Justin Sayre is an audacious writer, comedian, performer, and is currently a staff writer on the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls. He’s also appeared opposite Lisa Kudrow on HBO’s The Comeback. Well, he’s got a mission and he’s destined to complete it. He dissects issues of the LGBT community with what the New York Times calls his “deeply passionate soul and acerbic wit.”
Sayre’s debut comedy album The Gay Agenda – much of it selected from his longtime comedy show The Meeting at Joe’s Pub at New York’s Public Theater – has recently been released. On The Gay Agenda, Sayre presides as the Chairman of the International Order of Sodomites, the centuries-old organization that sets the actual Gay Agenda. The show has been a sell-out for years based on its reputation for outrageous humor, trailblazing political discourse and button-pushing cultural exploration.
Sayre’s celebrated comedy variety show The Meeting just kicked off its eighth and final season. He is perhaps best known for the video The New Hanky Code which you can watch right here.
His first young adult novel, Husky, was published in 2015 with a sequel hitting shelves in 2017. He is also creator and host of the annual Night of a Thousand Judys concert to honor Judy Garland and benefit the Ali Forney Center, the largest aid organization for homeless LGBT youth.
Sparkle & Circulate with Justin Sayre, the official podcast of the International Order of Sodomites, features interviews with Randy Harrison, Alaska 5000, Nellie McKay, Justin Vivian Bond, R&B legend Sarah Dash, was named among “10 Comedy Podcasts You Should Listen To” by Backstage. You can listen to episodes on iTunes right here.
Recently, we were able to spend some time the busy Sayre to discuss his final series of Meetings, what it’s like to have your words spoken on national television, and what it’s like to be catalogued next to George Carlin.
Your “Meeting” is a little different than most meetings that take place. How would you explain yours vs. what most of us would think of as one?
I would explain it this way. It’s a gay comedy variety show that I’ve been doing for a long long time. Haha, that’s about it. I like to leave it a little mysterious. I mean, it’s there.
A lot of awesome people have been a part of this show. How did this project come about?
Seven years ago now I wanted a place where we could talk about politics and culture. So I came up with this idea that we would do “The Meeting.” I pitched it to a few friends and asked if that was something they would buy a ticket to and if it would interest them at all. And they said, “Sure, we think you are funny, that’s something we’d pay $15 for.”
It was kind of a lark. I just said, “Ok, let’s see if this works.” And after the first two months, the Duplex – where we originated the show said, “We’d love to have you back. There’s nothing like this happening.” So we ended up doing a whole year there. And then it just kept happening. Eventually we moved to bigger venues and now we’ve done it all around the country. And I thought it was a great platform to bring in a lot of different kind of folks doing interesting things. The show has always had a sense of community at the core.
Seven years later, here we are for the eighth and final season, is that right?
Yes, this is it. The eighth and final season.
It must be bittersweet, but at the same time is it an exciting transition for you to wrap it up?
It is. It felt right to wrap things up. I think I’ve said what I needed to say with it and done what I needed to do. My life has certainly taken on very different parameters because of the show as well as some other projects. I’m very grateful for the show but I think it’s just time to say, “Ok, this part of it is done.” That’s not to say that I’m done performing. It just means this particular part is done. And I think you have to know when to get out. I’ve got to move on. And I’m very lucky there is a lot to move on to. I feel very good about it.
Speaking of new things, congratulations on The Gay Agenda, your brand new comedy album. Was this long overdue for you?
We (my producers Adam, Dan, and I), always wanted to do a comedy album because there was so much material that had sprung out of the show. And Dan especially really wanted to make it happen. He put a lot of great work into making it happen. It is a really nice time capsule of what the show has been and I think people are responding to it really well. And it is nice to kind of say, “Hey, I have a comedy album.” “Oh look, I’m George Carlin!” Which I’m not. Haha, I can dream at least.
Well, don’t sell yourself short. The album can be found in the same section of the record store as Carlin’s work.
There you go! The three record stores that are left these days.
Do you have good memories of going to the record store when they were a prominent thing? And what albums where you picking up when you were there?
Oh yes. I mean music and comedy were always a huge thing for me and still are. I have such an extensive music and comedy collection. If I like an artist, I want to hear everything they ever did. I want to know what their trajectory was, what ended up interesting them, and how they grew. When you watch someone like George Carlin who was doing characters and voices and then found his own niche when he started talking about politics still have this kind of polish in a very different way than everybody else, it’s fascinating.
Let’s jump into your writing career for a bit. You’ve written a book and you write on the television show 2 Broke Girls. Do you prefer to write in your own or someone else voice?
I actually prefer writing for somebody else to be honest. I like characters and finding other people’s patterns. I find that really exciting. The thing about writing for myself is I’m very aware of the things I can pull off. I know what jokes are going to work for me. Writing for myself almost feels like cheating.
What was it like the first time one the words you wrote were spoken on a national televised sit-com? Is that the same as having your song played on the radio?
It kind of is. It’s really amazing when someone like Jennifer Coolidge says your words. Or somebody like Kat Denning. It would be like writing a song but Whitney’s singing it. It really feels great. It’s been an amazing trip with the show. I’m writing jokes I never thought I would write. And at the same time I feel so proud. I’ve gone into a show that already existed and had a following and thought to myself, “I can do this, I can be a part of this.”
You do a podcast as well. Do you really have time for all of this?
Haha, yes.
Podcasting has really been a game changer for the entertainment industry. What do you love about the format so much?
I like all of the freedom. You can talk about anything that you want. You can be really specific. I mean, there’s a podcast my friend does that’s just all about the Gilmore Girls. It’s just about one show. They watch an episode and they discuss it. It’s amazing. And it’s very popular. I like that people can just create their own art and put their own spin on things and be so specific without apology or compromise. The thought behind my podcast was that it is a chance to have a place where I can do interviews with people that I really liked and admired. And even though I have guests, there’s really not a lot of interaction on it. We have five or six guests, I do my bits, and we do sketches. The podcast came out of that need to highlight and talk about other artists that I admire.
I didn’t realize how powerful podcasts really were when I got into them. It’s amazing how far of a reach it has. People quote things to me that I said in them months later. And they think that I’m in on the joke. Haha, like I even remember what I said yesterday let alone a month ago in a recording studio.
Let’s discuss what you do for the LGBTQ community. It’s really a great thing. You put on a benefit annually for the homeless LGBTQ youth. How did this come about?
Well, like I said earlier, the show has always been about community. So even after the first season when we weren’t even making any money, I said that I wanted to do a benefit for a gay organization. We set the tone of the show right off the bat that the show is fun and entertaining, but there is an undercurrent that we are trying to do something good here. So I looked up the Ali Forney Center who I had known about for a while. They are one of the largest organizations that houses and helps LGBTQ kids in New York. And they do really great work. It’s not just about getting kids placed into homes. It’s about getting them education and getting them health care. And giving them a place to get back on their feet after being abandoned or thrown out of their homes for being LGBTQ. That really struck a chord with me because those are the kids you don’t really hear about.
So what we developed out of this was a show called A Night of a Thousand Judys. We get performers to pick a Judy Garland song they like and present it in their own unique way. The show has never been about imitation, or doing it the way Judy did it. It’s been about who the performer is as an artist and what they bring to the material. And now we’ve been doing it for six years. It’s been an amazing and rewarding process. We get to honor an icon and raise a lot of money for something I’m very passionate about. It’s a thrill.
Well, you are using your powers for good. Congrats on all the success.
Thank you so much!
You can pick up Justin Sayre: The Gay Agenda right here. And be sure to pick up tickets to the final season of The Meeting at Joe’s Pub in New York City right here.
