EDIT: This show has been postponed. More information on a new date will be released at a later time.
ORLANDO | Local comedians are getting together to share some laughs and help raise funds for the LGBT+ Center Orlando.
The Charity Comedy Show will showcase at least half a dozen local queer comics at the Renaissance Theatre Company in Orlando Jan. 4.
Hosted by stand-up comedian and LGBT+ Center Orlando board member, Lee Cohen, the event will feature Gregory Metts, Alina Siddiqui, Jess Torres and Risa Risque.
“This is such a great line-up and I can’t wait for everyone to see them,” says Cohen. “Risa Risque is an amazing comedic burlesque performer here, she will be doing a couple numbers; Alina Siddiqui has opened for Maria Bamford and a few of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ queens who have come to Orlando. Jess Torres and Gregory Metts are both amazing queer comics, the entire lineup is queer actually.”
The show’s headliner will be Tampa Bay-based comedian Jeff Klein.
“I’m very excited to be asked to close out the fundraiser show for The Center in Orlando,” Klein says. “I love anytime I get to work within the community and enjoy working with other queer artist friends I’ve made over the years and meeting ones I haven’t yet.”
The Charity Comedy Show will be the first 2025 fundraiser for The Center Orlando as the local organization looks to not only ramp up its fundraising efforts but also diversify the types of charity events it hosts.
“We thought the best way to kick off the year was with an LGBTIQ+ comedy show because, and I’ve said this before, comedy is not something you see regularly — especially in Orlando — when you think about queer entertainment,” Cohen says. “We have our burlesque, we have our drag, we have singers, dancers, everything; but you don’t really see a lot of the comedians, so this is an opportunity to showcase our queer talent in Orlando in terms of stand-up comedy.”
While many look to larger cities like New York and Los Angeles as prime stand-up stomping grounds, Cohen says that Orlando, and Florida in general, is a great place for new comics to cut their teeth.
“If you want to start doing comedy, this is a great place to do it because it’s Florida,” they say. “It’s the weirdest state in the entire U.S., and that is something I’ve heard from every single comedian who has come to do their tour through here. You might do a show with a super queer liberal population then the next night you have a really conservative crowd. It’s just like an amalgamation of dichotomies in this state.”
Local fundraising events will be vital to The Center Orlando going into the new year as all LGBTQ+ organizations brace for a more conservative government, both nationally and statewide.
“This is just my opinion, it’s not like an official stance of The Center, but as a member of the queer community who does a lot of nonprofit work, the outcomes of this election are going to have a real impact on the type of funding all LGBTQ+ organizations are going to be able to get,” Cohen says.
Concerns like Cohen’s are fed by Republican moves like when Gov. Ron DeSantis stripped the Florida budget of $32 million in arts funding after calling Fringe Festivals “sexual events.”
“I don’t think we can rely on state or federal funding like we have in the past to keep us up and going and providing resources for the community,” Cohen adds.
The Center Orlando’s Charity Comedy Show will be at the Renaissance Theatre in Orlando Jan. 4, starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and available here.
