Queer Comedy Collective presents : Forest & Friends Comedy Night

Forest & Friends Comedy Night is a brand-new monthly comedy showcase presented by Queer Comedy Collective and Capital City Pride. Hosted by the quick-witted and community-fueled comedian Forest Ember, this show brings together some of the funniest queer and queer-adjacent talent from Olympia and beyond. 

The laughs kick off at 7:30 PM sharp with a stellar lineup of stand-up, storytelling, and unfiltered hilarity featuring:

Jay Spivak - Jay Spivak is a comedian and musician, and is performing all the time. They're really, really performative, and it's problematic. We're going to confront them about it. They grew up in Olympia and have been making jokes and songs since they were 5 years old. Hopefully, the songs and jokes they make now are better than a 5-year-old can do. We'll see. 5-year-olds are pretty funny. 

JoJo Blacco -JoJo was born in and sculpted by the loud-mouth south, specifically Jackson, Mississippi. They’re a proud non-binary member of the LGBTQ+ community and uses their love of writing and transparency to alleviate the general awkwardness of being a non-binary black comedian in a space where that isn’t common. They use pop culture and current events as a tool to better illustrate their brand of comedy and even placed top 3 in the 2024 Funniest MF Competition at Nate Jackson’s Super Funny Comedy Club in Tacoma, WA. JoJo has also competed in and won the Roastamania Roast Battle, along with other local comedy-sponsored roasts in the PNW area. JoJo’s energy on stage can best be described as if the '90s were honest about how gay they were.

Joe John Sanchez III - Joe John Sanchez III is a delusional baby angel who was plucked down from heaven to torment the world with demented, queer humor. Based in Portland, they were voted one of Willamette Week’s Funniest Five and appeared on the Portland Mercury’s Undisputable Geniuses of Comedy. They are a stand-up comedy instructor at Curious Comedy Theater, and they do “too much” as the producer of Fluid Comedy, Exquisite Nonsense, Defiant Joy, and the clothing-optional show Laugh Your Clothes Off. Across the country, they’ve performed at SF Sketchfest, the LGBTLOL Queer Comedy Fest, Burbank Comedy Festival, and the West Coast leg of the historic all-trans Here To Pee comedy tour. Technically, they were seen on HBO and Netflix if you count a 2008 episode of Gossip Girl, where you can see them texting in a hallway behind Leighton Meester.

Andy Iwancio -  Andy is a trans gal comedian from Seattle (by way of Baltimore). With her ten years of comedy, she brings a witty, sardonic, and slightly profane style to her jokes about navigating marriage, having a disability, and, most importantly, boob puns. In 2023, her comedy EP “Hard Trans”, released on Radland Records, debuted at #2 on the iTunes comedy chart. Her full-length comedy album “Better Living Through Femmistry” was released on the legendary label K*ll Rock Stars in 2024, charting at #3 on the iTunes comedy chart and #1 on the Amazon comedy chart. She has opened for Kyle Kinane, Whitmer Thomas, James Adomian, Gareth Reynolds, and Cameron Esposito. Festival-wise, she has done Bumbershoot, SF Sketchfest, Women in Comedy NW, Upper Left, Festival, Altercation, and All-Jane. She also appeared in the HUMP! film-festival award-winning film "Queer Safari" and the Emmy award-winning movie "Star Wars Uncut". She was also a past Comic of the Week on the “Jackie & Laurie”. You also may have heard her as a guest on many podcasts, including “The Sarah Silverman Podcast”, “Bananas with Kurt Braunholer & Scotty Landes”,“Improv4Humans with Matt Besser”, and “Lady 2 Lady with Brandie Posey, Tess Barker, and Barbara Gray”.

"She’s a real cool lady" --Horatio Sanz (SNL)

"She's really funny. Her last name has a lot of vowels too." --Laurie Kilmartin (CONAN)

“Awesome.” - -Kyle Kinane (Comedy Central)

Andy Iwancio is also our DJ this month!! - Complete with a second bio! - Andy is a deejay from Seattle, by way of Baltimore, whose 20+ year career has made her a staple of rave scenes on both coasts, as well as helping found “mudpieluv,” one of the longest running female-led crews in the country. She has shared her love of bright, vocal-heavy, sometimes fast, dance music as a part of legendary queer dance crews “Blowpony” and “Butch Queen” too. For the last 10 years, she has taught deejaying to youth, as well as trans/nb adults. This self-proclaimed “rave grandma” still finds time to tour as a comedian and deejay to this day.

Once the comedy wraps at 9 PM, the night keeps rolling with a DJ set and dancing “’til whatevs.” Whether you’re here for belly laughs, fresh talent, or a sweaty dance floor, Forest & Friends has it all in one joyful, community-centered space. 

Bring your crew, your boo, or just your beautiful self—this is where queer joy, comedy, and connection collide.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Forest E. I. Ember