Jonny McGovern (born July 12, 1976) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, songwriter and podcaster. He has written the lyrics for many of his own songs, and recorded three comedy/dance-pop albums (including some under his alter-ego, The Gay Pimp). On television, McGovern initially appeared as a cast member of Logo's late-night comedy sketch show, The Big Gay Sketch Show (2011), and has hosted the popular YouTube talk show Hey Qween! (2014–present) for nine seasons.[1]
Jonny Mcgovern | |
|---|---|
 McGovern in January 2022 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | July 12, 1976 |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | House, dance |
| Occupation(s) | Stand-up comedian, actor, musician, podcaster |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Gay/Nerd Music |
| Website | www.GayPimp.com |
Early life
editJonny McGovern was born to Mary McGovern and Rob Gutowski in Brooklyn, New York. His parents traveled often, and McGovern grew up primarily in Egypt and Thailand.[2] McGovern later returned to the United States to study acting at Boston University, where he earned a BFA. He is openly gay.[3]
Career
editMcGovern stated that he was inspired to create his signature comedic character, The Gay Pimp, after listening to rap songs and interviews by Eminem. McGovern has said,
It started off with Eminem. I was appalled by him ripping on fags and talking mad shit. People were protesting, but how could you protest a pop star? I figured my best way of protesting was to write a big, flashy, glamorous, funny show... called The Wrong Fag to Fuck With: The Gay Pimp vs. Eminem. It was where the Gay Pimp was a pop star/superhero who came out at the MTV awards to battle Eminem. Of course it did end with Eminem getting it up the butt and being humiliated while all the gay teens were set free.[4]
After the songs from the show began to get heavy rotation in New York City nightclubs, McGovern was approached about making a music video for one of his songs, "Soccer Practice".[4]
The success of the single garnered attention for McGovern, and he contributed commentary on a variety of VH1 shows (such as Best Week Ever, Totally Gay, and 40 Dumbest Celebrity Quotes) as well as earned a slot on Comedy Central's all-gay comedy show Out on the Edge, hosted by Alan Cumming.[5]
McGovern hosts his own YouTube show on StreamTV titled Hey Qween!, where he interviews various iconic celebrities, including drag queens, musicians, actors, adult film stars, and prominent figures within the LGBT community. From the series' debut in 2014 through 2020, Hey Qween was co-hosted by McGovern's close friend, the late icon Ms. Lady Red Couture,[6] until her death in the middle of 2020. Lady Red often sang vocals for the series; for example, each episode closed out with her singing and improvising the words, "Hey queen, hey queen," through the credits. Lady Red and McGovern's close bond was evident on Hey Qween. The first half of each episode consisted of the two catching-up, chatting, joking and laughing together. During the guest interviews, Lady Red's quick-witted interjections and comedic banter was a highlight. As a tribute to her, McGovern released the 3-track EP Flowers (Songs to Lady Red) in November 2020, with Adam Joseph as producer.[7][8]
McGovern hosts Gay Pimpin' with Jonny McGovern, a weekly free LGBT themed podcast based out of Los Angeles since August 2010. It was based in New York City from January 16, 2006, to January 11, 2010.[citation needed]
Discography
edit| Year | Tracks |
|---|---|
| 2003 | Dirty Gay Hits
US Release Date: August 4, 2003 |
| 2006 | Jonny McGovern Presents: This is NYC, Bitch! The East Village Mixtape
US Release Date: November 28, 2006 |
| 2007 | Gays Gone Wild
US Release Date: May 9, 2007 |
| 2008 | Keep It Faggity: The Gay Pimp Remix Project
US Release Date: June 11, 2008 |
| 2008 | Dirty Gay Christmas Single
US Release Date: Late November 15, 2008 |
| 2009 | Best of Gay Pimpin' volumes 1 & 2
US release date: January 30, 2009 |
| 2009 | The East Village Mixtape Volume 2: The Legends Ball
US Release Date: November 2009 |
| 2011 | Songs about the Golden Girls
|
| 2012 | The Gayest of All Time |
| 2020 | Flowers (Songs to Lady Red) [9][10][7] |
| Unreleased Tracks | Unreleased
|
Note:
- In the twelfth episode of the third season of Queer as Folk, Soccer Practice can be seen and heard in the background of the bar scene at about 18 minutes into the episode.
- "Soccer Practice" is played in the HBO vampire series True Blood in the third episode of season one. McGovern mentioned it on his weekly podcast and says he highly approves.
- Artist and raconteur Robert W. Richards drew the album cover for Gays Gone Wild.
- The photographs used on Jonny McGovern's site and ReMix album where shot by Dick Mitchel.
- By June 2007, the song "Somethin' For The Fellas (That Like the Fellas)" had held the top spot on Logo's The Click List: Top 10 Videos for over 15 weeks
- The video for "Don't Fall in Love With a Homo (A Song for the Ladies)" was released on May 1, 2008, with 25,000 views in the first day. It eventually hit number 1 on Logo's Click List and stayed there for 6 weeks.
- McGovern's gay parody video of "Like A G6" with transgender diva Calpernia Addams called "Likin Big Dicks" had over 400,000 views, and a club remix was produced by NYC electro-group Naked Highway.
- McGovern's spoof of Duck Sauce's "Barbra Streisand" dance track entitled "Marla Gibbs" (honoring the star of 227) was mentioned several times by Andy Cohen on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live!
- He also has a web series "Celebrity Donkey Punch" which comes out bi monthly.
References
edit- ^ "Hey Qween! is Serving Gay Extravaganza and the World is Watching". Instinct, December 19, 2018.
- ^ Waechter, Patrick Steven. (April 11, 2007). "The Gay Pimp Gets Sketchy". GayPimp.com. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ Kregloe, Karman (May 14, 2007). "Interview With Jonny McGovern". AfterElton.com. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- ^ a b Weiss, Matthew. (May 14, 2007). "After Elton Interview With Jonny McGovern". AfterElton.com. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ "Jonny McGovern on Comedy Central". Archived from the original on February 3, 2007. Retrieved February 20, 2007.
- ^ "'Hey Qween's Lady Red Couture, LA Drag Icon, Has Died". www.out.com. July 26, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- ^ a b Cook, Michael (November 30, 2020). "Jonny McGovern Pays Homage To Lady Red Couture In Two Unique Ways". Instinct Magazine. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
- ^ "Jonny McGovern's Instagram post: "is a 3 song EP written and recorded as I dealt with the grief and shock of losing Lady Red. Produced by @adamjosephmusic and Inspired and..."". Instagram. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
- ^ Flowers (Songs to Lady Red), November 24, 2020, retrieved December 14, 2020
- ^ Flowers (Songs to Lady Red) - Single by Jonny McGovern, November 24, 2020, retrieved December 14, 2020
External links
edit- GayPimp.com The Official Jonny McGovern Website
- Jonny McGovern at IMDb
- Jonny McGovern's MySpace