To comedy nerds, Gerard Carmichael has been back guy for some time now. He's a stand-up

comic with an ascetic brand of observational humor and started his own family sitcom,

be criminally underseen the Carmichael show. And now, his recent HBO special, Rathaniel,

has made headlines. Carmichael comes out publicly as gay for the first time, but it's

also about so much more than that. And it's a profoundly immersive experience that pushes

the boundaries of stand-up and confessional art. I'm Aisha Harris and today we're talking

about Gerard Carmichael on Pop Quijer Happy Hour from NPR.

Joining me today are co-hosts of the podcast Fanty, journalist Treval Anderson and journalist

writer and producer Jarrett Hill. Welcome back Treval and Jarrett. Thanks for having us.

Thank you. Very excited to get into this all with you both. Now, Rathaniel is Gerard Carmichael's

third HBO stand-up special, though technically the comedian is seated on stage for the

entirety of their performance. That's one of many ways he breaks from the norm in comedic

storytelling. Over the course of an hour, Carmichael talks candidly about secrets that

have haunted his family for multiple generations.

If you knew that you'd know Keith in a secret is the only way to honor them. Like that's

kind of who they were. He talks about the rampant cheating and pro-creating done by his father

and grandfather's and how he helped keep his dad's extramarital activities hidden from

his mother. He also reveals he's gay, something he'd only hinted at very briefly in his 2019

HBO documentary Home Videos. The result is an intimate show that's part performance

art part therapy session in the best ways possible. I want to accept that. You know, it feels

like I didn't earn it. It was filmed in February of this year at the Blue

Note Jazz Club in New York City and directed by Bob Burnham, which actually when I saw

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