FitXander Production Company
A Gay Dad
A Scorching piece on the Comedy & Trauma of Life as A GAY DAD
theSpace @ Symposium Hall, Annexe Theatre
Dates: 4-12 August 2023 Time: 19:15 (0hr45) Suitable for 18+
Becoming A Gay Dad has enabled Xander to relive and re-frame the traumas and shame of growing up gay in the 1980s. His Stand-Up Comedy Special explores the first 14 years of his son’s life and reveals how it enabled him to see his own childhood very differently, culminating in a realisation that not only surprises, but challenges everything. Xander’s mix of devastating humour, real-life story telling, parenting challenges and life as A Gay Dad will make you think, and leave you laughing. He has great abs, his sister is a lesbian and his mum dropped dead in the middle of his son’s 10th Birthday Party. Not for the faint hearted, but definitely worth the ride.
Produced and Directed by Xander himself, this one man comedy stand-up special was written by Xander to give a real-life persepective on the complexities of LGBTQ+ parenting in 2023, to combat the negative stigma which still surrounds same-sex parenting, to show that Gay Men can have long term relationships, to provide hope for other LGBTQ+ people wanting to have children and to provide a positive media mouthpiece: Kids from Same-Sex Parents have excellent outcomes; they do not wish they had a Mum & Dad; and they do not automatically grow up to be gay.
Gay, Straight or LGBTQ+, you will find humour and solace in this show about parenting, life and coming out. Poignant, sophisticated, thoughtful and funny. It’s the show you’ve been waiting for.
Reading through the press release, I am impressed by how serious the topic must be. Is it an easy thing to find comedy in something that is, in many ways, life changing and is doubtless a very challenging set of experiences?
Whilst I do make some serious points in my stand up it is actually chock-a-block full of storytelling (and laughs) from beginning to end. The really funny stuff tends to come from the dark humour we experience in life. The laughs that help us through those difficult times.
I'm afraid this is a predictable question. Why come to the Edinburgh fringe with your show?
I want the world (or at least the 1 person who will attend) to know that Children from Gay Dads can be incredible sex stories. Oh god, no that’s not what I want. What I meant to say was that I want them to know children from LGBTQ+ parents can be incredible success stories.
I want people struggling with having children, Queer or Straight, to know that genetic ties are not as important as they think they are, and to encourage more adoption of vulnerable children that really need our help.
Mum’s final gift to me as she suddenly dropped dead was the knowledge that: People really do die and I that people should do what they have always wanted to do before they run out of time.
But mostly I just want to show people my abs.
Do you find the stand-up comedy is a good place to explore serious issues: with this work be easier to do is apply or a comic dialogue even?
There is nothing better than comedy storytelling to engage people and get them to listen to a serious point hidden between a set of funny jokes. I have learnt a lot from my years in Teaching and if I can get bottom set year 11 to learn Pythagoras, Period 5, on a Windy Friday,
at the end of term, I think I can probably do anything.
Do feel any affinity with other comedians for performance makers? Is there anyone that you are
excited about seeing this year at the fringe?
There is this guy called Xander Platz. He is making his debut at The Fringe this year and from what I have seen I think it is going to be pretty Epic.
What are you hoping that the audience will experience through the journey of your set?
They will experience the ups and downs of life growing up in a Religious Family who go to church every Sunday and narrowly avoid being abused by the Vicar.
They will understand how I came to terms with my sexuality, my shame, and perhaps most importantly how my best friend (the Vicars son) used to help me push my stool in at the end of every service. And yes that is a euphemism.
They will learn how having a teenage son has helped me reform the perceptions I had of my self as a Gay 14 year old who was bullied relentlessly. And most importantly of all they will learn that next time they come to see my show, a Tena Lady Discreet Pad is definitely not thick enough.
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