Biography
Since the early 1990s Suzanne Westenhoefer steadily climbed the ladder of American stand-up by treating gay and lesbian themes with equal measures of warmth and biting sarcasm. She relocated to New York City in hopes of an acting career and soon began performing at open-mic nights across town. That candid, unflinching treatment of gay subject matter quickly earned her the nickname “the gay girl in straight clubs.” In 1991 a producer for The Sally Jesse Raphael Show invited her to appear on an episode titled “Lesbians Who Don't Look Like Lesbians,” after which she made additional television appearances on Comedy Central and Politically Incorrect. Her profile continued to rise at a measured pace until she headlined her own HBO special, which received an ACE Award nomination. Before long she was touring the United States at a rate of more than one hundred shows annually; in 1997 she issued the album Nothing in My Closet but My Clothes on Uproar. The recording captured the Best Comedy CD prize at the Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards (GLAMA). Her follow-up, I'm Not Cindy Brady, appeared on the same label in 2000 and likewise earned the GLAMA for Best Comedy CD.