{{Short description|American comedian}} {{Infobox comedian <!-- for individuals - see Template:Infobox comedian for usage --> | honorific_prefix = | name = Ashley Gavin | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1987|11|17}} | birth_place = United States | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | medium = {{hlist|Stand-up comedy|podcasting}} | education = | alma_mater = Bryn Mawr College | years_active = 2014–present | employer = | genre = | subject = <!-- Use |subjects= if plural --> | spouse = | partner = Jen Davis | children = | parents = | relatives = | notable_works = | memorials = | signature = | website = {{URL|https://www.ashleygavin.com}} | footnotes = | module = }}
'''Ashley Gavin''' (born November 17, 1987) is an American comedian, writer, and podcast host. She has been featured on Netflix is a Joke, Hulu, Comedy Central, and is also known for her crowd work videos on TikTok and her podcast, ''We're Having Gay Sex''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Netflix Is A Joke Festival 2024 |url=https://www.netflixisajokefest.com/artists/ashley-gavin |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=www.netflixisajokefest.com}}</ref> She also hosts the podcasts ''Chosen Family'' along with online creators Alayna Joy and Mak Ingemi<ref>{{Cite web|last=Escandon|first=Rosa|title=Ashley Gavin Talks To Straight People About Being Queer On Her New Podcast|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rosaescandon/2021/12/30/ashley-gavin-talks-to-straight-people-about-being-queer-on-her-new-podcast/|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Forbes|language=en|archive-date=2021-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127042936/https://www.forbes.com/sites/rosaescandon/2021/12/30/ashley-gavin-talks-to-straight-people-about-being-queer-on-her-new-podcast/|url-status=live}}</ref> and ''What's News With You'' with Josh Johnson.
==Early life and education== Ashley Gavin was born on November 17, 1987. Her father died of lung cancer when she was 11 years old.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Podcast transcripts, sponsors, and audience data – Podscribe |url=https://app.podscribe.ai/episode/83010002 |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=app.podscribe.ai}}</ref> She began acting in a theater club at age 11 as well,<ref name="martinisandyourmoney.com">{{Cite web |date=2020-03-06 |title=Comedian Finances with Ashley Gavin |url=https://martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/comedian-finances-with-ashley-gavin |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Martinis and Your Money |language=en-US}}</ref> and wanted to be a comedian from a young age.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Hoeffner |first=Melissa Kravitz |date=2023-06-12 |title=Comedian Ashley Gavin says the queer community gave her the boost she needed |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/comedian-ashley-gavin-061223 |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Time Out New York |language=en-US}}</ref> Although barely passing mathematics in high school and failing biology,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weingarten |first=Elizabeth |date=2014-03-28 |title=How to Get Girls to Choose, and Stick With, STEM Careers: A Future Tense Event Recap |url=https://slate.com/technology/2014/03/how-to-get-girls-to-choose-and-stick-with-stem-careers.html |access-date=2024-04-17 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339}}</ref> Gavin went on to earn a bachelor's degree from the women's liberal arts college Bryn Mawr College from 2006 to 2010, with a major with honors in Computer Science and a minor in Philosophy,<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.brynmawr.edu/inside/academic-information/departments-programs/computer-science/about-computer-science/history |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=www.brynmawr.edu |language=en}}</ref> graduating Magna Cum Laude.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Not waiting for it: Comedian Ashley Gavin stands up for diversity and vulnerability |url=https://www.c-ville.com/not-waiting-comedian-ashley-gavin-stands-diversity-vulnerability |last=Watson |first=Mary Shea |date=November 14, 2018 |access-date=July 6, 2021 |website=C-VILLE Weekly |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185933/https://www.c-ville.com/not-waiting-comedian-ashley-gavin-stands-diversity-vulnerability |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=College|first=Events at Bard|title=Why Does Everybody Hate Computer Science? at Bard College|url=https://www.bard.edu/news/events/event/?eid=129928&date=|access-date=2021-09-15|website=www.bard.edu|language=en|archive-date=2021-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915203958/https://www.bard.edu/news/events/event/?eid=129928&date=|url-status=live}}</ref>
After graduating, Gavin moved to Boston to take a position in the Lincoln Laboratory national security research lab at MIT as a software engineer,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2017-08-16 |title=Seven Minutes in Heaven with Comedian Ashley Gavin – GO Magazine |url=https://gomag.com/article/seven-minutes-in-heaven-with-comedian-ashley-gavin/ |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=gomag.com |language=en-US}}</ref> where she worked for two years and made technical contributions to the Rapid Area Sensitive-Site Reconnaissance (RASR) Advanced Technology Demonstration.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Winkler |first1=S. |last2=Boulet |first2=M. |last3=Pitts |first3=J.D. |date=2017 |title=Robotic Sensitive-Site Assessment |url=https://www.ll.mit.edu/sites/default/files/page/doc/2018-06/22_2_2_Boulet.pdf |journal=Lincoln Laboratory Journal |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=24–37 |via=MIT}}</ref> This led her to become a computer science educator, serving as the founding curriculum director of Girls Who Code for four years and as an adjunct faculty member at Wesleyan University.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.c-ville.com/not-waiting-comedian-ashley-gavin-stands-diversity-vulnerability | title=Not waiting for it: Comedian Ashley Gavin stands up for diversity and vulnerability | date=14 November 2018 | access-date=2021-07-06 | archive-date=2021-07-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185933/https://www.c-ville.com/not-waiting-comedian-ashley-gavin-stands-diversity-vulnerability | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bard.edu/news/events/event/?eid=129928&date=1444941000 | title=Why Does Everybody Hate Computer Science? At Bard College | access-date=2023-07-06 | archive-date=2023-07-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707162157/https://www.bard.edu/news/events/event/?eid=129928&date=1444941000 | url-status=live }}</ref> Gavin has described some overlap between her ability to teach code and her acting and standup, saying that "teaching is very much a performance",<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Venkatram |first=Anulekha |date=2014-11-19 |title=A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Ashley Gavin |url=https://heragenda.com/power-agenda/ashley-gavin/ |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Her Agenda |language=en-US}}</ref> though she says of this period of her life: "I loved that work. It was creative and intellectually stimulating. But I felt empty inside."<ref name=":3" /> She later described comedy as the outlet that filled that void.
