For D’Lo, to be a comic is to be a “practitioner of joy”

The Sri Lankan community dinners that comic D’Lo grew up attending in Lancaster, Calif., and Los Angeles ended up lovingly chaotic — 100 or so persons sprawled throughout someone’s living home, the “aunties” clustered about the sofa, the “uncles” outdoors ingesting beers and singing. There had been aromatic trays of chicken, fish and vegetable curry, vats of steamed rice and sweet watalappan custard for dessert.

D’Lo was a goofy, amicable child, generally uncovered entertaining other young children with jokes and imitations of family members associates or mates. He remembers provoking uncontrollable laughter in an aunt and uncle, when he was 7 a long time previous with a ribald joke involving a cowboy, a banana and penis-developing pills.

At a young age, D’Lo, assigned woman at beginning, knew he was a boy and a comedian.

D’Lo, in excess of two decades, has witnessed a shifting comedy scene.

(Emily Monforte/For The Moments)

Now, the self-described queer/transgender Tamil Sri Lankan-American cultural-worker-activist-poet-writer-actor-comic is a performer of solo-based theater, stand-up comedy and mainstream Television set and film function even though, about two decades, bearing witness to a shifting comedy scene.

D’Lo has toured the U.S. and internationally undertaking stand-up, he’s appeared on “Transparent” and “Mr. Robotic,” among other Tv shows, and he performs a role in Billy Eichner’s future film, “Bros,” which opens in September. But his solo theatrical displays are his most personalized performs to date. “To T, or Not to T? A Comedic Trans Journey As a result of (T)estosterone” — the second in a trilogy of plays — is at present operating at Heart Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver Town.

What binds all the operate, D’Lo says, is comedic storytelling as an agent for both therapeutic and improve. Now extra than at any time, in such socially and politically tumultuous instances, talking one’s fact just before an audience is an act of survival, he suggests in this edited conversation.

D’Lo’s solo exhibit ‘To T, or Not to T?’ is on through Sunday. (Emily Monforte / For The Moments)

(Emily Monforte/For The Periods)

Tell us about the general performance trilogy — how do the a few plays healthy together in conveying your existence story?

The to start with is a journey by means of queer adulthood, when queer people really don’t get validated in a ton of these profound methods that are there for hetero and cis people. It follows the journey with my mom. The next is ‘what does lovely masculinity seem like in a harmful masculine earth?’ and it follows the journey with my father. The third piece is named “Queer Noise” and it follows the journey with my sister, both of those when she was alive and as a spirit ancestor in my existence. It’s about how queer individuals maintain, dwell loudly and boldly in this world, which is prepared to kick down so quite a few folks, specially when we search at trans individuals of color, nonbinary individuals of colour, the statistics about declining mental well being and suicide prices [being] super large.

All of the theater pieces are actually about “how do I share my story in a way that persons get a opportunity to mirror on their personal tales?” And in my heart, what I know I want to do as an artist is make offerings to our neighborhood for our wellness, for our psychological well being.

You’ve said you see comedians as “practitioners of joy” and therapeutic — how so?

I feel that as comedians we have a whole lot of electric power. We can say what we need to say in a way that persons will receive a good deal easier than nearly anything that is overtly or extremely political. For me, as a trans comedic artist, I was like ‘I know that so a lot of of our narratives out there are all-around our tragedies — and we all have our tragedies, we’re alive all through this second in time, s— is not Ok — but there’s also a ton of joy. And I think that queer and trans people today are practitioners of pleasure. We have existed not just as our big and daring selves, but in a way that we present up for the relaxation of the world and our communities. And we do that with joy, specially when we’re linked to group. “In the middle [of “To T, or Not to T?”] I say “being witness is the only way I know how to stay alive.”

“To T, or Not To T?” is about so numerous points — identity, household, neighborhood, adore and reduction. Why center it, especially, close to your testosterone journey?

All of the displays mark distinct moments in my life that are milestones — and T would just be another a person of those milestones. I wished to share with both of those queer folks and non-queer persons that all of our choices are not just like: you wake up one working day and you want to do this. It is more like you are sitting there thinking about whether or not something is correct for you or not. Occasionally I assume the outside world, individuals who really don’t realize transness, consider, “Oh, these trans men and women are inquiring for much too a lot and what is up with these pronouns?” And it’s like: we’re just trying to be seen and reside our lives.

