Laughter takes center stage at Lifeworks benefit

Oh my God.

It felt so good to laugh last night, to laugh at the jokes from a gifted group of comics who were smart, beyond edgy and really animated.

The occasion was the Laugh Out Loud benefit show at The Comedy Store on Sunset (don’t tell anyone that I parked at the Rite Aid and walked on over) for the terrific Lifeworks Mentoring program that works to empower LGBT youth ages 14-24.

The smart and handsome Michael Ferrera, the organization’s executive director and co-founder greeted the sellout crowd and promised not to tell any jokes. He  said the goal is to help the youth “reach all of their goals and dreams.”

“They’re not homeless, they’re not necessarily in crisis,” he said. “But they’re on the edge and without our help, without the help of the older folks in our community mentoring them, they could wind up in crisis.”

I sat with my friends Jim Key, director of communications for the LA Gay & Lesbian Center  and television journalist Derrick Shore. Also chatted with actors Doug Spearman and David Millbern radio personality Cary Harrison, and also spotted actor-director-writer Peter Paige and producer Jd Disalvatore.

What a line-up! Miss Coco Peru, Tony Tripoli (pictured below), Judy Tenuta, Scott Thompson, Jason Stuart (pictured above), Diana Yanaz and Alec Mapa. I’d love to share with you a lot more of the material than I am but it is just too dirty and very, very politically incorrect. Here are some the highlights that I’ve decided are semi fit to print:

Coco Peru: “The way the world is moving along I think we could all use a good laugh…before we know it, we walk out that door and it’s right back to reality. Don’t you just hate reality? I do. You know what I hate most about reality? People! People annoy me. Pretty much anyone outside this club annoys the shit out of me!”

Tony Tripoli: “I did something recently that I never thought I would do and that is (work) a gay cruise. It’s not that I don’t like cruises, I just don’t really like gay people. What I mean is in a group. It doesn’t take more than like four of us to fix your apartment or give you a new hairdo. Any more than that and nothing good is going to come from it…What do think was the first thing (the staff) showed me? The gym. Then I realized, on a straight vacation you wouldn’t care about the gym but on a gaycation, you need to know where the gym is so you can maintain the illusion that you’re not just that thin from all the Meth.”

Judy Tenuta ripped on Octomom: “That whore! Would someone please shut that octopussy? I’m sorry! It’s not a damned clown car. Sew it up, bitch!” She also touched on politics: “Isn’t it great that we finally have a president who can complete a sentence without buying a vowel? Everybody was getting on Obama’s case last week because he was on Leno and he (said) ‘I’m not such a great bowler, it’s like I’m in the Special Olympics.’ But when you think about it, George W. Bush never apologiuzed for running this country lime a big retard!”

Jason Stuart: “I read in the paper the other day that only 1 percent of the country is gay and if that’s true I’ve slept with everyone. And they know who they are! ” He riffed on Oprah Winfrey: “I love Oprah, I watch her all the time. One of my favorite episodes was when Madonna was on. The whole country was really mad because Madonna had adopted this African child. So Oprah, being the fabulous person that she is, gave everyone in the audience a little Black child under their seat.” He talked about his love life: “I’m trying to date now. I look around the room and there’s all these gorgeous guys and I think to myself: “Oh God, where’s my date rape drug when I need it?”

Diana Yanaz: “My mother when I came out was like, ‘I didn’t know! I didn’t know!’ I said, ‘How could you not know? I used to walk around the house pretending to be THE FONZ!” Remember Maryann from Gilligan’s Island in those real short Daisy Duke (shorts)? I would have traded in all of my GI Joes for just one taste of the coconut creme pie. … Remember the Flintstones vitamins? All the kids wanted to eat Dino. I wanted to eat Wilma!”

Alec Mapa: He was the most outrageous of them all and therefore, made you laugh so hard you cried. I can’t print hardly any of it! But here are a few bits and pieces: “If I wasn’t already happily married, I would have sex with each and every one of you. My ass would be the Bermuda Triangle…I talk about sex a lot and it’s not that I need to be provocative or vulgar. I just think we have a lot of collective shame in the gay community when it comes to our sexuality. Like we even put each other down about it. Like you’ll see a really hot guy crossing a club floor and he’ll look all cute and everything and somebody will (make sniffing noise and say) ‘Bottom!’ Like that’s the worst thing you could ever possible be. No, the worst thing you could ever possibly be is ashamed.”

(Photos by Michael Buckner/Getty Images North America)