The Gay Show

Did comedian Jamie Shriner ever tell you about the time she put gum in her older sister’s hair, right before the pair were set to audition for a production of “Beauty and the Beast”?

And the crazy part? By the end of this funny-ass anecdote, Shriner, astoundingly, isn’t the villain.

“That’s another one of those stories where my sister is like, ‘Hey, I don’t want people to think I’m evil,'” Shriner told the Source by phone. “I’m like, ‘You were 14 and it’s OK.'”

It’s stories like these that Chicago-based Shriner, 32, includes in her hilarious and unpredictable debut 2024 comedy special “Corn Baby,” which is available for free on YouTube. The comic, who was born and raised in rural Indiana, weaves cringe-y yet side-splitting tales of misadventures, often during adolescence. She stitches these bits together with catchy original songs reminiscent of fellow Midwestern musical comedian Leslie and the Ly’s.

Shriner will headline The Gay Show, a queer showcase that promises “a killer lineup of queer comics, serving up sharp, unapologetic, stand-up” at the Volcanic Theatre Pub, Saturday, Aug. 30, at 5 pm. The Gay Show is a participating event of the Bend Comedy Festival, which runs Friday, Aug. 29 to Sunday, Aug. 31.

Shriner, who will perform an extended set for The Gay Show, is effusive about the Bend comedy scene and its legion of comedy-hungry fans. Shriner’s first performance in town was last September. She was going through a breakup and wasn’t quite in the mood to put on a happy face and tell jokes.

“I was in a place where any artist who is reading this can relate — there are times when it’s hard to find the motivation to do what we do, especially comedy,” Shriner said. “But the Bend crowd — everyone was so onboard. It reminded me why I’m doing this. They were so happy to be there. They loved what I do.”

In the 10-minute or so set Shriner is preparing for The Gay Show, she explores her pansexuality in the greater queer dating scene after a divorce from a man she married when she was a young adult.

Skylar King, a Bend-based, comedian from Iowa City, Iowa who’s co-organizing the Bend Comedy Festival, will also perform in The Gay Show. Johana Coca will be there, too; three other comics have yet to be confirmed, King said. She was keen to book Shriner, who produces and hosts Chicago Underground Comedy, a weekly stand-up event where comics work out new bits before an audience of comics and fans alike. Chicago Underground is where Shriner tried out her first stand-up material in 2020.

“I love it,” Shriner said. “I treat it like my weekly workout room. You get to really see what pans out.”

Shriner sees a similar grassroots comedy movement happening in Bend. Bigger cities can be oversaturated with comedic talent.

“People are harder to impress,” Shriner said. “It’s refreshing to go anywhere where people are just hungry to have a good time and laugh. I feel like that’s very much the energy of both Skylar and the entire festival team.”

Being a queer comedian hasn’t been easy, Shriner said, but the outsider perspective of being the only female comic at a typical open mic — let alone the sole queer comic — has its observational rewards. And as someone who has a hearing impairment and identifies as pansexual, Shriner also uses her peripheral statuses within the greater LGBTQ community and beyond to great effect.

“If you loved ‘The Muppets,’ if you loved the musical, ‘Cats,’ you’re probably gonna pick up what I’m putting down,” Shriner said. “And if you have any kind of rural upbringing and are queer — I see you, I understand.”

This article appears in Source Weekly May 29, 2025.