Same Sex, Different Gays | Comedy review

You know that moment when you’re at a gay orgy and you realize you’re the ugliest person in the room? Okay, me neither, but a character (played by Brett Mannes) in pH Production’s new musical sketch comedy show Same Sex, Different Gays has been there, and he can sing all about it.

Same Sex, Different Gays, directed by Beverlee Bailey, is a sharp new show dressed in rainbow-flag flair. Sketches like “Are You a Virgin?” (which challenges notions of lesbian sexuality) and “Bitter & Numb”  (about dating pessimists) prove that gay humor can be more than just a punch line. Brad Kemp wrote the music, and the best song is about one-night stands, like taking a guy home and him not being, um, "properly prepared." With some changes it could inspire Katy Perry's next big hit.

A couple of the sketches were a little too let’s-all-get-gay-married-and-stop-being-bitter for the OkCupid cynic in me, but with the recent gay marriage bill passed by the Illinois Senate (on Valentine's Day, no less), these were timely and relevant. The show's point of view on relationships is strongest when it's most subtle. For example, in the sketch "At First," a lesbian couple, stuck in the daily routine of marriage, tell their child what their relationship was like when they first met. It's a very real situation many couples confront.

While the material is gay-themed, most of the sketches deal with relationship issues. Here's a little secret: Queer couples have problems similar to their hetero counterparts', just with a little more glitter. That is to say, you don’t have to be part of the LGBT community to like this show or get the jokes—well, most of them.

Same Sex Different Gays plays Saturdays at 9:30pm through Mar. 30 at pH Comedy Theater.