Since FairPlay’s creation, we have worked with improvisers and theaters across the nation as a source of information and to provide guidance to improve gender equity as well as prevent and address harassment. While we do sometimes receive requests from outside of the improv community, we have thus far been unable to devote the time and energy required to step outside of the art forms we know and are actively involved in, though we have often dreamt of being able to bring the success of FairPlay to other disciplines. Simply put, we have worked primarily within the confines of improv as an art form because improv is what we know.
With that said, we are extremely excited to announce that FairPlay will be expanding our work to the standup community with the same goals that we currently pursue in working with improvisers. Our mission is and always has been to claim equitable space on and off stage for women, trans, femme, non-binary and genderqueer comedians and expanding to the standup community will allow us to work with and support many more venues, bars, shows, producers and comedians in meeting this goal.
To be successful as we expand into stand up, we knew that we would need to fill out our board with performers that knew and were comfortable with the art of stand up. To that end, we are tremendously pleased to welcome our newest FairPlay Leadership Team member: Rana May.
Rana attended our public meetings held in the fall of 2018 and spoke with us about some of the issues that were affecting the Minnesota stand up community. She had reached out to us in the past to be a point of contact since there was so much overlap in the Twin Cities between stand up and improv, so we were well familiar with her work and felt very fortunate that she was interested in joining our team.
Rana has been a comedian for over five years, starting as a standup at local open mics to now producing multiple shows while continuing to perform. She is the co-creator and producer of PSSY CTRL, a monthly show at the Comedy Corner Underground, that highlights women, trans, queer and POC performers. She also produces and hosts an annual year-end roast (most recently “Fuck 2018”) and an annual Mother’s Day show (“Cool Mom”) at the Turf Club. Outside of producing, she frequently performs at festivals across the country including the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Cream City Comedy Festival and the Memphis Comedy Festival. She headlines locally at clubs all over the cities and has helped create a network of and safer place for women, trans, femme, non-binary and genderqueer standups in Minnesota.
While Rana brings a breadth of experience in the standup field to our team, she also brings years of experience in social services. She has worked as a case manager for 12 years in the Twin Cities area with adults, families and children experiencing homelessness. She also has many years of experience working with individuals who have experienced chemical dependency, sexual assault, domestic violence and mental illness. Rana is driven by compassion and creating equitable spaces and opportunities, and we know that compassion will carry through to her work with FairPlay.
Please join us in welcoming Rana to the team!
Throughout the coming months, we will be making additional announcements about new Leadership Team members. As always, if you’re interested in joining us, please contact us at fairplaymn@gmail.com.
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