“I'm the kind of person you go, 'Oh my God you look so familiar, oh I know your name, I know you're name,'" explains Jason Stuart. Yet enough people know him by name to keep this comic steadily booked in comedy clubs across the country. He's currently touring with his Looking For Mr. Right show and this month LOGO cable watchers can catch highlights of his act on Wisecrack alongside comedienne Margaret Cho.

But more and more, Stuart's working steadily as an actor in films and network television (My Wife and Kids, Will & Grace, George Lopez, and House). Queer audiences know him from a string of very indie gay-themed films like 10 Attitudes (a film he co-produced and starred in) and Coffee Date co-starring Wilson Cruz. AfterElton.com recently caught up with the self-deprecating actor/comic while he was busy running errands in preparation for his “39th” birthday. Like a good Jewish son, he had his mother Gloria in tow to help pick out the food and miscellaneous accoutrements.

AfterElton.com: You have a TV special that's in the works called Making it to the Middle. What does that really mean in terms of your career?
Jason Stuart: It's an interesting thing for me because I never thought that I was going to be in the middle. It never occurred to me. I thought I was going to a big fat failure or a big, wonderful success. So it's something to deal with all the time.

AE: What are you finding as far as getting cast?
JS: It's very rarely easy. Coffee Date was incredibly easy.

AE: Have your offers changed over the years? Do you primarily audition for gay parts?
JS: Most of my parts probably go into three or four different categories: funny gay guy; managers, always playing the manager of something – I'm in charge but no one will listen to me (laughs); and since My Wife and Kids I've auditioned for some shrinks and the kind of emotional doctors. I played a veterinarian, and then I'm slowly moving into villains and bad guys. That's sort of a goal for me.

AE: Actors always say villains are the most fun to play.
JS: Yeah and also there's a lot of them. There aren't a lot of funny gay guy roles and half the time they're played by straight guys.

AE: What was the light bulb moment for you that you decided to be out professionally?
JS: I think it was the exhaustion of the lying. I would go on the road as a comedian and I'd have to be very quiet about where I could go. I'd have to spend a hundred bucks on a cab to go someplace because I couldn't ask someone to drive me there because I didn't want them to know where I was going.

AE: You mean to a gay bar?
JS: Yes. It was all so secret.

AE: As far as the comedy world, it seems primarily the domain of straight guys.
JS: Oh, it's a very straight guy's world. There's only a couple of us that actually do mainstream comedy clubs.

AE: How do the straight comics act towards you?
JS: I have a couple straight comedian friends.

AE: Is being a comedian similar to how when you meet gay people anywhere you have this instant friendship, this unofficial bond?
JS: Yes, very much so. If you work with someone for a week, especially before I was big enough--as a comic--to get a hotel room. I used to share these condos, so you spend a whole week with them and it's like a very long date (laughs) of sorts.

AE: Do you get your sense of humor from your Mom?
JS: Oh, definitely. She was very funny growing up. And very sexy. And I hope I'm the same.

AE: Who is your favorite gay TV character from the past?
JS: Oh, Paul Lynde hands down.

AE: On Bewitched? On Hollywood Squares?
JS: Yeah, Paul Lynde on Bewitched. There's nobody funnier.

AE: Have you patterned any of your humor after him?
JS: In a way, yes. The sarcasticness.

AE: Who else has influenced your comedy?
JS: Joan Rivers, Lily Tomlin very much so, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason.

Page 1 / 2 / 3 - Next