Gay For Pay with Blake and Clay: laugh until it hurts
20 Nov 2022

by Drew Rowsome - Photos by Kevin Connery  

Blake and Clay bound, bounce, flounce and gyrate into the seminar room to the blaring strains of, of course, "Born This Way." Being slick pitchmen, and highly successful actors themselves, they immediately launch into a high energy crash course to teach us heterosexual male aspiring actors how to effectively and realistically play gay. They provide examples of how playing gay is a sure fire way to win awards and garner critical acclaim. There may be "no greater challenge than bravely playing the gay," but Blake and Clay will prepare us with sections on queer terminology, the gay roles that are available, and a beginners guide to gay sex. A very valuable evening for fame hungry straight male thespians.

And for theatre goers who may not be heterosexual, male or of the actorly persuasion. Gay For Pay with Blake and Clay is a whirlwind. The first two-thirds are quite simply the most uproariously funny period of time I have ever spent in a theatre. One-liners pile on one-liners with a speed that the most skilled of stand-ups would envy. Getting an audience to laugh is one thing, doing so while being viciously satirical on multiple levels while injecting a healthy does of social commentary is another. The script by Curtis Campbell and Daniel Krolik not only takes aim at gay representation, gay persecution and gays themselves, it also devastates most of popular culture, the acting profession, theatre and film history, evangelical pitchmen, and the foibles of gay culture. Lovingly. We gays all know we are ridiculous at times, but we are fabulous always. 

Of course a comic romp at that fast a clip, risks audience exhaustion despite repeated sustained hearty laughter being a good workout for the abs. So a deliberately mediocre demonstration sketch ends with the one predictable joke in the entire show. Seizing the opportunity for momentarily more sombre and serious moments, Blake and Clay drive the themes home with antic cartoon sledgehammers. High camp doesn't need subtlety to make its point while simultaneously tugging at our emotions and continuing the tickle of the funny bone. The best comedy is filled with anger and rage and while Blake and Clay have the audience weak with laughter, they also ignite a righteous fire. And then we laugh at our own impotent indignation. Though I am sorely temptated to just type out a few dozen of the best one-liners I have to resist, Gay For Pay with Blake and Clay MUST be experienced for maximum hilarity. The reason for that is the performances by Daniel Krolik (Box 4901, We Say Such Terrible Things) and Jonathan Wilson (My Night with Reg, The Normal Heart).

The two function in perfect synchronicity, feeding off each other and bouncing the energy back and forth before flinging it into the audience. Blake and Clay's slick presentation, the hard sell, slowly reveals the cracks papered over with sequins and dazzle, and the empathy that radiates between the duo is astonishingly touching. Krolik takes a more blustery approach with a boundless energy and an intense passion. He wants us to succeed playing gay as much as he wants to succeed playing, well, anything. Wilson is more aware, each line followed by an arch nod and a literal twinkle in his eyes. While Krolik is preaching and convincing himself as well as us to believe, Wilson is slightly outside, guarded by a wall of Catskill-inflected camp. Krolik's big moment is apocalyptic, Wilson's slices like a knife. We finally see actors actually playing gay, full well-rounded realistic characters, exactly what Blake and Clay have promised to teach us.