Stand-up comedian, comedic actress and writer Erin Foley will be headlining Girls in Wonderland June 6 with two hilarious shows.
Best known for her smart takes on relationships, pop culture and her life as a queer woman, Foley has a night packed with stand-up, good vibes and unforgettable punchlines to celebrate 25 years of Girls in Wonderland.
Along with her comedic work, Foley has her popular podcast “Herlights,” which shines light on women’s sports. Since January, Foley has toured various states to share her stand-up work. Her tour will end in November.
Foley was kind enough to speak to Watermark Out News by phone ahead of her next tour stop, Atlantis Cruise: Virgin Valiant; a gay cruise festival.
WATERMARK OUT NEWS: Girls in Wonderland is coming up where you’ll have two comedy shows, what are you looking forward to especially at an event meant for queer women?
Erin Foley: That’s exactly why I took the gig. Let’s backtrack for a second. For the first seven or eight years, I wasn’t out on stage because I was trying to figure it out personally, and I didn’t have the confidence to talk about my personal life on stage. Then I was in New York City, thankfully, which there was so many welcoming, amazing queer spaces, and it took me a while to talk about it on stage. Then when I started touring and started headlining comedy clubs it was your straight typical comedy club across the country. Finally, here and there I would find work in queer places. I’m sort of dating myself but this isn’t very common. I would say in the last five, seven, eight years, a lot more spaces are popping up, which is amazing. But we didn’t really have that opportunity when I started, so this is such a pleasure, especially obviously in the time we’re living in when it’s so horrifying what the administration is doing to the queer community. I will say yes to a queer gig in a hut in bumble weed, just anything to bring our community together. Also with a sense of levity. To me, Girls in Wonderland, the fact that it is bigger and better every single year. I know that’s a lot of hard work on their end, but it’s really important to me.
What do you think it means for people, especially those traveling from around the country to girls in wonderland, to get that sense of community?
Oh, it’s huge because I know what it means to me looking for that community. Essentially we’re all still trying to look for that community and grow that community wherever we are. When you don’t have it, I’ve been very fortunate, I lived in New York City and now I live in Los Angeles, to have sort of this built-in community and then you have to figure out how to navigate said community. I see this all when I travel, [other places] don’t have this built-in community. Maybe they’re not excited about living in a bigger city. To me, that is huge to have these events where they know once or twice a year, at least, they can come together. They can meet new people, they’re not alone and have that sense of community and comradery. Also just to like rip it up to have fun, there’s a lot of heaviness. So it’s like, go have five drinks in the pool and go to a comedy show. There should be a lot of lightness and fun around these events.
What would you say is something that keeps you on your toes with this work and your audience?
What keeps me going? Coffee, wine, donuts; no, I’m kidding. It is probably nerdy. It’s the creative process, which I absolutely love. I love writing jokes and I love the immediacy of standup, thinking about something during the day and trying it out that night instead of waiting or having to rely on other people. To me it’s very rewarding. I would also just say I love the crowds. I love meeting people. I love meeting new communities. I love discovering new cities and towns. I think those two factors really haven’t changed for me over the course of my career.
You have a podcast called “Herlights” to serve as coverage for women’s sports. What made your passion shine through with wanting to make sure those areas were being covered?
I’ve been really passionate about women’s sports for quite a long time. “HerLights” is sort of a 2.0 version. It’s a little bit of a rebrand. I started a podcast 11 years ago called “Sports Without Balls.” That title didn’t really hold up but I did that for about six years. Then paused that to do a lot of TV writing. Now I’m back doing a lot of standup and I wanted to dive back in because it’s just the talent in the women’s sports arena has been there since literally 40, 50 years. There’s a couple factors that Title IX and people investing in women’s sports. Now people are seeing it. They can actually see it; obviously there’s a lot more companies televising it and so now people are like, “Oh my God,” but the rest of us have been like, “Oh my God,” since day one. So I’m excited that people are catching up, diving in and spending money and investing in these women because they’re tremendous athletes. They’re also just tremendous people, mentors and role models. So for them to be on the highest stage right now it’s really incredible to see.
When you have guests on your podcast, how do you select who you want to appear, especially given the topics that you’re trying to highlight?
It really varies. I love every sport, so I’m always interested in learning about new sports. I had a race car driver on, she’s also an owner, so then I was like, “Oh, I can get into race car drivers,” so the sport varies. But I think I look for women that are really impactful on and off the field or the track. People that are either queer or really are helping other women around them. I look for guests that are what I call like the OGs, these women that started playing when there was no path, when there was no league and help create these leagues that we see now. I’m really interested in those athletes because I think what they had to go through just to play is really incredible. I would say that’s what probably draws me in more than anyone else.
What can you tell us about the upcoming works/projects that you have lined up for the rest of the year or even into the new year?
Well, I’m back on tour doing standup, so everyone can find my schedule on ErinKFoley.com. So I’m really excited about that. This is the first year I haven’t been writing full time, so to be back on tour is really exciting. I’m gonna start doing a lot more content for “Herlights,” maybe some more daily stuff, some more short-form videos on my YouTube page. Just getting a lot more stories out for these women athletes and in these leagues. Then I’ve got some other sports project cooking that we’re working on just really diving into these women’s stories and getting a lot more content out in any form that I can, whether it’s a podcast where it’s a short form video, TV, film. That’s what’s really exciting me and inspiring me.
Erin Foley will perform at Girls in Wonderland June 6. For tickets and more information, visit GirlsInWonderland.com
