Thee Gay Agenda started putting on comedy/variety shows in Austin in 2019. “Our first show was on the floor of a little clothing shop,” says creator and MC Emmet Hunker. “It was just stand-up comedy and we filled up the place more than we thought we would. Definitely broke fire code. And to us that showed us people wanted more.”
Then by March of 2020, Covid lockdowns meant that you couldn’t just cram people into clothing shops for comedy shows anymore and they had to pivot a bit. “We were doing really frequent virtual shows,” Hunker says. “[And] we created a blog. We were doing all these things.”
Eventually Thee Gay Agenda was able to start in-person shows again, while still being very cautious with their audience’s health and safety. “We still take COVID and the pandemic and its effect on the community – especially the immunocompromised community – seriously,” Hunker says. “So, as of now, our rule of thumb is if we have an indoor show, then one of the nights is going to be dedicated to required mask usage.” That's the case with their upcoming two-night run; Thursday is masks-required and Friday is not.
“Thee Gay Agenda, the purpose of naming it that is because the phrase came out of, you know, Christian conservatives who were terrified of queer culture and its effect on family values and tradition,” Hunker says. “And so the queer community in modern times has been able to reclaim that and be like, oh yeah, our behavior does subvert societal norms. Our behavior does encourage people to think beyond what they might have been born into and are expected to do. So it's both truly a mission statement and also just a funny, funny story.”
Is there also an origin story for the extra ‘e’ in Thee Gay Agenda? “We did start with one ‘e’ and then I saw that it was trademarked by somebody else and I said, you know what, we're just gonna slap another ‘e’ on there and call it original and absolutely legally valid,” Hunker says, adding, “I don't know who came up first, Thee Gay Agenda or Megan Thee Stallion, but I won't go on record and say it was us, but we can do some Googling.” A quick Google search reveals that Megan Thee Stallion’s first EP came out in 2017, two years before Thee Gay Agenda started doing shows, but who’s counting?
In the case of Hunker and the show they created, their main agenda is bringing more fun, silliness, and connection into the world. “Our Gay Agenda is a queer variety show. It's always going to be comedy centric. So we have some comedians but we also like to bring in other art forms. There's going to be drag performance, there's going to be dance. And the artists we like to bring in are those who really commit to the bit – like they are down to take on the persona. They're down to be silly. They're down to act a fool because that just brings the energy that ensures everybody's going to get into it.”
The next show presented by Thee Gay Agenda is ‘Best in Show,’ inspired by the 2000 Christopher Guest comedy about the world of dog shows. “We were throwing a lot of ideas onto the board,” Hunker says. “Someone brought up a ‘Best in Show’ dog show variety show and we all just loved it. It's cute. It's campy. It's silly. And there's a lot of potential for how we can make it come to life, and of course there's dressing up! Everyone will be encouraged to dress up as the animal of their choosing. We like for people to be as immersed as possible into the theme of the show. So this seems [like] a really fun one to make that happen.”
Again, the agenda of Thee Gay Agenda is to give audiences a silly good time. “I hope that [audiences] laugh,” Hunker says. “I hope that they [are] inspired to be a little more silly in their daily lives. And I also hope they genuinely feel more connected to community. I want people who attend to feel connected and supported and like they belong in the Austin queer community.”
Thee Gay Agenda presents 'Best in Show' August 29 and 30 at CRASHBOX.
