Wikipedia

Shawn Hitchins

Shawn Hitchins is a gay Toronto-based comedian,[1] author, and actor. He is known for his red hair and for sharing his experience as a sperm donor to a lesbian couple.[2]

Shawn Hitchins
Born (1980-06-04) June 4, 1980 (age 44)
Children1
Websiteshawnhitchins.com

Early life

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Hitchins was born in Egypt, Ontario.[3] In 2000, Hitchins briefly attended an acting program at George Brown College.[4]

Career

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In 2005, Hitchins spent a summer performing in with the drag trio The B-Girlz in Provincetown, Massachusetts.[5]

In 2010, Hitchins appeared as a panelist on MTV (Canada) 1 Girl 5 Gays.

In 2011, Hitchins debuted his first one-man show called Survival of the Fiercest at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where he made an offhand joke about the need for redheads to have a "Ginger Pride Walk."[6] In 2013, he returned to the UK to host the Ginger Pride Walk in Edinburgh, Scotland which gained international media attention on BBC News,[7] The Guardian,[8] CNN,[9] Raidió Teilifís Éireann,[10] The Globe and Mail.[11]

In 2013, Hitchins debut his second one-man show called Ginger Nation at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[12] The show recounts Hitchins' experience donating sperm to a lesbian couple as well as memories from adolescence, brushes with celebrity, and pride in his ginger hair. It received unprecedented media coverage[13] for the festival and the show was later brought to Canada, the United States.[13] In 2015, Ginger Nation received top hit at the 25th Atlantic Fringe Festival.[14] In 2016, Hitchins adapted the live show into a concert film, which screened at the 2017 InsideOut Film and Video Festival,[15] the 2017 Cucalorus Film Festival,[16] and the 2018 SF Indiefest.[17] Huffington Post described the film as "vastly entertaining."[17]

In 2017, Hitchins released his debut memoir A Brief History of Oversharing,[18] published by ECW Press.

Personal life

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In 2012, Hitchins welcomed a daughter after becoming a sperm donor for two close lesbian friends.[2]

Books

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  • Hitchins, Shawn (2017). A Brief History of Oversharing: One Ginger's Anthology of Humiliation. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1770413269. (Humor)
  • Hitchins, Shawn (2021). The Light Streamed Beneath It: A Memoir of Grief and Celebration. ECW Press. (Memoir)

Filmography

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Documentary

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  • 2016: Shawn Hitchins: Ginger Nation - also writer, producer, collaborating director[19]

Films

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Television

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TV Mini-Series

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TV Series

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References

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  1. ^ "Shawn Hitchins: Ginger Nation". Time Out New York. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Hitchins, Shawn (August 17, 2013). "Experience: I was a sperm donor for my friends". The Guardian. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  3. ^ "It's always a great day in Egypt, Ont". TVO. July 27, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  4. ^ "Former George Brown theatre students allege they were humiliated, abused by faculty | CBC News". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "A Brief History of Oversharing: One Ginger's Anthology of Humiliation | Quill and Quire". Quill and Quire. October 17, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  6. ^ "How Shawn Hitchins' Ginger Pride jokes ignited red-hot passion". CBC Radio. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  7. ^ "Comedian leads Ginger Pride Walk". BBC News. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  8. ^ "How Shawn Hitchins' Ginger Pride jokes ignited red-hot passion". CBC Radio. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  9. ^ Bellini, Jarrett. "Apparently This Matters: Gingers take to the streets". CNN. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  10. ^ "March held in Edinburgh to demonstrate against gingerism". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. August 10, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  11. ^ "Talking Points: Disney sinkhole, Ginger Pride Walk, picking up the cheque". Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  12. ^ "Ginger quest". Xtra. January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  13. ^ a b BWW News Desk. "Shawn Hitchins Brings GINGER NATION to The Duplex Tonight". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  14. ^ "Shawn Hitchins scores top hit at Fringe Festival with Ginger Nation". The Chronicle Herald. September 14, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  15. ^ "Spite and sperm donation: One comedian's misadventures in bringing his story to the screen | CBC Arts". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  16. ^ "BEYOND THE REEL: Anghus reviews a broad bunch of films showing at Cucalorus 23 | | "Your Alternative Weekly Voice"". www.encorepub.com. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  17. ^ a b Heymont, George (January 15, 2018). "Powering Through An Identity Crisis". HuffPost. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  18. ^ Shawn, Hitchins (2017). Brief history of oversharing : one ginger's anthology of humiliation. Toronto. ISBN 9781770413269. OCLC 985966403.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  19. ^ Hitchins, Shawn; Soja, Jonathan, Shawn Hitchins: Ginger Nation, Shawn Hitchins, retrieved January 18, 2018
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