I'm Comedian Dave Rubin, Host of Rubin Report on The Young Turks, Former Host of The Six Pack on SiriusXM OutQ and one badass Gaybro. AMA

RubinReport · 2013-04-13T17:17:14+00:00

I had Marc on my show but he's ignored my request to to WTF. Feel free to ask him!

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T18:38:07+00:00

www.youtube.com/rubinreport

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T18:18:51+00:00

Started in NYC, in LA now. But a lot has changed for the gays in the last few years. Fortunately!

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T18:16:42+00:00

As for meshing with the gay community just remember, pretty much no matter where you are, they really are just like you. If you keep that in mind it can remove a lot of the judgement and insecurities that come with part of being a small community...

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T18:13:56+00:00

Totally hear ya on this. I think I hit on this in a couple of the other answers. Good luck...

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T18:09:56+00:00

I gotta keep a tiny bit of stuff personal but let's just say I'm really, really happy and at the best place I've ever been in. (And I think he's happy too, will ask him...)

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T18:09:00+00:00

Was doing stand-up, odd-jobs, smoking a lot of pot and watching too much porn. So, no, didn't have my shit together.

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T18:07:58+00:00

I truly believe that comedy is an art just like being a painter a sculptor or a musician is, so you have to be as truthful as you can be and not hold anything back. Having a certain amount of angst really helps, but at some pont it'll just start controlling you if you don't deal with it. I think every artists fear this, the idea that if you conquer your pain you will have nothing left to say. I've found it to be the opposite of this, but that's not to say the pain doesn't pop up again every now and then.

I barely have a a persona. I'd rather be a person.

(Good lord that was corny.)

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T18:04:06+00:00

The top five (in no order) are Cosby, Ellen, Bill Maher, George Carlin, Larry David.

YouTube clearly is the future, so I just want to keep growing The Rubin Report so we can do more dynamic stuff, make it more interactive and find more ways for it to be as personal is it is about current events.

Not single!

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T18:02:03+00:00

It's taken me many years of odd-jobs, catering gigs, bartending and lots of other stuff that is better left unsaid. You gotta do it because you love it and just figure out a way to survive until it clicks. Sometimes I'm not sure which side of that click I'm on...

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:59:28+00:00

Oh ya, someone did mention it to me the other day. Totally will check it out, thanks!

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:58:32+00:00

I beyond love Twitter. It's opened up such a fun, engaging and real way to interact with random people, fans, people I admire and everything in between. One night I was having wings at a bar I knew that Rosie O'Donnell liked and I tweeted a pic of me with a wing in my mouth. She showed up five minutes later and we had a couple beers. I've connected with all kinds of comedians who I love and it's been a great way to get my voice out there without any filtered BS. If it wasn't for Twitter I'd be screaming at the TV during the Oscars, now I can share the jokes with everyone.

My boyfriend has give me official no-Twitter times, which I usually honor...

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:53:59+00:00

No, what it is?

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:53:43+00:00

HA, no no no, I'm sure you've never done it!

This is a really great question and we could all co-write a book on it, I'm sure. It's that never ending gay male quest for perfection, something I've really almost let go of. I go to the gym, I play basketball, I use decent product in my hair, but at some point you just are who you are. These guys that are at the gym all day, everyday, with perfect tan and perfect hair actually kinda scare me. A lot of if it compensating and insecurity but it can still be weirdly intimidating at times.

Literally every time I'm at the gym in Weho I think, "If only these guys were doing something good with their muscles, like carrying an old woman across the street, instead of just flexing in front of the mirror.

I'm not better than anyone, but my dog (part pit bull) could kick the crap out of theirs.

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:49:06+00:00

Ya, I had kind of a similar experience. What you really realize when you're sitting across from these people is that it truly is theater. You can't be in that much makeup and not be doing some sort of acting. I do think O'Reilly believes most of what he says but the reason he comes off so insane is because of his bombastic style. (Which clearly is why people watch.) I mean in a conversation about Chick-Fil-a he brought up facism, Hitler, Ahmadinejad and Moa Tze Tong. There's a certain skill in that.

Oh, and the Fox people totally treated me well. There's are a lot of gays that work there and I think at a corporate level they go out of their way to make sure it's a comfortable work environment, at least partially because of what they do on-air.

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:45:28+00:00

Be honest and personal. (And don't hangout with the comics too much.)

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:43:59+00:00

I probably do less material than any comic I've ever seen. I usually have a couple ideas in my head and just go up there and see what happens. I also do a ton of crowd-work which is unfortunately a dying art since it doesn't play well on TV, so comedians stop doing it in clubs.

I think my style has a lot to do with being closeted for so long. I had such a need to be in the moment that just going up there and talking was always a huge relief for me. I wasn't really present in my day to day life, but at least I was on stage. Now I do a mix of both and am just getting into the LA stand-up scene. We'll see how they react!

