EDGE Interview: Out Comic Tim Murray Rides a Broomstick for Touring Show

Almost immediately upon returning from a very successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, comedian Tim Murray hopped back on the broomstick for his current national tour of his critically acclaimed one-person show, "Tim Murray is Witches!" Part stand-up, part musical, "Witches" explores Murray's experience growing up gay in Ohio and how important his identification with witches became.

The LA-based comic began his career as an actor doing parody musicals in New York and London, as well as a couple of movies. But once he decided to get serious about his real love, stand-up comedy, he headed to LA where he has been working as a comic ever since. And like every successful working comic, Murray spends much of his time on the road.

With "Witches," he's a one-man tour operation from booker to sound, lights, promotion, and contract negotiations. Whether it's a beautiful theater like Miami's Arsht Center or the backroom of a gay bar in middle America, Murray is, in his words, "busting his ass," to make his dreams come true. And every time he steps on stage in green face makeup and full witch drag, Tim Murray knows that he's found his coven.

Recently EDGE had the chance to chat with the comic as he began the tour which ends of November 23 with a stop in Murray's hometown of Sandusky, Ohio. Upcoming dates include Denver (Sep 28), Miami (Oct 4), Tampa (Oct 6), Chicago (Oct 8&9), Louisville (Oct 11), Los Angeles (Oct 15), Boston (Oct 17), Philadelphia (Oct 19), Washington DC (Oct 24), Columbus (Oct 25), San Francisco (Oct 29), Provincetown (Nov 1&2), Atlanta (Nov 16), and Sandusky (Nov 23).

For ticket information, click here.

EDGE: What is "Tim Murray is Witches!?"

Tim Murray: It's an original hour of my comedy about witches and why gay people love and relate to them. It features eight original comedy songs, plus an improvised song based on an audience member's story and stand-up about witches.

EDGE: Why do you like witches?

Tim Murray: I'm actually obsessed with witches. I think it's because when you're a little queer kid you gravitate toward them. There's something about that person they have to hide and then they discover it's actually what makes them special. There's also a fabulousness about witches, the nails and the hair and the costumes. But mostly I think it's the power they have, this incredible power that they think something bad is actually something really right, which is so gay.

EDGE: You grew up in Ohio. What was it like being a little gay kid in Ohio?

Tim Murray: Um, bad. It was like Urkel's theme. I loved growing up in Ohio. I still love going back there. They are honestly genuinely, truly nice people, salt of the earth people, but the culture around there was that being gay was the worst thing you could be. I went to Catholic school and every single boy in my grade was on the football team. We had to wear uniforms but on game day they got to wear a button up shirt and tie, a special outfit. I was the only boy who didn't get to dress like that. It was like a scarlet letter, looking and feeling so different than the rest of them. I still remember sitting at the boy's lunch table, hating it, wanting to sit with the girls. I remember thinking one day I'm going to get out of here and be myself.

EDGE: Were you openly gay at the time or at least aware of your sexuality?

Tim Murray: I've known I was gay since I was about four years old. I remember watching the movie "Beauty and the Beast" and when Gaston puffed up his chest and you could see his chest hair saying to the little girl I was with, "that was my favorite part." She said, "you shouldn't tell people that." I remember that all of my girlfriends had celebrity crushes.

EDGE: Who was yours?

Tim Murray: Shawn Michaels, the Heartbreak Kid from the WWE. He was a wrestler. I used to watch all the wrestlers; they were everything to me. I didn't come out until I was 18, when I left home.

EDGE: How, how did you get from Ohio to a career in comedy?

Tim Murray: I was in college at the University of Miami, Florida and I say Florida, because there's a Miami University in Ohio. I studied theater and from there moved to New York where I started doing a lot of parody musicals, UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade) improv, and internet comedy videos. When I turned 30 I moved to Los Angeles and started whole hog doing stand-up.