New Orleans is known for its culture, talent and artistry, but — arguably — New Orleanians are some of the funniest people you’ll ever meet. Maybe it’s our innate gift for storytelling or just the natural whimsicality brought on by the city itself. Whatever the case, we’ll make you laugh. One of those natural-born performers making us laugh is Ryan Rogers. Rogers has become very popular on social media for his real and honest commentary on New Orleans and its people. For the last five years, however, Rogers has made it a mission to shine a light on other Queer artists through his LGBTLOL Comedy Festival.
Did you always know that you wanted to be an entertainer? No, not at all. I wanted to be an artist, but I didn’t know there was more versatility to being a “professional creative.” I had a limited view of, like, I will be a painter, and I will probably work in Jackson Square, because that is the ceiling, and then that will be my life. When I went to college, I pivoted into advertising, which was a way to make art commercially, but I wasn’t, believe it or not, incredibly interested in the design side of it. I switched to writing because I got a job [with] the campus newspaper as the sex columnist. I wrote under a pen name and started writing. I got actually poached by a local ad exec when I was maybe 19. She said, “I read your column, you should come write for us.” I was working at an ad agency, in undergrad still, and so I’d already pivoted into a full-blown career in advertising. I still hold down a day job working. I’m working in-house right now for a company based out Northern California in Silicon Valley that specializes in perimenopause care for women. I’m a senior brand copywriter for MIDI. I mean, it’s weird that I ended up here, but I worked at Peter Mayer in New Orleans for years, so my clients were Kennedy Space Center (so I worked for NASA). I worked for Zatarans, and then I got essentially recruited by Google. I lived in San Francisco and the Bay Area. I lived in the city and I commuted to Google and Mountain View every day for a couple of years. I was [then] a creative director at Pandora, the music app in Oakland. Then the pandemic hit and I moved back to New Orleans with my husband.
How did you get started in comedy? It started with a sex column. I had a very popular blog for a while where I wrote about my sex life and relationships. It was called “Ex-boyfriend Material.” And that’s actually how I met my husband, He was a fan. I’m not kidding. He wrote in fan mail, and that’s how we met. When I got sober after the pandemic, I needed a way to channel all my anxieties and manage sobriety in a healthy way. I went to a comedy show in New Orleans and was like, “Oh, I could do this. I mean, it’s just, it’s writing and performance, like let’s just go for it.” I wrote five minutes, I went to an open mic and I crushed, and that was it. I kind of went all in. In my first year, I quit my day job. I would never recommend this, but I had some money left over from Google, and I was like, you know what, I’m going to coast on some of the money that I saved, and I’m going to invest in a website, and my social media, and getting my writing together, and traveling. I spent my first year doing comedy full time, which is backwards. I started producing in New Orleans and partnering with the Virgin Hotel and local venues, and producing was a way for me to make money while I figured everything out. I was making sustainable income, producing shows, working with local businesses in New Orleans, elevating their comedy programs or installing them, and doing stand-up every night. Even to this very day, I do stand-up five to seven nights a week. I make five years doing stand-up in June, and I’m my biggest fan. I couldn’t be more proud of what I’ve accomplished in less than five years. I’ve got two albums out on all streaming platforms. I have opened for [comedians] Whitney Cummings and Tig Notaro. I’ve, worked with all these national brands. I had an OnlyFans comedy special that I was, it’s crazy. There’s a lot that’s happened in five years.
Where did the idea for LGBTLOL come from? We’re entering our fifth year this June, so June is a big month. It started as a one-day event with four shows, and we sold out. And that told us that there was a demand for it. The following year we opened it up on a national scale, and instead of just casting it with local queer comedians (which by the way, New Orleans has one of the richest queer comedy scenes in the country by far; it’s not even close) we open it up on a national scale and we try to match it. This year we had 175 applicants from all around the country. We’ll pick maybe the top 30, and then we’ll match it with 30 locals because we have the numbers locally. This year we have 30+ queer comedians representing New Orleans on the festival. That’s not even counting drag queens, these are just stand-up comedians. This isn’t even counting improv. The dream truly is to take LGBTLOL and make it more of a national platform where we can give underrepresented queer comedians who are just bursting at the seams with talent and, you know, maybe don’t have the opportunities because of diversity issues or financial issues. I would like to give those people the platform.
What are you most excited about for this year? I am very proud of our headliners we have this year. And I’m most excited about our local partnerships by far. We have operated this festival, since day one, out of the generosity and support of local businesses. They have shown up for us since day one for me and my husband Drew, who is my co-producer and co-founder of the festival. A lot of local businesses come out to support us, which in 2026 in our political climate, is very rare for people to step up and be vocal and visible about supporting a queer organization like us. They do not care about the optics. They just want to do what’s right. We’re working with New Orleans and Company this year for the first time because our number one priority as an organization is performer experience; meaning all the people who are coming in from out of town, many of them, I would venture to say many of them have never been to New Orleans before, so it better be fun and they better feel welcome. Drew and I have been focused on making sure those people have a nice time from the moment their feet hit downtown. That is the commitment that we have made, that when you come to New Orleans, you’re going to leave wanting to come back to the city, feeling loved.
What’s next for your comedy? Social media and creating content that is central to New Orleans culture and the New Orleans experience, and being a New Orleans native is so fun for me. It seems to connect with people, so I’m going to keep doing it because it’s fun. In terms of my career as a stand-up comedian, I’m very much looking forward to the launch of “Girl Bye” on OutTV [this past] May 15. I’ve got a bunch of Pride and national gigs coming up for the rest of the year that I’m could not be more excited for.
True confession: I’m a national competitive boudin eating champion several years in a row.
