Dancing About Architecture sat down this week to talk dirty gay stuff with podcaster/comedian/musician/producer Jonny McGovern, from Logo's Big Gay Sketch Show, and creator of one of YouTube's first viral music videos, "Soccer Practice." We talked Hollywood, podcasting, music and, most of all, lollipops that turn into men's junk.
DAA: As a fan of your past releases, I have to ask, your music has really evolved over the years since your hit "Soccer Practice." How do you create funny pop music while not verging on silly and keeping it right up there with the best Top 40 tunes around?
Jonny McGovern: Usually when I am working on an album there's a type of music that I'm inspired by that infuses itself into the tracks that I'm working on. For the dirty gay hits CD I was really feeling that "Britney-'N Snyc" teen pop era. For Gays Gone Wild it was underground house and Miami bootybass. For the new record I'm working in it's a mix of '70s soul and today's confessional R&B. I like to wrap all the dirty jokes that are my songs in candy-coated radio-ready sounds so at first ya think it's just a regular old jam, but when you start to listen to the words your like, "wait a minute did he just sing 'girl I fucked yer boyfriend?' " It's like giving out lollipops and after you lick 'em for minute hey turn out to be cocks. Delicious candy-coated cocks!
DAA: You've moved your podcast, Gay Pimpin With Jonny McGovern, to Hollywood and assembled a new cast with what appears to be remarkable ease. Was assembling the new cast as organic as it sounds or just happy accidental chemistry?
JM: It was pretty organic. I knew who I wanted to be a part of the Hollywood version. For the podcast to work and the comedy magic to happen the rapport between me and the cast has to be really natural because the show is totally unscripted and we all need to be able to vibe off each other. Julie Goldman, Brandy, Michael Serrato, Nadya Ginsberg and Calpernia Addams are all hilarious, great peeps and had all been semi-regular guests on the NYC version of the show, so they knew how it worked and we have great chemistry in real life. So I HOPED it would work ... but you never know until you put everyone together if it's gonna spark. Plus the NYC cast was so beloved by the fans that it did make me nervous to have to start it all again from scratch. But once we got in the studio, things just clicked. The response has been amazing and doing the HOLLYWOOD version of the show is a blast ... it's new but still has that same old faggoty, fun feeling.
DAA: How are you finding the boys in LA vs. NYC?
JM: Because NYC is such a walking city you run into a lot more hotness on a daily basis ... but LA certainly has its share of hot ass men. You just have to seek them out.
DAA: You have a show at Roscoe's on the 28th with your Big Gay Sketch Show co-star Julie Goldman. Will you two be doing anything from the TV show or are they more of your own concepts?
JM: Were doing what we do best—gay-ass comedy and gay-ass songs. Plus were gonna premiere a special collaboration we made just for our Chicago show at Roscoe's. Julie is amazing and the show is gonna be a gay-lez explosion of fun!
DAA: Will fans of your #1 podcast, Gay Pimpin' With Jonny McGovern, find familiar characters and reference points?
JM: Oh yes, they will! A lot of my stand-up ideas are generated from the crazy thangs and ideas we discuss on the show. Plus I'll be doing songs from my new record and of course a dirty gay or two!
Learn more about Jonny at www.gaypimp.com . Jonny's show with Julie Goldman is at 9 p.m., Thurs., October 28 at Roscoe's.
