Maybe you’ve heard of “Dyking Out,” the podcast where host Carolyn Bergier and new co-host Melody Kamali bring on a guest and ask them to dyke out for about an hour. Considering it’s been around since 2017, now touts over 120 episodes on iTunes, and is one of the top queer lady podcasts around, odds are good you have heard of it. What you may not know is that Bergier and Kamali have big plans for their show and lots in store for their fans (affectionately called “Susans”) in the near future.
Kamali recently joined on as a new co-host after the exit of former host Sarah York. She and Bergier both performed stand-up around NYC and had seen each other at shows. It wasn’t long until Kamali was a guest on the podcast, then booked on the monthly “Dyking Out” live show at Stonewall, then asked to come on board as a host. Bergier also mentioned a road trip the two took together that sealed the deal. “We both made the trip to New Jersey just to see Robyn Crawford talk about her relationship with Whitney Houston,” said Bergier. “And that level of dedication to dyke culture let me know it was a great fit.” The two have been co-hosting together regularly since February.
A feature that makes the podcast stand out is the diversity of topics covered each week. On any given week you may hear an hour’s worth of chit chat about gender identity, bad lesbian movies, the WNBA, woodworking, Disney, parenting, and more. Both hosts say the variety comes from allowing the guests to pick the topic they’re most excited about. “We just ask that it isn’t directly overlapping with a past topic and that we can tie it back to the queer community,” they say. Occasionally, though, certain guests will be booked with specific topics in mind. “We have an upcoming episode with a queer porn star, and let’s just say we don’t want to chat about books.” One thing consistent in almost every episode are references to “The L Word.” Bergier jokes in one episode that their shared New Year’s resolution is to go an episode without a reference, but it’s yet to happen.
As comedians with a podcast, the media are hard to compare with each other. Stand-up comedy has the benefit of an immediate reaction from a live audience. To track the popularity of a podcast, you have to rely on numbers reported by podcast platforms like iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Even with the metrics at their fingertips, it can be hard to tell if you’re making a real impact. For Bergier, real-life encounters have led to the best anecdotes. There are countless stories of their Susans writing in regularly from around the world. In one story that hit much closer to home, Bergier recalled a time that her wife’s co-worker saw them eating lunch together and later commented, “Hey, I noticed you were having lunch with one of the hosts of ‘Dyking Out!’ That’s so cool!” And since then, she says, her wife considers her a real celebrity.
To supplement the podcast and to flex their skills as comedians, Bergier and Kamali host a live show monthly. The live “Dyking Out” show at The Stonewall Inn is an extra experience for fans, and it adds a “You never know what will happen or who will drop by” energy to the mix. “One of my favorite things was when someone showed up to our Halloween week show dressed as me by wearing a pink wig and leather vest,” Bergier recalled. Kamali has her own bright spot: “My first time co-hosting the Stonewall show included an initiation where we had an audience member ‘scissor’ my denim jacket into this killer vest. It was truly the most complex and rewarding scissoring joke I’ve ever been a part of.” In addition to these wild bits and hilarious comedy (featuring comedians like Kate Willet, Samantha Ruddy, and even Jeanine Garafalo), the show has also welcomed musical performances by Sir Babygirl, Allison Ponthier, Jill Sobule of “I Kissed A Girl” fame, and others. You’re always in for a multimedia extravaganza at a “Dyking Out” show.
Speaking of musicians, there’s a duo of guests that eludes the “Dyking Out” crew: Tegan & Sara. “We were trying to make it work during their last tour but couldn’t,” Bergier explained. Instead, their team invited her to a book signing where she got to meet them. “Tegan said she had listened to ‘Dyking Out,’ thought we were funny and thanked me for making queer content.” She continued, “I held it together, but then afterward immediately walked to the nearest park, laid out on the grass, and started crying” — proving that “The Con” isn’t the only Tegan & Sara output that can bring lesbians to tears.
In addition to the Quin twins, Bergier is deadset on bringing in the legendary Rosie O’Donnell as a guest on the podcast. She says that, while she admits that she may be one of the only people interested in the convo, she desperately wants to ask O’Donnell about her friendship with Madonna. Both hosts list Desiree Akhavan as a dream guest as well, and when they discuss how great she’d be to have on, they immediately fall into the kind of easy banter listeners have come to expect. “Our dreams are somewhat practical. Can you tell we’re both Capricorns?” Bergier quipped. “And did you know Desiree Akhavan is a Capricorn, too?” Kamali responded. “Her birthday is one day before mine, and we’re both queer Iranian-American women who work in media, so I’m obviously dying to talk to her.” The earth sign energy is strong with these two.
Both Bergier and Kamali are looking forward to dyking out in more cities around the country and hoping to take their show to an international audience, possibly with a combination of standup comedy shows like at Stonewall and recording live episodes. They’re also working toward creating more video content. The two are very active on their hilarious twitter account: @DykingOut. And, of course, you can listen to the “Dyking Out” podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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