Tag Archives: Sabrina Jalees

Sabrina Jalees Discusses ‘Portrait of a Serial Monogamist’, NBC’s ‘Crowded!’ In New Interview

If you keep up with the Canadian comedy scene, or if you’ve seen shows such as The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and Best Week Ever, then it’s likely that you know who Sabrina Jalees is.

If you’re not familiar with the out comedian’s work then you soon will be as not only does she star in new gay film Portrait of a Serial Monogamist but she’s also a writer for the upcoming NBC sitcom, Crowded!

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Portrait of a Serial Monogamist follows Elsie, a television producer who always finds herself in relationships and yet cannot recognise the fact that she’s a ‘serial monogamist’. Jalees’ character Sarah on the other hand, “thinks she knows everything about picking up women” but by the end of the movie, the comedian tells AfterEllen, Sarah is “not the player that she thought she was”.

Jalees explains to the publication that Sarah “does talk like she’s pretty smooth, but she also fucks up” and she also notes that the film was “made by and stars a lot of people in the queer community in Toronto”.

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Queer films about honest queer characters that are made by actual queer people are hard to come by so it’s probably worth checking out Portrait of a Serial Monogamist during its run in select theatres.

As for her work on the small screen, NBC sitcom Crowded! will debut in March. Jalees explains that the show’s premise is that “two daughters move back in with their parents, who were just about to enjoy having the empty nest and all of a sudden everything’s crowded”.

Jalees also describes one of the daughters, Stella, as “sexually fluid” and that in the first episode that she writes on, Stella “makes out with a girl”.

Rather than being a cheap grab for views though, Jalees confirms that Stella’s fluidity “is part of her identity and she in the first season” and that “she’s very much open to dating more women in the second season”. Set your DVRs for Crowded!’s premiere on Sunday, March 20.

Other sections of the interview that are well worth reading include Jalees’ “unauthorized” beginnings in stand-up comedy as well as her thoughts on being a queer Muslim role model. She explains why she was hesitant to come out, how her parents supported her and how her career has grown since she made that decision.

 

Comedian Sabrina Jalees: “I Came Out and My Muslim Dad Stood By Me”

This video by with Comedian Sabrina Jalees and her father Sayed is a great example for struggling parents of LGBT children, no matter their background.

“Before I realized I was gay, I was kind of homophobic. I mean, that’s disgusting! Two women—together? Ugh. Really, I guess, I was just afraid that that was me.”

Sabrina Jalees

Jalees grew up in a multi-ethnic home (her mother is from Switzerland, and her father is from Pakistan) in Toronto.

Comparing her ‘Coming Out’ to cliff diving, Jalees knew that tell her family about her sexuality would be hard, but she felt very strongly that she needed to tell her parents.

“I came out to my parents, because I wanted to keep my relationship with them.”

Sabrina Jalees

Right after she told her father, she remembers him, after a long stretch of shocked silence, saying, “Well… We didn’t raise you guys to be liars”, and from that moment on, Sabrina knew things were going to be reasonably all right.

While she was growing up, Sabrina’s family played host to her various aunts, uncles and cousins, moving to Canada and the US from Pakistan, and Sabrina became very close with her extended family.

Even though she knew it was difficult, she believed very strongly that to be true to both herself and her relationship with her family, she needed to tell them about her life and her recent marriage.

In an email to her aunts, uncles and cousins, she wrote:

I got married this past summer to an amazing woman named Shauna. Although some of you do know, I’ve found it hard to be open with all of you about this part of myself. I really avoided “coming out” for a long time because I love all of you and didn’t want anyone to see me in a different light or judge me. I do not want to keep hiding this from you because I feel that if I continue “not mentioning” this part of my life I’ll completely drift away from you guys.

There were no responses. Sabrina quickly realized that none of her extended family members were planning to write back to her. Many de-friended her on Facebook. Eventually, she heard from one of them that the official family line was, “our support for Sabrina ends here.”

“I thought there would be more of a conversation around it. I never expected them to just shut off and throw me out.”

Sabrina Jalees

Her parents embraced her life, and made sure the rest of the family knew it.

 

A Touching, Inspiring and Funny TedxTalk by Lesbian Comedian Sabrina Jalees

Throughout history, comedians have used humor to shed light on subjects that are typically considered to be uncomfortable or taboo.

In this recently posted TEDxTalk, comedian Sabrina Jalees approaches the topics of racism and sexuality, as she tells a coming-of-age story.

After working up the courage to tell her Muslim family that she was a lesbian, Sabrina learned that being true to herself and taking pride in her individuality would not only enhance her material, as a comedian, but that ultimately it would lead to a happier life.

Jalees is a Canadian comedian, actor, keynote speaker, writer and host of ‘My Sexy Podcast”. Now based in Brooklyn, she started her comedy career early at the age of just sixteen, when she took the stage and performed on open mic night at the Yuk Yuk Comedy Club in Toronto.

This talk is positive, insightful, and funny. Hell, the opening lining is…

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“Legally I do have to tell you, by the end of this talk, you’ll all be lesbians.”

Sabrina Jalees

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