Jes Tom with Rose
In a video for NowThis, Jes Tom says, “I want the face of comedy to change. I want you to pull up Netflix comedy specials and it’s all queer people of color.” Tom, who’s pronouns are they/them, is a rising star out of New York’s explosive queer comedy scene and is not afraid to talk about themselves and the LGBTQ+ community on stage.
28-year-old Tom is a comedian and actor. They have been featured in the Amazon/FunnyOrDie short Soojung Dreams of Fiji as well as Anatomy of an Orchid. They have written for Reductress, Shondaland and Condé Nast’s Them. Tom was one of last year’s StandUp NBC’s finalists.
Comedy was never a part of Tom’s plan. “I have always been a class clown and a diva and someone who likes attention,” they continue, “but what I really wanted to do was act. Growing up, especially as I was becoming this queer, gender nonconforming person, I thought ‘I am never going to be able to act’ so I better try to try [other performance mediums] instead.”
Inspired by clips of Margaret Cho and Wanda Sykes, Tom decided to try standup. At the time, it seemed like an easier place to break into than acting. “Now, I think we are in a moment of there being a lot of opportunities in a lot of different ways for queer and trans and gender nonconforming people, but in the early 2000s, I had never dreamed that we would ever reach this place.”
Tom drifted to standup as a way to perform and doesn’t shy away from talking about identity onstage. “I try to stick to write what you know,” they say. “I talk about me, I talk about my life and my experiences. Being queer and nonbinary comes up. I have a joke that for a long time I have been using at all my shows that basically is a little binary 101 lesson that I am now trying to move away from. I am trying to move away from the need to explain myself to an audience every single time I get on stage.”
When they are not doing comedy, Tom is following a childhood dream of acting. Some of Tom’s favorite experiences as an actor have specifically come when working with other Asian American comedians and artists. They recall being on the set of Soojung Dreams of Fiji and the comfort of being surrounded by other queer and Asian creators. “A lot of the crew was Asian American women,” they say. “Performers and actors need to feel comfortable on set. Being able to have a supportive crew who know what the deal is is really helpful.”
They have also produced their own shorts. Tom recalls a short they made with comedian Chewy May during the height of the Ghost in the Shell controversy around Scarlett Johansson playing an Asian character. They say, “The video went fairly viral… and I was surprised because I thought, ‘only Asian people are going to relate to this…’ maybe it’s a niche thing, but it really touched a lot of people.”
Having people connect to their stories and their work is important for Tom. “What I am trying to do in my work, especially as a standup comic, is to make comedy that people can connect to even if they have never met a nonbinary person before, even if they have never heard of that, even if they have never met someone who is a fifth generation Asian American. I am trying to do comedy that is meaningful both to people who have something in common with me and those who don’t.”
