Quin Lamar, originally from Detroit, MI, has been in the stand-up game for a decade, playing numerous cities and appearing on the late-night talk show “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” and TV series “Flatbush Misdemeanors.”
Now, for the first time, Lamar will be heading all the way south to perform at the Key West Theater during the island’s Pride Week. Always game for playing new cities, Lamar appreciates the way unfamiliar settings often leave room for surprises and unexpected conversations with the audience. Which should bode well for any crowd work incorporated into the comic’s set.
Lamar thinks this is a good way to get a feel for the people that inhabit the towns and centers of his show. Part of what he most likes about performing is that it facilitates meeting people with different points of view, who often prove, at least at his shows, to be more alike than they might first appear.
This allows the comedian to internally dissect questions like what makes each destination special, are there commonalities, and for Key West, what kind of person lives in a place that is frequently marketed as paradise.
Growing up, Lamar described his school experience as one that saw him as a bit of a class clown in and out of the principal’s office. But his mother encouraged him to explore other ways to be involved at school, which resulted in his participation in the arts and football.
“Those two worlds are really just the same,” he said, adding that the desire to perform never really went away even as he later moved to New York City and became a social worker.
“I got lucky living in New York. You can do standup in a lot of different places. And I started getting up.”
Lamar eventually landed some bookings.
“And then one thing led to another, and I ended up opening for Kevin James Thornton, who’s a pretty big comic.”
Going on the road and opening for Thornton back in 2022 proved profound.
“There’s no word for it for me,” Lamar explained. “I’ve never felt anything that’s better than that, than making the connection with people in that way. People we don’t know, people from a different place.”
Ahead of Key West Pride Week, Lamar, who is gay, believes that this year’s celebrations across the country should prove memorable.
“I think this year will be pretty loud. I think because a lot of corporations are silent. I think that it’s time for us to actually use our voices in the way we should have been using them all along.”
He hopes that members of the public joining celebrations this month will find a way to live as authentically as possible.
“That’s what pride is really about, the authentic self and being visible and showing that you have a right to exist. Because at this point, it’s about people having the right to exist. And I think that’s a very powerful thing that people can do and do every day.”
Wed, Jun 25, 2025 - 8 p.m.
The Key West Theater
quinlamar.com
