Greg Walloch on "Sxip's Hour of Charm"

Comedian Greg Walloch is back in Beantown

In its final week in Harvard Square, Sxip's Hour of Charm - a sort of new vaudeville show that stars a rotating cast of alternative performers, from musicians to aerialists to performance artists - will feature New York City's Greg Walloch, a comedian and storyteller who hasn't been seen in the Boston area since performing his solo show White Disabled Talent for The Theatre Offensive's Out on the Edge Festival, more years ago than he cares to admit. Never one to pass up the chance to chat with a funny and handsome man, I spoke with Walloch over the phone for some shop talk and a preview of his set.

Q: Hi, how are you?
A: I'm good. Have I talked to you before? Your name is familiar.

Q: No, but ... I don't see why would you remember this, but you and I traded some emails quite a while back when I was doing comedy and you were booking Living Room Live.
A: Oh, that was years and years ago! Was I helpful, or a total dick?

Q: You were very nice, but we ended up not coming to New York for some reason.
A: Well thanks for refreshing my memory. Living Room Live was funny, I was the only gay guy. Me, two girls and the rest were straight guys. It was kind of frat-y.

Q: That's comedy. Every comedy troupe I've been in was like that.
A: Exactly. Now I'm doing a show here called All The People You Love, at Chris Noth's club - Mr. Big from Sex and the City - and basically I thought, "I know so many great people, why not put together a show with everyone I really enjoy performing with?" We've had Bridget Everett and Sxip Shirey and lots of fun people.

Q: So what's your connection with Sxip?
A: We were booked in a show together and just sort of fell in love with each other. We really enjoy each other's work. His stuff is indescribable but profound.

Q: He's very generous, too. He seems to really want to give other artists a boost.
A: Yes, I really respect that. He understands that you can become successful as a community, rather than it being all about you. He gets a big gay crowd here in New York, because the show isn't about genres or culture, it's just about good art. Everybody likes a good show.

Q: When I talked to him, he was sad about the changing New York arts scene. You've been on that scene for some time as well, what's your take?
A: I was just talking with a friend about this last night, about venues closing. We were walking past what used to be Fez, and now it's a bank...

Q: Talk about adding insult to injury.
A: Right! And Rose's Turn is going to close, and so many others. That's why Joe's Pub is so important, it continues to create important, amazing work. It's a place that's doing something really vital that's less and less available in New York. But the pendulum always swings the other way, and that's what artists are good at doing. We always find places to do new work.

Q: What about changes within the sub-community of gay performers?
A: I feel it's no longer that unique to be a gay performer. And that's a good thing. The novelty of being a gay performer has worn off and the work stands on its own. But I tread this interesting line between performance and comedy, and within the arts, comedy is like pro sports. It's very masculine, and if you talk about sexuality it's still kind of surprising. That said, I think even the men in comedy are more accepting of their gay counterparts. But there are still lots of closeted comics. Don't ask me who! I have to respect their choice to come out when and how they choose to.

Q: People still don't want to be labeled the gay comic, I think. Is that something that affects you? Do you worry about being labeled the gay guy or the disabled guy?
A: I just try to speak really honestly. I am those things: I am the gay guy and the disabled guy. Hopefully my performance speaks to everyone's human experience. If you perform authentically as you can, people relate to that authenticity.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about what you'll perform in Boston?
A: I'm going to tell a story about going South and finding faith. It's a funny story, but not so much stand-up comedy.

Q: Is it weird doing that kind of performance when you share the bill with an accordion player and a ceiling walker?
A: No, that's what's so great about Sxip's shows. There's this undercurrent of good will and willingness to have a good time, so it all flows really well.

Q: I have a theory that YouTube is going to have a big impact on solo performance. What do you think?
A: Chris Crocker was just brought to my attention recently, so I haven't seen much of what he's doing. I find it very interesting though. People, unwittingly or no, are making little snippets of performance art. They may not be calling it that, but it's sort of making reality malleable. It's like the performance art happenings, but now people are doing it electronically. I also like how it democratizes everything. You don't have to be some fancy schmancy artist for people to pay attention to you. But at the same time, I do live performance because I love the fact the people gather together for it. There's a magic there that you don't really have on the computer. So I think no matter how technologically advanced we get, people will always have that need to gather together for community.

Q: Could video bloggers become competition for theater artists?
A: Not really. I'm doing my own thing and I'm not really in direct competition with the Britney guy or the taser guy. There really is room for everyone. Instead of being competitive, it's better to have confidence in yourself and your fellow performers. I know it's down right un-American to not be competitive, but I think that's the way to go.