The Very Best Of NYC Comedy/Variety (June 12-August 7)

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Funny Latina lesbian Marga Gomez is back in town with Long Island Iced Latina, her new comic manifesto for Latinos who can’t speak Spanish, suck at Salsa, and chase after blondes. Marga’s show—June 8–21 at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre—also recounts her sucky teen years as the only brown girl at Massapequa High School in Long island. Long Island Iced Latina is directed by David Schweizer and presented as part of TeatroStageFest’s Comedy Bailout Package in partnership with the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre.

What do a former Evangelical Christian and singing cowboy, a famous Harlem Renaissance writer, a homeless woman, a gay high school student, a writers’ colony, six lesbians and a gay Mormon have in common? Why, the Fresh Fruit Festival, of course. In 2009, Fresh Fruit Festival enters its seventh year as New York City’s grassroots multidiscipline international festival of LGBT art and culture. It is a wild celebration of the artists, writers and performers who have created and continue to create our culture. This year, the festival will fill many venues around the city, July 9–27.

After an eight-year absence, two-time Obie Award winning artist John Kelly once again inhabits the persona of Joni Mitchell in an entirely new evening of songs and stories. John Kelly’s performance in Paved Paradise Redux: The Art of Joni Mitchell (June 18–27 at Abrons Arts Center) is a musical and visual homage to the great Canadian singer/songwriter. His countertenor uncannily evokes Mitchell’s own smoky soprano as he sings songs from the various stages of her career in their original key. He also plays dulcimer and replicates Mitchell’s guitar style by way of her signature open tunings.

There are some women out there who can’t live their life without the advice of their gay male friends. They wear a badge of honor, doting on their gay by embracing their inner circle of queens. A few of these women have actually gone so far as to create a one-of-a-kind event proudly named the HagFest Comedy Tour and dedicated to their love of all things gay. This gay-friendly comedy show is touring the nation in search of a flaming audience, and hopes to find one at Stonewall Inn June 16.