Comedian Taylor Tomlinson’s stand-up set for her “Save Me Tour” is a brilliantly written show that expertly navigates serious topics like sexuality and religion while still being comedic and light-hearted.
As someone who grew up queer in a pretty Christian household, I never felt like I fit in religious spaces. I always needed to be more feminine or less open about my sexuality. Seeing Tomlinson talk about her experiences as a bisexual person growing up Christian made me feel so much less alone.
Although the subject matter contributed to the show’s success, I would be remiss not to credit Tomlinson’s delivery. She did a fabulous job building off cliché topics like dating and female friendships to provide a unique take.
Also, her physical comedy further elevated the performance. She used the stage well and made the microphone like a prop, which added to the show. Her dry humor and exceptional storytelling made her easy to listen to.
While religion is a pretty taboo topic and not typically something to joke about, Tomlinson managed to address it in an affectionate way that didn’t seem like she was punching down at religious people.
A perfect example of this was when she discussed how many faithful people say religion got them through the most challenging parts of their lives. She replied, “That’s how I talk about ‘Gilmore Girls,’ and I capitalize both ‘G’s.”
Tomlinson even said that she doesn’t think it’s religion that she has a problem with; she just does not like people with confidence, especially those confident in what happens after people die. Honestly, I felt so seen by this because I am incredibly intimidated by confident people. Sometimes, I apologize to walls when I bump into them. I can not imagine feeling sure enough about the afterlife to preach to others. This joke further emphasized that she wasn’t trying to attack religious people for their beliefs.
She also discussed her relationship with her religious family members. Her uncle is a pastor, and she mentioned he’s one of the few people she feels understands her job. Whenever she sees him, she will ask him how the early show went: “He’s like, ‘Do you mean first service?’”
One of my favorite bits was when she talked about how dark stories from the Bible are pitched to kids. She specifically mentioned Noah’s Ark and how churches always put murals of it up in nurseries: “Look here, kids! This is a picture of all the animals that God didn’t drown.” I felt this way every time I read a story from The Old Testament about the Ten Plagues of Egypt or Abraham almost sacrificing his son to please God, so I’m happy someone’s finally talking about how wild these stories are.
Her exceptional ability to do crowd work sets Tomlinson apart from other comics. She incorporated this into her show by asking audience members if they had plans for their bodies after they died and asked if couples knew each other’s love languages. She riffed with the crowd well during these interactions and seemed personable and down-to-earth.
Usually, only the people in the front row at comedy shows get to be part of crowd work, but Tomlinson avoided this by having attendees text in answers to questions like, “Who was your gay awakening?” or “How did you come out?” Then, she and her opener, Sophie Buddle, sat on a pew they had found at a thrift shop to answer them. This part of the show felt like watching two friends talking until 2 a.m. at a sleepover, and it added a lot to the set. My seats were further back, so I appreciated the opportunity to contribute my thoughts.
I had the best time at Taylor Tomlinson’s show and I encourage anyone to see it! Just maybe don’t spend $40 on a T-shirt like I did.
