Gender Ordeal: Gender on Wheels is a powerhouse of trans comedy expertise. It is a road-version of Tuck Woodstock’s Gender Reveal podcast. It is a selection present that matches “six or seven” segments into a decent 90-minute night with the present’s host, cartoonist Mattie Lubchansky, and creator Calvin Kasulke.
The dwell present format is not actually like Woodstock’s considerate interview podcast, although it’s nonetheless aiming to “get a bit of bit nearer to understanding what the hell gender is.”
“All of the segments are fairly indescribable,” Woodstock informed The Stranger, “apart from the half the place I do 10 minutes of stand-up… which is like… yeah, that is what that’s.”
Within the distant yesteryear of 2017, Woodstock—a journalist and then-Portlander—began a podcast about gender. He borrowed its title from a weird cultural observe the place individuals talk the gender of their yet-to-be-born kids by doing issues like exploding objects with pink or blue fireworks (sometimes beginning a wildfire within the course of).
Woodstock turned the idea on its head, unwinding private tales by interviews with trans professionals, activists, and politicians about not simply gender however definitely gender. Within the years that adopted, Gender Reveal gave rise to Gender Conceal: a paid tier, additional content material present for subscribers, which helps the present and likewise introduces extra comedic, off-the-cuff materials.
Gender Ordeal follows this naming conference and is basically a range present that Woodstock has taken on tour to Brooklyn (he now lives in a New York borough), Boston, Philly, and Washington DC earlier than bringing it, polished and primed, to discerning West Coast audiences.
Initially, Gender Reveal‘s tour exhibits mirrored the podcast’s interview format—a format that tends to really feel a bit of dry to a dwell viewers. Woodstock and his workforce thought-about: “What if we added extra visitors?” Woodstock says. “What if among the visitors—as an alternative of being interviewed—carried out onstage or perhaps performed a recreation? What in the event that they provided viewers recommendation? Impulsively, the dwell exhibits have been 9 segments lengthy and have been primarily comedy nights. To be clear, no person requested for this,” he says, deadpan.
It labored. Partially, as a result of Woodstock has nice comedic timing, however the exhibits grew to become tough to program, as he tried to search out visitors in a number of cities that would deal with comedy improv, roll with the multi-part materials, and who had an fascinating artistic observe to convey to the combo.
“You are standing within the middle of city banging on a platinum pan, like ‘I would like 4 gifted trans individuals!'” Lubchansky jokes.
“Of assorted identities and skills,” Woodstock provides. “Calvin was listening to me speak about this, and was identical to, I might include you, and Mattie would include you, too, I assume.” He was proper.
Kasulke, Woodstock, and Lubchansky are every notable for his or her separate artistic initiatives and hilarious in their very own proper. Lubchansky was an affiliate editor at now-defunct comics information web site The Nib and has printed a number of graphic novels, notably Antifa Tremendous-Soldier Cookbook (2021) and Boys Weekend (2023). Kasulke is the creator of A number of Individuals Are Typing (2021), a novel that Woodstock says “is ready on Slack and would not have any proper to be pretty much as good as it’s.”
Kasulke remembers Woodstock’s ire at liking a ebook that used Slack as a framing was one the primary methods they met. Lubchansky remembers assembly Kasulke when “Calvin marched as much as me at a comics conference and mentioned, ‘We’ll be at a celebration collectively subsequent week.’ And he walked away.”
“Saying myself like a Twin Peaks character.” Kasulke agrees.
Woodstock can also be bringing 2 Trans 2 Livid (2024), a ebook on the tour (co-edited by Woodstock and Niko Stratis), which collects writing and artwork from 40 trans thinkers on the Quick & Livid film franchise.
Is Gender Ordeal a ebook tour? “It is a thinly disguised ebook tour,” Woodstock says, noting that they’re going to all be signing books after the present.
Inside Gender Ordeal’s a number of segments, Lubchansky will venture her comics and browse them for the viewers, drawing from some she’s accomplished earlier than and “new ones which can be unreleased,” made only for the present. Kasulke has revamped one thing he used to learn for the radio, referred to as Cassingles the place he reads trans private advertisements that he present in archived publications just like the Village Voice. Woodstock performs his 10-minute stand-up routine and incites the opposite two to battle each other through altering onstage video games. “For instance, I as soon as combed Tumblr for obscure Satisfaction flags, after which challenged them to acknowledge what every represented. Some have been actually obscure, like lesbians who like Buck Barnes or anxious pansexuals,” he says.
“What’s essential to me in regards to the present is that it’s expressly for trans individuals,” Woodstock says. “It is 100, 200, 300, largely trans individuals in a room laughing. And I believe in case you’re not gathering proper now you then’re both alone with all the things, otherwise you’re on-line—the worst place that you possibly can presumably be. When you’re trans and on-line, you are like, they’ll kill me tomorrow. However in case you’re trans, in actual life, with your folks, you are like: We’re vibing. It should be okay. We’ll get by it collectively. It simply feels much more doable.”
Gender Reveal Podcast Presents: Gender Ordeal w/Tuck Woodstock, Calvin Kasulke & Mattie Lubchansky is Fri Feb 12 at Right here-After at 7 pm. The present is offered out however you’ll be able to join a waitlist right here. Content warning for sexual references and mature themes.
