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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Cover image credit: Thumbnail: YouTube · Comedy Dynamics

Gay Fantasy

Rachel Scanlon

Prime Video · 2024 · 57 min

High-energy stand-up celebrating queer identity with zero apologies.

Watch on Prime Video(opens in a new tab)

Rachel Scanlon enters the stage wearing what she calls the soft butch starter pack: cargo pants, a Gucci belt, and a carabiner of keys that she eventually jingles like a mating call. There is no sleeve in sight. This high-energy hour, released by Comedy Dynamics during Pride Month in 2024, operates as a celebration of queer joy rather than a defensive statement of identity. Scanlon is not on stage to beg for straight approval. She is there to foster a space where her crowd feels like they are part of a very specific, very loud club.\n\nThe set moves through a series of personal histories and cultural observations. Scanlon recounts growing up in Minnesota with a religious family, including a specific bit of hot tub trauma. She explains her soft butch identity, details childhood fantasies about gym teachers and Fergie, and explains why she dreams of being caught in public reading a thick non-fiction book. She also takes aim at straight allies whose overly polite, hyper-conscious attempts to be progressive end up looping back around to being offensive.\n\nScanlon, widely known as the co-host of the podcast and touring show Two Dykes and a Mic, spent a decade building her stand-up career before releasing this hour. The material is aimed squarely at her community, particularly welcoming the newer wave of lesbians who experienced their sexual awakenings on TikTok during pandemic lockdowns.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Hot tub trauma and fat family

    Discusses growing up in a fat, religious family in Minnesota and defends fatness with pride and joy rather than shame

  2. Connecting queerness to Jesus and Christian rituals

    Physically pretends to be crucified, jokes about childhood desires to be Jesus for the female attention, and roleplays as a communion priest

  3. Elaborate fantasies

    Details personal fantasies involving gym teachers, Fergie, and being caught reading a thick non-fiction book

  4. Pandemic coming-out boom and TikTok

    Examines how definitions of queerness expanded during lockdown and welcomes newly out women without gatekeeping

  5. The lesbian mating call

    Jingles a carabiner full of keys clipped to her hip

How it plays

Tone
Exuberant, joyful, playful, and unapologetic
On stage
Powerful, cheeky, and flirty soft butch lesbian with high confidence, performing in a sleeveless outfit with purple cargo pants, a Gucci belt, and keys on a carabiner
Pace
Indefatigable 'turned-up-to-11' energy with cartoonish physical movements, expressive eyes, and snappy cadence
About
Queer identity and soft butch culture, Family upbringing and body acceptance, Christianity and religious rituals, Sexual and romantic fantasies, Changes within the queer community

What the critics said

Paste Magazine praised it as an exuberant, joyful, and highly relatable celebration of queer life powered by unstoppable confidence, while audience reception noted her high-energy delivery can be polarizing

In the room: Rapturous and enthusiastic crowd, particularly resonating with queer viewers and clued-in allies

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: tv.apple.com, imdb.com, justwatch.com, pastemagazine.com, letterboxd.com, rottentomatoes.com.

Backstory

Released in June 2024 around Pride Month, centering on queer joy, personal growth, and community evolution without relying on trauma or political discourse

Details

Released
Runtime
57 min
Where
Prime Video
Director
Brian Volk-Weiss
Topics

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