(Photo from The Center Orlando’s Facebook page)
ORLANDO | Rainbow Comedy, an all-LGBTQ comedic showcase, will be on the Fat Fish Blue stage at the Improv Comedy Theater & Restaurant in Orlando March 26.
The free night of stand-up comedy will feature eight LGBTQ comics from the Central Florida area performing all while raising awareness and donations for the LGBT+ Center Orlando’s Pride Pantry.
Gregory Metts, an openly gay comic in Orlando who will be hosting the event, says he put together Rainbow Comedy because when you are LGBTQ in the world of comedy you don’t always get the same opportunities as other comics.
“I’m a flamboyant gay guy and when I go to open mics I feel like an outcast sometimes,” he says. “I decided I wanted to create shows where I could have LGBTQ comics on. I feel like some really funny LGBTQ comics get bypassed all the time so I wanted to have shows that include them.”
Metts, who has been doing stand up since 2018, saw the Improv Orlando was providing opportunities for free admission shows and reached out to get an LGBTQ show set up. He then reached out to LGBTQ comics that he has seen perform and who he says are genuinely very funny. The show will welcome Lee Cohen, Alex Venci, Sareth Ney, Mary Kay Biker Chick, Carla Perez Torres, Bruno Mario and Tatiana Davis to the stage. Metts also wanted to use the show as a way to raise awareness for a local LGBTQ nonprofit.
“I thought how cool would it be if we could put a show together and have someone benefit from it,” Metts says, “and I liked the idea of The Center Orlando being the one who would benefit. I thought it would be a great idea to raise awareness for the Pride Pantry and let people know about it, people who may not know about it because it is pretty new.”
The Center’s Pride Pantry, which officially launched in August 2021, started as a pop-up during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as the team at The Center saw a need for a food pantry service.
“[The pantry] is stocked thanks to monetary donations and donations from people in the community of nonperishables and hygiene products,” says Danny Garcia, VP of the LGBT+ Center board.
Attendance to the Rainbow Comedy show is free but you are asked to register. Admission will be granted on a first come, first serve basis so do not be late. And while there is no cost for tickets, Metts says they will be taking donations of nonperishable food items or gift cards to any grocery store at the door. While all nonperishable food items are appreciated and accepted, items such as peanut butter, tuna, dry beans, rice and breakfast cereal go very quickly.
“Thanks to fundraisers like the Rainbow Comedy show, as well as individuals and community partners like Kroger’s, the LGBT+ Center Orlando is able to continue to provide this incredible and needed service to the community,” Garcia says.
The Rainbow Comedy show will be March 26 at the Improv Orlando. Doors open at 6 p.m., showtime is at 7 p.m. To register, go to Eventbrite.com/e/274643635507.
The Center’s Pride Pantry is currently open two days a week: Mondays and Thursdays from 1-5 p.m. Hours are subject to change based on supplies.
