A sapphic couple went to see a comedian perform in Boston. Then they got targeted and sexualized multiple times during crowd work.
TikToker Desii (@xoxo.desii) posted a section of a Boston comedian’s set where he singled her and her girlfriend out.
Desii said that she laughed because she was uncomfortable and that she almost cried during the set because of comments the comedian made.
Desii, who has a girlfriend, tagged the post #wlw. WLW stands for “women loving women.” It’s a broad term that refers to women who are attracted to other women. It can also describe non-binary or female-aligned people who are attracted to women.
Desii started recording a portion of a comedian’s set at some point after he realized that she was a lesbian. The comedian referred to her by race and started making jokes about her.
“Oh, it’s like 90 degrees up here, and she’s Mexican and a lez,” the comedian said. “My whole time up here I’ve just been picturing her just getting… Anyway. It’s on. Anyone else, fellas?”
Viewers on the post summed up what the comedian may have been implying. One viewer said, “He’s saying he’s been imagining her and her gf having [expletive].”
The comedian continued and told his audience he wasn’t joking about the sexual innuendo. “I mean, I’m not kidding at all. Nothing I’ve said here is a joke tonight. I want you to know that,” the comedian said in the clip. “This has been all real. I’m kidding. I don’t know what’s real anymore. I really don’t.”
He told the audience that they were the ones who chose to come to the show. Then he said something, which Desii recalled was the “worst.”
“She looks… Have I been up here for four hours or nine seconds? I don’t really know. Time froze when I found out that I can’t [expletive] her, okay… It’s just my life, you know? I know. It’s just One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson.”
Desii didn’t respond to a TikTok direct message or comment seeking more information.
What’s the difference between crowd work and harassment?
Publications have debated about the ethics of certain offensive and non-offensive comedy routines. Factors such as the comedian’s positionality, whether the satire reinforces or challenges stereotypes, and whether the experience has a shared, positive benefit all factor into how people perceive crowd work. Many comedians, such as Daniel Tosh, have been criticized for making demeaning or offensive jokes at the expense of audience members.
Viewers said this particular comedian’s jokes didn’t land.
One said, “Sooo he’s not a comedian, more likeee a creep.”
Other viewers compared the comedy style to Matt Rife, a comedian who has been lauded for his crowd work by some reviewers while also being called “painfully mediocre” for his “offensive” performances in recent Netflix specials.
Initially, Desii did not identify the comedian who spoke in the clip by name. She left a comment that said the incident occurred at a Tiki Bar on June 3. Desii also said that she couldn’t remember the comedian’s name at first, as she was on vacation and not familiar with the area.
Eventually, Desii said that the comedian’s name was “Nic Ferrera.” That led commenters to two comedians, Nick Guerra and Nic Ferreira.
Viewers quickly determined that Guerra was the wrong person.
“Unlucky similar name but she commented somewhere below that it’s Nic Ferrera (and therefore not Nick Guerra), so hopefully people haven’t fully lost their ability to read yet,” one viewer said.
Guerra has since said he is not the comedian in question. “Hey everyone! I haven’t performed in Boston since 2013. This isn’t me. I live in LA,” he commented on Desii’s post.
When viewers expressed sympathy for Guerra being unjustly blamed for the other comedian’s comments, Guerra said, “I’ll survive. I feel bad that she became the subject of whatever that guy was attempting. Good on her for calling him out. I just hope everyone gets the right guy.”
Nic Ferreira, the other comedian identified by commenters, was described as a “Boston comedian” by a podcast he was a guest on last year. Desii said that the comedian in question deactivated his social media accounts. Ferreira appears to have deactivated his social media accounts. The Big Lead was unable to find alternative contact information for him.
