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Factsheet

• Became interested in comedy as a child in Catholic school, where she learned how to make the nuns laugh to avoid beatings.
• Started singing gigs with her jazz pianist father in nightclubs at age 12.
• In 1987, she emceed the Second March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
• Her appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1993 was the first time an out gay comedian appeared on a late night talk show.
• Debut comedy album, Bulldyke in a Chinashop, was released in 1994.
• Released her first jazz album, Play it Cool, in 2001.
• The part of Big Boo on Orange Is The New Black was specifically written for her, after she originally auditioned for a role as a prison guard.
• Lost 50 pounds after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2015.