For female comedians, it’s a little more complicated, since the business is a lot tougher on them. The late Joan Rivers said she had plenty of “false starts” in the beginning, and that it was tough to be a fairly good-looking woman and also funny.
When it comes to Brittany Brave, who will make her Phoenix debut at the Desert Ridge Improv on Feb. 25, the journey has been a tumultuous one, not because her talent is lacking — her accolades include Miami New Times’ Best Comedian award and Best New Comic at the NY Comedy Festival — but because her personal life was so demanding.
Brave is forthcoming about a wide range of topics, including the abusive relationship she left and her views on abortion (she’d had two). These topics and others are worked into her set, maybe as a form of self-therapy, but mostly because she knows other people can relate, and if they can’t, well, she couldn’t care less. As she says, “It’s the intent behind the punchline.”
During a recent chat, we asked Brave some tough questions, and she laid it all out on the table. Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
Phoenix New Times: In another interview you did, you mentioned that your abusive ex was a Scorpio, so I gotta tell you: I’m a Scorpio. But I’m a gay Scorpio. Does that count?
Brittany Brave: Yes, it does. It counts. But you’re not my problem. So that’s OK.
Do you believe in karma? Do you think your ex will ever understand what he did to you and truly regret it?
You know, I like that you’re coming out of the gate asking the pressing questions. With my abuser and my act, I have to think that living in his tortured soul is enough karma — whether he realizes it or not — because he was a very sad person with a lot of demons. I have to think that that’s enough. That being said, it used to frustrate me quite a bit that he always landed on his feet. I always thought, “he’s such an asshole. He lies to people. He steals, he hurts people and he always had a way of figuring it out and landing on his feet and getting the gig or getting a second chance.” That’s what therapy is for: learning to move forward. Whether he gets his or not, it’s about me, moving forward.
I love your spirit. I was watching your reel on YouTube and I didn’t know you do both stand-up and film. Which are you more comfortable with?
Always more comfortable on the stage. It’s a very bizarre thing, but I feel at home and at ease in front of 300 strangers that I don’t know, bearing my life and my soul. And I feel more comfortable doing that than I do going on a date and being one-on-one with somebody. There’s only a handful of people I can do one-on-one with in my life. … I feel very comfortable on camera as well, too. But it comes second to the stage.
Were you the class clown in school?
I was a repressed, class clown. I was class president. I have very supportive parents who I used to force to watch shows with me and I would put them through my impressions and imitate my favorite movies.
What did they think of you doing comedy as a career?
We have since reconciled this, by the way, but they were not very supportive of the idea of me pursuing comedy. They’re second-generation Italian-Americans who grew up really poor and both gave up their dreams for security and to become parents. We talked about this in therapy and together, and it’s all good to talk about it. But they held me back for a little bit because they told me, “Go to New York and become a comedian, you’ll never succeed. You’re gonna suffer, you’re gonna struggle.”
And so growing up, I was valedictorian, class president and a goody two-shoes. And what happened was that the rubber band broke. I dated a monster for three years. I became detached from my family. I had two abortions. My drug use was high. I was rebelling in the way that I needed to because I was so tightly wound and not who I was. I always wanted to be the class clown, but I got forced to be the class president.
I’m sorry about all that. Men can be very harmfully dominant at times.
I’m really not man-hating. I run a show called Bad Bitch Brunch and it’s an all-female and queer lineup. It’s so fun. It’s ratchet, it’s crazy. It’s highly sex-positive and freeing. I make it clear we’re not man-hating, but I also make it clear that I want the good men.
How did winning Best Comedian from Miami New times and NY Comedy Festival’s Best New Comic force you to reflect on your past achievements?
It was validating and it’s great, but I will tell you in full transparency: I’ve won a couple of those accolades now in Miami and I’m so grateful, but I’m also feeling really restless about what’s next. I’m making a documentary about the Miami comedy scene. I love it and I’m so proud of it. But I (also think), “When do I leave? Should I stay or should I go? Have I peaked? Is it time to go back to New York?” So those accolades are great. I think we should all take them with a grain of salt and as the thing to get us to the next thing because you could be Miami’s best comedian today and Miami’s most hated comedian tomorrow. And I feel like I’ve been both.
Are there some boundaries you won’t cross in your act?
I think that inherently in choosing to be a comedian, if you aspire to be a good one, you will end up crossing a boundary and upsetting someone and ruffling a feather. I do believe that you should always punch up in the sense that it’s always best to make material about yourself and your experiences. It’s always best to make material about things that you have agency to talk about.
And I think you can tell the intent behind a joke really quickly. You can tell when someone is trying to make an observation about a situation, and it might feel harsh to some people, but it’s coming from a good place and they’re trying to point something out. And then I think you can tell when it’s just like a poorly crafted joke and, it’s coming from a more personal place and there’s a bias to it or a hatred to it.
You have never performed in Phoenix before. Why are you bringing your show here now?
I’ve had a good amount of my fan base ask about Phoenix or ask about Arizona in general. So that was in the back of my mind. And ironically enough, I also used to represent a couple of music clients that were based in Phoenix. So, I have friends and former co-workers there as well, too. I have a great relationship with the improv down here, the Dania Improv and the Miami Improv. And I love them. They love me. We have a really great rapport, and they said, “Hey, we have a property in Desert Ridge. Can we offer you a weekend and a show of yours?” And I said, “Sure!”
What’s next for you?
I’m about to start a podcast very soon and a documentary coming out in 2025. It’s a nice review of the past, present and future of Miami comedy and where my story is taking me and a couple other main characters. I’m making this documentary to bring something to the industry because they won’t come to us. That’s kind of where I’m at. It’s very exciting. The main thing is I would love for people to come see me live, and I’m honestly really jazzed for Phoenix.
Brittany Brave: 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25. Desert Ridge Improv Comedy Theatre, 21001 N. Tatum Blvd. General admission is $20. For more information, check out their website.
Timothy Rawles
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