Rachel Scanlon
Loud, joyful soft-butch comedy powered by sheer enthusiasm.
1 special · 2024
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Rachel Scanlon performs with her energy pinned to the redline. She paces the stage with wide-eyed, exaggerated movements, playing the cocky heartbreaker before undercutting her own swagger with pure goofiness. She uses her clothes as a tool, jingling a hip-mounted carabiner of keys to punctuate a punchline like a literal mating call. When she acts out a bit, she commits with her whole body. She will pantomime handing out communion wafers as a Catholic priest, isolating the exact moment she realizes how much she enjoys the dominant power of granting people forgiveness.
Specials
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High-energy stand-up celebrating queer identity with zero apologies.
Prime Video · 57 min
On stage
As the co-host of the widely followed Two Dykes and a Mic podcast, she offers a deliberate alternative to the earnest queer storytelling hour. Her live shows function as part standup, part pep rally. She acts as a loud older sibling for fans who came out by watching internet videos during lockdown, welcoming them into the room with pure enthusiasm.
Her hour Gay Fantasy assumes everyone in the room already gets the joke. The material zeroes in on the absurdities of her own life: elaborate fantasies about gym teachers, the indignities of sharing a hot tub with a large family, and the unexpected power dynamics of Christian rituals. Her pacing rarely drops below a sprint. A crowd has to work to match her stamina, but her refusal to take herself seriously keeps the room buoyant. She never stops the show to deliver a solemn thesis. She just keeps the volume up.
Raised in Minnesota in a large religious household, she strips the traditional midwestern modesty out of her stories, replacing it with sheer spectacle.
Turning points
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Release of Sophomore Comedy Special Gay Fantasy
Scanlon released her hour-long standup special Gay Fantasy via Comedy Dynamics in June 2024, earning critical praise for its celebration of queer joy.
At a glance
- Style
- observational, storytelling, physical comedy
- Breakout
- Gay Fantasy
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia
Podcasts
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Two Dykes and a Mic · co-host
A weekly comedic podcast and touring show centered on sex positivity, queer dating advice, gay news, and community stories.
A clip to start with
Fat Families are the Best | Rachel Scanlon | Stand Up Comedy