She calls herself a fumerist (feminist humourist)  - Kate Clinton; stylish butch and one of the funniest lesbians in the USA  And for fellow South Africans who may not know much about her, the good news is that there’s plenty out there to get your grubby little cyber paws on.  She blogs all over the place and there’s lots of video too.  her live performances are legendary, her DVD’s are hysterical and she’s been in the comedy game for 25 years.   When you get to her website, you could be forgiven for wondering if you’d reached Hilary Clinton’s site - the colour scheme’s patriotically American and politics are in evidence everywhere - not to mention the Hilarity Clinton 08 badge..  When Americans vote, we pay attention, so when Americans laugh, we should pay attention to that too.

Congrats on making Curve Mag’s top 5 funniest lesbians list – are you planning to overthrow the other 4?
Outlast, not overthrow.

Fangirl question: have you met Ellen?  What’s she like?
She’s great - and we love that she’s gotten so mad about the California ban on gay marriage.  Her mother is great too!

You seem to be incredibly passionate about American politics; do you think comedy can make a difference?
Sometimes it’s the only thing.  People hear things they wouldn’t ordinarily hear when they are open and laughing.

Is there anything that you consider off-limits in terms of humour?
As long as I feel confident and competent in a line, I’ll do it.  The Bush regime has been quite repressive, so it’s important not to add your own self-censorship.

Do you apply any of the roles and labels within the queer subculture to yourself e.g. butch, femme and so forth?
Yes, especially ’stylish butch’ - I’m trying to brand myself with it.

This is a question I ask almost everyone I interview; do you have lesbian groupies and if so, do they send you interesting things?  Or bad poetry?
A woman came up to me once and said that she was stalking me, that she’d seen a show fourteen months ago.  I told her, “That’s not stalking.  That’s slacking.  Slalking.”

You’re popular on Facebook; are you being driven insane by Lil green Patch requests and so on?
I’m more bothered by the rotating rainbow asshole that indicates my computer has frozen up again.

How on earth do you find the time to blog and vlog so much?
Thanks for your empathy.  Try telling that to my big butch publicist from Staten Island.  When she says, “I need a blog,” I hop to.

What do you think of the Oprah phenomenon?
Oprah is a great role model and businesswoman.  She has been a force for good for women for a long time.

Last year a lesbian couple was murdered in Soweto just for being gay, a gay couple were killed recently in their home in the USA – do you think there’s really a chance that homophobia will ever disappear?
Who would have thought apartheid would disappear?  When fear disappears, there is a chance of homophobia disappearing.  What is disappearing is the notion that LGBT are going to take anti-gay violence.

Should celebrities come out or are they entitled to their privacy?
When homophobia disappears (see above) closeted celebrities can be fully entitled to their privacy.

Have you encountered much homophobia as a performer?
Is the pope scary?  Of course I have, in little and large ways.  Don’t forget sexism and ageism.  It’s a trifecta of trouble, but I’ve always believed that truth will win.

What is your ultimate dream?
That we will get serious about feeding people.  That is the real revolution.

Are there any other queer artists and performers you’d like to recommend to South Africans?
For a sampler of LGBT comics, get the DVD series called “Laughing Matters.”

Anything else to declare?
On occasion I have googled a crossword puzzle answer.  So there.