This summer, Fathom Events and Comedy Dynamics presents a series of stand-ups by more than 15 LGTBQ comedians in a one-night movie event, "OUT on Stage." The movie will premiere across the country in more than 250 selected theatres on Tuesday, July 24.
Fathom Events, owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. is the leading event cinema distributor along with its participating theatres in the top Designated Market Areas® ranking as one of the largest distributors of content to movie theatres across the world. Comedy Dynamics, a Nacelle company, is one of the largest independent comedy production companies also known for working comedic talent, Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, Kat Williams and more.
The movie features Chicago-born lesbian stand-up comedian, actor and writer Irene Tu, 25, who has appeared in comedy segments with W. Kamau Bell and Anthony Jeselnik, and performed at SF Sketchfest ( 2017, 2018 ), Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Cluster Fest, RIOT LA and Outside Lands. Tu has taken her talents to the San Francisco Bay area, where she continues her success as a comedian and comedy writer.
"When I was in high school I really liked Ellen and I thought she was super funny and I learned that she started doing comedy by doing stand-up so I took a stand-up class in Chicago then stared doing improve," Tu told Windy City Times.
Hosted by comedian and writer Zach Noe TowersOUT Magazine's "One of the 10 comedians to watch in 2018."
The cast includes Jonathan Rowell, A.B. Cassidy, Casey Ley, Julian Michael, Chris Bryant, Eric Hahn, Janine Brito, Jared Goldstein, Kyle Shire, Jordan Pease, Irene Tu, Raineir Pollard, Daniel Webb, Anthony Desamto, Gloria Bigelow and Joe Dosch.
Tu said that everyone on set had an opportunity to perform an eight-to-10-minute stand-up, and that she is excited to see everyone's performance and which part of her performance was chosen.
"I'm really interested to see what happens in itI'm not really sure," Tu said. "But it'll be cool definitely to see a ton of gay comedians and their variety of material because we're all not the same so it'll be cool to see we all have different views."
Tu has used her gift in comedy to break down barriers in the LGBTQ community telling individuals identity is intersectional.
"It's very complex, we're all not just one thing," Tu said. "We're a lot of different things, I identify as a woman and queer and also Asian all that same time."
Tu now living in the bay area runs a monthly comedy show that is centered around women and queer comedians, featuring mostly queer comedians all women. Tu also hopes to develop her own movie showcasing queer comedians and their talents.
Tu said that even after the movie she will continue to perform more stand-ups. "It's definitely validating to see yourself on screen. ... It's another marker that you've accomplished a thing," Tu said.
For more information on how to find your local theater that will be premiering the movie, visit FathomEvents.com . Tickets are also sold online.