Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support the IDS in College Media Madness! Donate here March 24 - April 8.
Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

arts

Comedian Guy Branum to headline Comedy Attic this weekend

entGuyBranumfeature020520.jpg

When it comes to political solutions, comedian Guy Branum said he can’t give his audience answers. He can, however, give them jokes.

Branum is headlining five shows at the Comedy Attic this week at 8 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

Branum said he focuses on topics that he has strong reactions to, whether it be politics or his own life.

“At the end of the day, it’s about passion,” Branum said. “Having a strong feeling is the first step to having something insightful to say.”

Branum is the creator and host of truTV’s “Talk Show The Game Show”, the host of a recurring segment “No More Mr. Nice Gay” on FX’s “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell”, plays the  “staff homosexual” on E!’s “Chelsea Lately” and Natalie Portman’s sassy gay friend in the film “No Strings Attached”.

He has also written op-ed pieces for the New York Times and Vulture magazine, commenting on social media, gay culture and gender discrepancies in comedy.

“Comedy makes us think about the issues in our lives in a different way,” Branum said. “At its best, it is making us examine the ideas that we have.”

Jared Thompson, owner of the Comedy Attic, said he first noticed Branum when he read an article Branum wrote critiquing gender and race hierarchies in comedy.

“I look at Guy as someone who has a monumentally important voice in comedy,” Thompson said. “He is very well spoken, intelligent and funny. He has everything I look for when booking a comedian.”

This will be Branum's third time headlining in Bloomington. Branum said he values the social and political diversity in Bloomington, calling it a "a beautiful spot of blue in a state that is, at its best, purple."

"I always make the joke that I'm only comfortable being in Indiana if I am within eye-line of a Planned Parenthood," Branum said.

Despite conversation on more serious topics in his shows, Branum said he doesn’t think comedy should be taken too seriously.

“Comedy is a process of questioning,” he said. “It’s a process of problematizing. The best jokes make you look at something in a different way.”

Tickets, ranging from $10 to $15, can be purchased on the Comedy Attic website.

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe