STAND UP STAND OUT: The making of a comedy movement
As AIDS ravaged San Francisco, a gay and lesbian comedy club flourished in, of all places, an old mortuary. From 1981 to 1986, the Valencia Rose Cabaret, blossomed as the home of queer comedy, the birthplace of many well-known careers, a de-facto community center and a gathering place for activists. At a dark historical moment, it was a locus of resistance through laughter.
STAND UP STAND OUT is a 35 minute documentary that plunges into a little-known, but widely resonant, chapter of queer cultural history: the story of the Valencia Rose (1981-1986), believed to be the first and only gay-owned and –operated comedy club in the USA. Through the voices and humor of the Rose’s performers, the film explores gay comedy as an outgrowth of the rich traditions of activism and performance in San Francisco, an empowering response to the conservative politics of the era, and a valiant quest for joy and laughter amidst the horrific onslaught of the AIDS crisis.
Tom Ammiano is an LGBTQ rights activist, ground-breaking, gay, stand-up comedian and an American Politician. Tom was one of the first public school teachers to “come out” in 1975 making front-page news in the San Francisco Examiner. N |
Karen Ripley is a 30-year comedy veteran, and musician who is well known in the Bay Area comedy scene, also performing in Los Angeles and New York City. She was inspired by Harvey Milk in 1978 to "come out" and has never looked back.
Dirk Alphin was the operations manager of the Valencia Rose from 1983 to 1985 and manager of Josies’ Juice Joint from 1989 to 1999. Josie’s was the sister and successor comedy club to the Valencia Rose Cabaret. He is an artist, actor and playwright residing in San Francisco, CA.
Paul Boneberg is an AIDS activist who rose through the AIDS movement over the last four decades. He witnessed firsthand the decimation of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980's in the Castro and was the co-founder of the group Mobilization Against AIDS which held their meetings at the Valencia Rose. Paul served as executive director of the Global AIDS Action Network and executive director of the GLBT Historical Society (2007-2015). |
Monica Palacios creates solo shows, plays, screenplays, short stories, stand-up comedy, poems, featuring the Latinx LGBTQ experience. She is the Lucille Geier Lakes Writer-in-Residence at Smith College Spring 2019. Monica received a Postdoctoral Rockefeller Fellowship from UC Santa Barbara allowing her to write, direct and produce her play Sweet Peace.
Ron Romanovsky & Paul Phillips are a gay singing duo that reside in Santa Fe, New Mexico and are best known for their original recordings and live performances featuring songs about the lives of gay men (and to a lesser extent, lesbian women). They toured extensively in the USA, Canada, and Australia releasing seven albums between 1984 and 1995 under the "Fresh Fruit" label.
