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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Erin Foley

High-energy exasperation directed at straight culture and sports broadcasters.

1 special · 2002

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Foley hits the stage with a fast, slightly manic East Coast energy. She operates at a baseline of wide-eyed disbelief. When she talks about the absurdity of a restaurant bathroom or a terrible television commercial, she speeds up, leaning into the microphone as if she cannot believe everyone else isn’t as bothered as she is. She doesn’t just recite setups; she acts them out with jittery frustration, tossing her hands up when the logic of the world fails her.

Specials

On stage

She holds a distinct position as an anchor for both queer comedy and women’s sports fandom. For years, she hosted the long-running “Gays R Us” showcase at the Hollywood Improv, becoming a hub for the Los Angeles queer comedy scene. She is the comic you go see when you want fast standup that assumes the audience already understands the realities of gay life.

Her material frequently mines her own late-bloomer realization of her sexuality. She talks about being the last person in her life to figure out she was gay, listing off the missed signals with self-deprecating astonishment. She will take a tiny, everyday friction—a badly designed bottle of conditioner or the mechanics of the morning-after pill—and wind herself up into a state of total, breathless outrage over it.

Because so much of her persona is tied up in athletics, her podcasting—currently Herlights, focused entirely on women’s sports—functions as a direct extension of her standup. It draws a crowd that shows up for the basketball analysis and stays for the comedy.

At a glance

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