I feel that every single single trans and queer man or woman — in the very same way that each individual one human being of shade in America — grapples with internalized racism and colonialism. Trans people, on prime of that — specifically trans people of color, nonbinary individuals of color — are also grappling with internalized queer phobias, transphobias, homophobias. So it was essential for me to chat about testosterone in this way. Not a good deal of exploration has been finished on this. A lot of the questioning that I went as a result of was like, “Should I even do this? Is this my journey?” And I consider a good deal of folks who look at medically transitioning grapple with these thoughts. It is not an easy decision to make. It is by no means fast. It’s a significant, extended system, and I wanted to share that with people today.

D’Lo’s plays often study pivotal moments in his lifetime.

(Emily Monforte/For The Times)

In your watch, how is the transgender comedy scene modifying?

There are continue to definitely individuals groundbreaking. But there are so a lot of additional queer and trans comics now due to the fact there are so many more queer and trans persons, in typical. That is why I constantly make that joke: “queer individuals and individuals who feel they’re straight.” For the reason that this globe is modifying.

I tour the complete country but that is generally the faculty circuit. In L.A. and New York, where I perform stand-up, I conduct in the alt rooms or golf equipment. And I’d say it is grow to be much more expansive. Not that lengthy in the past — 5 to 7 many years back — it was a different predicament. Seven several years back, it was more durable to discover a area that would just take you severely if you had been a trans comedian. Certainly, the alt rooms would just take you but in some of the big clubs you’d have to be a portion of that bro environment to even get on. And that is tough for individuals who are queer or trans. But the climate has adjusted. A lot of queer and trans comics do participate in the big houses now. We have bookers who are very queer and trans pleasant. Some of the primary levels are however recognized to be a boys club, but a great deal of them have adjusted. The Snicker Manufacturing facility experienced a created queer evening — I imagine it was a month to month — but now I sense like there are queer comics in every display.

Have individuals options crossed in excess of into to mainstream Hollywood?

For me, it is a substantial big difference. 5 to seven yrs ago, I was heading out for much more gangster roles and for comedic characters, relatively than “We’re searching for a queer character or a trans masculine man or woman for this.” All those [roles] are nevertheless tricky to occur by, but they take place a lot much more now. Again in 2003, when I was younger and seeking to get an agent, I would showcase all the time and administrators and brokers were being like, “Yeah, no question you’re gifted, but we never know how to pitch you.” Quick-forward to now, many of my close friends who are trans and queer actors have reps and administration and are able to get gigs. But even now — I generally joke that any time there is a trans [masculine] purpose, it would be like a reunion. I’d operate into all of my mates, all likely out for the identical job.

What comedians did you glance up to when you were being commencing out in the late ‘90s and early 2000s? Were being any of them queer and transgender folks?

I really don’t assume I essentially experienced queer and trans individuals that I seemed up to. I’d say the people today who had been close ample were Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes — when I very first saw Wanda, I did not even know she was determining as queer. The seriously strong comics of colour that were being queer or queer adjacent. As far as comedic solo-dependent theater: John Leguizamo, Whoopi Goldberg, these were being all folks I was just, like, in love with. I’d watch whatsoever I could.

How would you explain your comedy now?

My comedy actually revolves all around the interactions I’ve had and what I’ve observed — I just materialize to be a trans particular person and conversing about my journey as a trans particular person. But a good deal of this stuff is type of about the interactions I have with family or buddies or in community. Me as a human being and how I display up in this planet. It is personalized and there’s a pinch of observational and based on what type of display I’m carrying out, there’ll be some observations on our political environment as properly.

Have your mother and father seen “To T, or Not to T?” — and did the demonstrate provide you nearer to your father?

Oh, yeah. In our Tamil Sri Lankan lifestyle, it’s not like you get to sit there and chat about your feelings. As in a large amount of immigrant cultures, the moment you arrive to the States, it is like, “OK, now we have to place our heads down and make this detail get the job done.” There’s not a good deal of time to just sit there and say, “Oh, I’m experience s—y since this racist matter transpired to me.” You just go: “OK, this is America, and we’re not welcome and we have to just make certain we survive this and turn out to be productive.” Particularly following my sister handed absent, we have been not actually speaking about what was happened for us.

In the same way as when my mother noticed the show about her, there is a way that my dad is found devoid of acquiring to say the factors. It is their baby who’s being familiar with the trajectory and how points unfolded and did the emotional processing. Just like I say, “Being witness is the only way I know how to remain alive,” I imagine that is the truth for every single human being. When we’re witness to each individual other’s agony and tragedy and pleasure and celebration, we truly provide not just a salve, but we go, “Yeah, I see you. You’re Okay. You belong.”

Did it provide us nearer? I would say it did — it opened doors for us to see each individual other.