Ross Mathews bringing his 'I Gotchu, Gurl!' show to The Paramount
Comic and TV personality Ross Mathews, who recently moved to the North Shore to live with his husband, Long Island educator Wellinthon García, stages his first home stand here May 11 at The Paramount in Huntington.
His comedy show "I Gotchu, Gurl!" "is about that special relationship between the gay guy and the straight-girl best friend," Mathews, 43, told NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano. "There’s nothing like it. We will hold your hair when you are throwing up and I will French braid it while I am back there, and this is a celebration of that. I wanted to create a safe space where everyone is welcome no matter if you are straight, gay, male, female, nonbinary, whatever. Come here [and] we shut the door on the outside world and we just laugh."
Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Friday at Ticketmaster.com. Matthews on Tuesday, joined by DiStefano, posted a video teaser on Instagram Stories, where posts cycle out after 24 hours.
The show consists of both stand-up and audience participation. "I go out into the audience where nothing is off-limits, especially after a few cocktails," he quips, promising, "You can ask me anything. Then we play games with the audience, give away prizes, maybe there will be a surprise guest or two."
Audience work, in the parlance of stand-up comics, is a favorite part of his job. As co-host of the syndicated daytime talk series "The Drew Barrymore Show," "I am out in the audience, I am talking to people — they cannot shut me up. It's because I love that connection. … There's nothing like that live experience where you can actually change the energy of a room full of people."
Mathews moved here after marrying García, 41, director of curriculum and instruction for the Elmont Union Free School District, in May. He quickly became a Long Island convert. A Weight Watchers spokesperson, he nonetheless raves, "The food on Long Island is like nowhere else," and riffs that the area needs "a new publicist because no one knows how fabulous it is, unless you live here. You guys know but you are keeping it a secret! So maybe I should shut up, too!"
His food haunts include Northport's Del Vino Vineyards winery. "It’s beautiful and they have cauliflower crust pizza and it makes me feel like I am eating a salad," he says. As well, "I am obsessed with my friends at Piccolo," the Huntington restaurant. "They do this butternut squash with red sauce and mozzarella on top; I get it with broccoli … It's delicious! I get it once a week."
He has found the Island "such a specific place — there’s nowhere like it," and calls its denizens "warmhearted and kind but they are also hilarious — so I am going to shine a little spotlight on everybody in the audience" during his show, he says.
