culture. The pandemic changed that for her. Key says she thinks that when the world shut down and we all went into lock down we came out of it different, at least she knows that she did. Something shifted within and she wanted to double down on being a lesbian in her comedy. Straight comedians, particularly men, talk about relationships and dating all the time. Comedy is an intensely biographical medium she adds, so leaving out a big portion of your life out of concern the audience won’t like it is still akin to being closeted. A comedian’s job is to make something funny, no matter the topic. She knew she could do it.
“What if I just made everything super gay,” says Key of her decision. “That’s what happened. Three years ago, I didn’t really have a gay audience. I would perform for mostly straight audiences. But what if I did it fully out? If I did it my way. No more writing around a topic, and just going for it. I did and I developed a queer audience and now my shows are quite mixed. I didn’t lose a straight audience, I gained a queer one, too.”
Her fandom has grown to such proportions as to sustain a national tour, which has her at Boston’s Wilbur Theater just before coming to Provincetown to play Town Hall, the Cape tip’s largest venue, for a special Women’s Week appearance. She’s never been to Provincetown before, something that her fans and even she finds shocking. But she’s more than ready, guitar in hand, for her hallmark song parodies and comedic musical accompaniment to her set. And she’s also prepared to end her show with her signature Q and A sessions, showcasing her improv skills as well as kind demeanor and sly jokes, which have endeared her to crowds across the country. Her brand of comedy punches up and is inclusive, which creates an air of easiness rather than tension, especially for LGBTQ fans who can often be made the punchline of a joke rather than just being included.
“There’s so much division, divisiveness, and negativity now,” says Key. “But there’s a world that is joyful and silly and fun. A place where we all can come together and laugh. I want to be a part of that world.”
Kristin Key performs at Provincetown Town Hall, 260 Commercial St., on Friday, October 16 at 7 p.m. Tickets ($40-$85) are available at womensweekprovincetown.com and at the door if not sold out.