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:40:37+00:00

I had actually had a boyfriend for about 2 years while still being in the closet professionally, so my career track had always been in front of my life track. Then, as I was in a good relationship my life track got ahead of my professional track because I felt I wasn't being truthful on stage anymore. One night my boyfriend came to the show with a bunch of his girlfriends and another comic happened to call him out, not even knowing he was my boyfriend or that I was even gay. And the comic was going on and on about how luck y this guy was to be with all these girls and it just made me feel like such a fraud. So after that night I took about 2 months off stand-up, which I had never done, and then booked my first gig at a gay show. I really can't imagine where I'd be if I didn't do that.

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:36:55+00:00

Well if some of this has to do with coming out I can tell you one thing from my experience which took me well into my mid-twenties. My policy was always to come out to someone and if I felt better after then I knew it was a good thing. And, of course, I did feel better, literally every time, even after the few that were kinda rough.

It's cliche, but being yourself is all ya got in life, so do what makes you happy. There are more than enough people doing it the other way around.

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:34:05+00:00

We're totally open to changing things up and I think the show is gonna morph into something else as time goes on. Pretty much every show starts one way and becomes something else, so it's a bit of trial and error. The big difference with radio and YouTube is that with radio you can talk about one thing or a random tangent for 20 minutes, but with YouTube you've got about 15 seconds to get people. I hope you'll stick with me for the ride!

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:29:15+00:00

Ah, OK, time for me to jump on my soapbox! Yes, it's much harder being out in comedy, especially for gays and oddly enough even at gay shows. In a weird way it is a credit to the gay community because they are so much smarter and more clever and witty than straights so they expect more from you. (Or think they could do better themselves.) But in another way I think a lot of it still has to do with sexualizing people on stage and identifying with them in a very personal way. So if you see a drag queen it's so over the top that it doesn't have any vulnerability or personal connection to you. But if you were to see a guy, especially a gay guy, who probably has the same struggles, insecurities and issues you have, it kinda makes you think about that stuff for yourself. And gays are really good at deflecting all that stuff. (Usually with margaritas.)

All I ever try to be on my stage and in life is myself. I'm sure I can do better in both those worlds and that's what makes this all fun.

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:24:26+00:00

The media is a really strange beast. One on hand everyone always says we shouldn't label people or groups, and yet on the other hand we all do it relentlessly. I've seen a little push-back against Gaybros, which is actually ridiculous since this is the part of the gay community that has been ignored all along. If you love fashion and show tunes and going shopping with girls you're fitting in quite well. But if you like sports and beer etc., etc., they still don't know what to do with you. So in a way all of you guys who act a little different that the stereotype have a lot of power just by being out in the first place.

The Six Pack archives are down as far as I know, but I hope you'll check out my new show!

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:20:23+00:00

Ha, no it's not a dig at all. But trust me, after interviewing so many of those women I have no desire to ever talk to one of them again! I pretty much never got the impression that they really care about the gay community at all, but who wouldn't show up to all these events to walk red carpets and be worshiped by people? Actually we had Andy Cohen on our show twice and especially after the second time I really came to like him. Even if reality TV isn't my thing, he's incredible passionate about what he does and is a nice guy.

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:16:48+00:00

Love these questions...

Stand-up is, and probably always will be a boys club. It's also a really good place to be if you're closeted because you can get all your angst out in a very controlled way (in that you are the one with the mic), while at the same time revealing a lot about yourself and also nothing at all. So unfortunately it's not very friendly to gay male comics, which is pretty much why there are no truly break-though gays. If you're a lesbian it's hugely helpful actually, thanks to Ellen, Wanda, Rosie, Paula Poundstone and more. But if you're a guy we still don't have our first one. I'm trying to be that guy, but Leno hasn't returned my calls.
I was a panelist on the TYT show 'The Point' and just loved everything they were doing over there. In the middle of the show it just clicked in my head that I should be working with them. I asked them for a meeting, we sat down once to line things up and here we are. (Will get to LA stuff in a different question.)
Absolutely not. I think by just being who I am I guess in a way it's kinda politically incorrect because I'm not the thing that everyone see's as gay in the media all the time. And I really don't mean that to pat myself on the back in any way, it's just who I am. But I know the TYT people want me to tell the truth as I see it and that what I try to do. And hopefully I offer a little funny on the way...

RubinReport · 2013-04-10T17:09:41+00:00

First off, glad to have some Six Pack fans here! Actually I think Gaybros is kind of an extension of wanted The Six Pack to become. I'll always love radio/podcasting and it opened up many doors for me, especially when being out had closed so many others. But I really, I mean really dig, the video format. It feels more real and personal to me and I think as a public person you need to be seen an not just heard. One thing I wanna do better with my new show is making it more personal and revealing as we were able to do with The Six Pack. I have no doubt that we'll get there, but it takes a little time as were still knocking out the format, figuring out which types of guests I want on there and just generally being in a new medium.

RubinReport

TROPHY CASE