The Big Gay Sketch Show

The Big Gay Sketch Show is an LGBT-themed sketch comedy program that debuted on Logo on April 24, 2007. The series is produced by Rosie O'Donnell and directed by Amanda Bearse. The program was originally titled "The Big Gay Show" but was renamed during production. As the name indicates, the show features comedy sketches with gay themes or a gay twist. Sketch topics include parodies of old sitcoms like The Honeymooners and The Facts of Life under the Nick at Nite-parodying heading "Logo at Nite", a lesbian speed dating session and an extended send-up of Broadway legend Elaine Stritch working as a Wal-Mart greeter, among other decidedly un-glamorous jobs.

Logo produced a second season of the series. Paolo Andino and Colman Domingo joined the cast (replacing Michael Serrato and Dion Flynn). Season 2 premiered on February 5, 2008.

Production on season three began in March 2009. Erica Ash is no longer with the cast. In 2009, Logo announced plans for a search for new cast members. However, the result entitled, "The Big Gay Casting Competition", was limited to an online talent search, in which videos by contestants were uploaded to logoonline.com and voted on by site visitors. The winner, Wil Heuser, was a former American Idol contestant (verification needed, Wil Heuser was a Big Brother 14 cast member), who appeared in only one episode of the series, but as an extra, not a cast member. Season three debuted on Logo April 13, 2010.

Sketch comedy

Sketch comedy comprises a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as radio and television. Often sketches are first improvised by the actors and written down based on the outcome of these improv sessions; however, such improvisation is not necessarily involved in sketch comedy.

An individual comedy sketch is a brief scene or vignette of the type formerly used in vaudeville, and now used widely in comedy and variety shows, talk shows and some children's television series (such as Sesame Street).

Sketch comedians routinely differentiate their product from a "skit", maintaining that a skit is a (single) dramatized joke (or "bit") while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept, character or situation.

History

Sketch comedy has its origins in vaudeville and music hall, where a large number of brief, but humorous, acts were strung together to form a larger programme.

Kate McKinnon

Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984), commonly known as Kate McKinnon, is an American actress, voice actress, and comedian. She is best known for her sketch comedy work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and The Big Gay Sketch Show. She is cast as Jillian Holtzmann in the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters.

McKinnon is known for her strong character work and celebrity impressions. She is known for her impressions of pop singer Justin Bieber, comedian and television host Ellen DeGeneres, politician Hillary Clinton and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She has been nominated for three Primetime Emmys, two for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and one for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.

Early life

Kate McKinnon Berthold was born and raised in Sea Cliff, New York. She is the daughter of Laura Campbell, a parent educator, and Michael Thomas Berthold, an architect. She has a younger sister, Emily. Her father died when she was 18 years old.

As a child, McKinnon played the piano, cello, and guitar. She graduated from North Shore High School in 2002 and from Columbia University in 2006, where she co-founded a comedy group, Tea Party, which focused on musical improv comedy.

Julie Goldman

Julie Goldman (born in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American comedian, actress, and musician. She lives in Los Angeles, California. She is Jewish and a lesbian.

Julie Goldman starred in the first, second and third seasons of The Big Gay Sketch Show, a sketch comedy show on the Logo television network. Her first stand-up performance was at The Comedy Connection in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of 15. She attended Lexington High School and Emerson College in Boston. Julie founded an all-women's stand-up and variety show called "OFFENSIVE WOMEN" and recruited Eve Ensler to sponsor their biggest show to date at The Zipper Theater in NYC.

Goldman is a frequent guest on Jonny McGovern's weekly podcast Gay Pimpin' with Jonny McGovern. In 2010 Goldman joined the cast of the podcast.

Goldman is working on raising money for Nicest Thing, a feature-length, lesbian romantic comedy that she co-wrote with Brandy Howard. Goldman and Howard are producing the movie with Amanda Bearse who is also slated to direct. Other attachments include Tammy Lynn Michaels, Guinevere Turner, Kate Clinton, Paul Vogt, Bryce Johnson and Kate McKinnon.