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The director Page Hurwitz examines comedy\u2019s place in the L.G.B.T.Q. movement in the new Netflix documentary \u201cOutstanding: A Comedy Revolution,\u201d creating a rich, century-long timeline full of archival footage, behind-the-scenes glimpses and candid interviews with comedians. A standout subject is the 82-year-old trailblazer Robin Tyler, the first out lesbian on national TV.<\/p>\n
Throughout the film, Hurwitz showcases comedy as more than just a source of laughter, but of healing, catharsis and as an agent for queer liberation, particularly during the Stonewall riots in 1969 and, later, the AIDS epidemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
L.G.B.T.Q. comedians were already on hand for \u201cOutstanding\u201d \u2014 in 2022, many of them, including Lily Tomlin, Wanda Sykes and Billy Eichner, performed on the same stage during \u201cStand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration,\u201d a Netflix standup special hosted by Eichner. The backstage footage from that special captured something that feels revolutionary, echoing Margaret Cho\u2019s assertion that \u201cqueer comedy was really a solace\u201d when she achieved fame in the 1990s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Many of the best moments in \u201cOutstanding\u201d occur when it draws connections between idols and admirers. A simple moment between Joel Kim Booster and Cho is made powerful through thoughtful editing: Cho, in a voice-over, describes the joy that queer comedy can evoke as we see Booster experiencing it among his peers.<\/p>\n
The film also addresses transphobic jokes by comedians like Dave Chappelle and Bill Maher, and ends with an acknowledgment of the anti-transgender bills being passed nationwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as just kidding,\u201d Tyler, the pioneering comedian, says. \u201cSo if anybody does homophobic jokes, they mean it.\u201d The fight is still no laughing matter.<\/p>\n
Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution<\/strong>
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. Watch on Netflix.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n