Comedy’s about timing, right? Some of the best jokes are sprung from the most unwitting sources, others are made awkward by subsequent circumstances. In an attempt tie in the season three launch of the fantastic OITNB with simple wordplay—and inferred jab towards tan culture—SF comedians Sal Calanni (Pornstache) and Destini Bryant (Pennsatucky) slipped into the Rachael Dolezal fiasco. “The Rachael Dolezal scandal was pure coincidence. I think after we uploaded it, the next morning we started seeing all these stories about her,” Sal revealed over e-mail. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
I appreciated that, aside from the cultural quagmire of identity politics debates, this is a clever, crisp and succinct comedy sketch. Clever writing, well-performed impressions, moves fast, stays light, genderbending, puns and allusions for the OITNB watchers, and a Willy Wonka reference for the hell of it.
Who the Eff is Sal Calani?: Well, you may recognize him from SFGiants commercials and sketch/web projects like Four in the Back, or Everybody’s A Comedian, or his podcast Who the Eff is Sal Calanni?.
What’s up with Destini Bryant? I’m not sure yet. In addition to producing/acting/starring in this short, I know she’s a writer, is “a gay black man in a straight white girl’s body” according to Twitter, and is originality from Tampa, FL., the San Francisco of the East.
I look forward to more collaborations between the two on their Taking LibertiesYoutube channel.