Comedian Cat Hayes Brings “The Scientific Method” to Denver

Cat Hayes, a queer comedian from Portland, is bringing their solo-performance The Scientific Method to Denver this June.

Comedy is often said to be the best medicine, and the Denver Comedy Scene has a lot to offer people from all walks of life. And even better, The Scientific Method offers to brings these laughs to Denver’s LGBTQ+ community directly.

Written and preformed by Hayes and directed by Paul Stein, The Scientific Method is “a quirky and earnest solo comedy show about the collision of science and religion. Freshman Catholic School Kid, Catherine Hayes, chases a miracle after her brother’s locker is set on fire and his bible doesn’t burn. Inspired to prove the existence of God, Catherine embarks on a hilarious and earnest journey to find certainty in an uncertain world. The show follows six different characters—Nanna Thelma, Catherine Hayes, Patrick Hayes, Carrie Wilkes, Vice Principal Hurlee, and Jesus Christ, Son of God—all played by Cat Hayes.”

Playing at the Denver Fringe Festival, Hayes will be preforming The Scientific Method Friday, June 6 at 6pm and Saturday, June 7 at 8:45pm at RISE Comedy (tickets can be purchased here).

OFM had a chance to talk with Hayes about the upcoming solo-performance they wrote and star in, along with the community and joy they’ve found in comedy.

When did your passion for writing and comedy begin?

I’ve been with Kickstand Comedy since January of 2018, and finished their six level course right before the pandemic started. I actually graduated on March 6 2020…and then the next week, everything shut down. And so I kept going. I had really loved the community I had started to become a part of. And so I kept taking classes online, they shifted pretty quickly to doing that…it definitely helped fill the void. And during that time, I took an Intro to Stand Up Class, which is kind of where I first started writing comedy.

While putting together and ultimately performing the show, what was it like retelling and reliving some of your younger years?

Now as a 45 year old, I think it’s funny and silly and kind of endearing that my 13 year old self was just so dedicated to this and wanted to really recreate a miracle. I think I just fell in love with my 13 year old self a little bit through writing this and had a lot of fun. And I think it transformed it from something I was ashamed about to something that, not necessarily that I’m proud of, but that just is a part of me. And I don’t have any sort of embarrassment about it anymore.

What do you hope audiences get out of The Scientific Method?

Have fun and enjoy the show…I think it’s a fun and interesting story. And I think it’s a well written script. But I hope that people get out of it that, you know, there’s so much going on for teenagers in their brains and the way that they’re thinking about things. And there’s a lot of emotionality to being a teenager that can be hard for adults. But I really hope that we all have that empathy for what it’s like to be a teen. So that’s a big part of it.

There’s a poet and writer…he wrote this piece talking about how queer people have to very often choose between religion and their families, and choosing themselves. And so ultimately, what I hope people get out of this is that they learn to choose themselves. Because that’s been a huge difference for me.

As a queer comedian, what has your journey getting into comedy looked like?

My identity is definitely wrapped up into this story. And then in general, I think that being queer is a mode of looking at the world that is different from heteronormativity. So I don’t think that I could have comedy that didn’t have some sort of queer perspective to it.

I think even just waiting to get into comedy until I was 40 is a part of being a queer person. And sort of the ways that I grew up and experienced discrimination and homophobia made it harder for me even just to get started. So I would say that is a piece of it.

I think on the other side of that is that there is a really supportive queer comedy community here in Portland. I have an improv team I’m a part of called Shaving Season, and we’re an all lesbian team. And that’s super supported within the community.

It’s not all wonderful though. I don’t do a lot of open mics and things like that just because of hearing from other queer comedians, especially trans comedians in the Portland area. (People) are still going to open mics where the host does nothing when there’s transphobic comics who are going up right before a trans person goes up. And there’s not a lot of support from our allies around interrupting when things are homophobic and transphobic. That’s a mixed bag. It’s not even necessarily audience members, but more like other comics.

What do you love most about comedy?

The thing I love most is that it injects laughter into my life in a way that’s intentional. Whether it’s a thing I’m doing as a performer or something I’m watching or if I’m teaching and laughing with my students—every one of those opportunities is something I have intended in my life. And I think laughter is so important.

I’ve had lots of loss and tough times in my life. And being able to laugh still today, after all of that, feels like a victory. And making space for myself to do that feels like a lot of good self care.

How can readers support you and find more about you?

I would love for them to come out to the show. It’s a lot of fun. It’s two nights at RISE Comedy. There’s an opportunity for people to submit questions to Jesus. And so I would love for them to come out and ask those questions. And my Instagram is the best place to find me.

All Featured Photos Courtesy of Catherine Hayes