Dana Goldberg: My Night With the President 

For comedian Dana Goldberg, the toughest act she's ever had to follow was President Obama.

Voted one of the top five lesbian comedians by Curve magazine, Goldberg is keeping her comedy dance card full these days. She performs regularly at Human Rights Campaign events and with Olivia Cruises and produces her own show, which brings some of the biggest names in female comedy to New Mexico every year.

She spoke with The Advocate about giving back to the LGBT community, why government should stay out of our bedrooms, and her brush with the president.

The Advocate: What was it like being raised in a Jewish household where two out of the three children were gay?
Dana Goldberg: It was insane. We kind of raised each other. We had moments of complete sibling abuse followed by tearing all of the cushions off of the couch, stripping down to our underwear, and dancing to Funky Town in the living room. My mom is a brilliant woman, someone who I would choose as a friend, who worked three jobs to raise us.

It sounds like it was an easy choice to be a comedian.
It was either that or years or psychotherapy! I thought I could make a little money instead of paying someone else to sort out my bullshit. I think for a lot of comics, it's a very public process. We have the ability to go and work out our own shit in front of an audience and let them laugh at us and for us to laugh at ourselves. My kindergarten teacher told my mother that I was the funniest 5-year-old that she had ever met. I don't know how that translates but apparently this is how I've always been. When you mix in the lesbianism with the Judaism, I've worked out a lot of stuff on stage.

You work a lot of cruises. It's the one comedy venue where your audience still surrounds you long after the show is over. Any good stories?
I've been with Olivia Cruises since 2006 and have had some amazing trips, but it's true that you are with your audience all week, so you are always on. I actually enjoy talking to the guests. I want people to feel like they have access to me. Some of my best friends now, I've met on these trips. I did have one bad experience once. In my act, I have a joke about vegetarians not having a lot of energy, which I know is not true. It's a comedy show. I come back from work that night, and it is work. It's my job. This guest who was a doctor felt the need to write me a letter about how I don't support or don't promote a healthy lifestyle. He just tore me apart. I was so upset that someone felt the need -- and the right, after I had a long day -- to write me a letter, not hand it to me but give it to the front desk and have them place it on my bed. I can't imagine that doctor would've liked to have come home with a message from the medical board saying we want to talk to you about your work. There's a patient who complained.

Let's talk about the Southwest FunnyFest. You're attracting some of the best female comics (Erin Foley, Jessica Kirson, Fortune Feimster) to Albuquerque. What got you interested in producing your own show?
I went to audition for this show that I had seen come through Albuquerque called Funny Lesbians For a Change, which raised higher education scholarships for women. When I was younger, Suzanne Westenhoefer headlined the show and I remember sitting there thinking, "I would love to do this." She was so funny. The show later went defunct and I wanted to start another show. I thought, what if I could bring four female comics who don't get the stage time together normally because women don't get nationally booked on a bill together? My colleagues have all come down to perform, at a fraction of what they normally make, to help me raise money for the AIDS Foundation in New Mexico. Over the last five years, we've raised over $15,000 for the organization. Olivia Cruises came on as a sponsor and we raffle off free trips. This year, it'll be Alaska. I've been very fortunate that it's had a lot of success.

You do a lot of shows to benefit HRC and AIDS awareness. Do you do it for the food?
The food is amazing. It's better than Jewish food. I decided to come out at the beginning of my career so the community has always supported me. Why would I not want to give back to the community that supported my dream? When I got involved with HRC, it was kind of an accident. I had been asked to do an L Word premiere in Austin by a friend who was involved in HRC. I did a comedy set in front of a packed house before the last episode of the last season. There was someone there from San Francisco and they asked me to do a black-tie event. They needed a live auctioneer. Any comic will tell you that a live auction is one of the worst possible things you can do. No one is listening. You don't get a chance to show your craft. But I did it pro bono. So I fly to San Francisco and I'm in a dress and I'm the Belle of the Ball and I walked on the stage and started channeling a live auctioneer. I ripped through five items in a matter of minutes telling jokes. I was in some crazy zone. There was a cruise from Olivia being given away and I was like, "Lesbians, if you're on a first date, now's a perfect time to plan a vacation together!" I get offstage and people are high-fiving me in the audience. At the end of the dinner, [HRC president] Joe Solmonese came up to me and said I want you in Washington, D.C. for the National Dinner.

The Obama, Lady Gaga National Dinner?
Yes! Obama spoke and of course you are blown away. And then yeah, I get called up and step onstage afterwards and was like umm...

The president is a tough act to follow.
My mother was like, "so Obama opened for you." Um, I wouldn't go that far. But if you want to say that I opened for Lady Gaga, that's fine.

It's been a huge month for marriage equality in several states. What would you say to Chris Christie to change his mind about vetoing marriage equality in New Jersey?
I think it's so strange that someone is taking so much time out of their lives to intentionally keep two people who love each other from getting married. The energy being put into hate shocks me. These are people who want to fight for less government but who want the government to be in our bedrooms. On an economic note, all of these states that are broke, for them as a capitalistic society to not realize how powerful the gay dollar is and what it can actually do for the community blows my mind. It's all about people's fear driving their political decisions. It kills me too that, God rest her soul, but they are lowering flags at half-mast for Whitney Houston while fighting against civil rights for another group. It's hypocritical and makes no sense. This is all happening the same week. In a state that is going to lower a flag for a citizen of that state and then tell another citizen that they can't have equal rights, trips me out.