== Comedy career == Gavin had long been involved in acting and improv but had never tried standup, so decided to take a standup course with actor and comedian Veronica Mosey, partly because she "wanted a woman's perspective".<ref name=":4" /> Her first stand-up routine was at an open mic night at The Lantern Comedy Club in New York City. It went so well that she remembers thinking when it was finished, "Oh. This is what I should be doing."<ref name=":2" /> About why she decided to make a career change, she later said,<blockquote>The primary reason I do stand up is because it fills the void inside of me that not everyone has. If you don’t have a giant gaping hole in your heart or soul, consider yourself lucky. But I do, and if I don’t do stand up it eats me from the inside.<ref name=":3" /></blockquote> In 2014 Gavin took leave from her job as a computer science educator to pursue a career as a standup comedian, working a freelance consulting job on the side and living with her mother to save money.<ref name="martinisandyourmoney.com"/><ref name=":1" /> Within a few years she had performed a sold-out show at the Times Square comedy club Carolines on Broadway.<ref name=":2" />
From 2019 to 2020 Gavin did a steady standup comedy gig with Carnival Cruise Line and was their first openly gay comedian, where she refined how to engage straight people as a comedian and a gay woman and would perform every day, sometimes twice a day, for crowds of up to 500 people.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Giardina |first=Henry |date=2021-06-02 |title=Ashley Gavin is Having Gay Sex! and We're Thrilled. |url=https://www.intomore.com/culture/ashley-gavin-gay-sex-thrilled/ |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Into}}</ref>
=== ''We're Having Gay Sex'' === During the pandemic, Gavin began a podcast and TikTok channel, motivated by the lack of queer dating resources online, saying: <blockquote>I was getting out of my third long-term monogamous relationship in a row. I was like, 'obviously I'm not doing something right.' ... I've never really existed in a world where queer dating was normal. It's starting to be, which is really good. In my opinion, it's pretty great to be queer right now. So I had the idea of documenting my dating life and gathering these stories.<ref name=":5" /></blockquote> This led Gavin to create ''We're Having Gay Sex'', a comedy podcast which features weekly interviews often focusing on queer dating and sex life. Guests such as Demi Burnett from ''The Bachelor'', Francesca Farago from ''Too Hot To Handle'', and news anchor Megan Mitchell have appeared on the podcast.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-01-12|title=Demi Burnett Reveals Ruby Rose DMed Her After She Came Out on 'BiP'|url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/demi-burnett-ruby-rose-dmed-me-after-bachelor-coming-out/|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Us Weekly|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218123825/https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/demi-burnett-ruby-rose-dmed-me-after-bachelor-coming-out/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-11-16|title=Megan Mitchell Sits Out & Proud Behind Cincinnati's WLWT-TV Anchor Desk|url=https://thebuckeyeflame.com/2020/11/16/megan-mitchell/|access-date=2021-07-22|website=The Buckeye Flame|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-07-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722162042/https://thebuckeyeflame.com/2020/11/16/megan-mitchell/|url-status=live}}</ref>
''We're Having Gay Sex'' was listed as one of the best comedy podcasts of 2020 by ''Paste Magazine'' as well as one of the best LGBTQ+ podcasts of 2021 and 2023 by ''Women's Health'',<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-01-14|title=The Best Comedy Podcasts of 2020|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/podcasts/best-comedy-podcasts-of-2020/|access-date=2021-08-17|website=pastemagazine.com|language=en|archive-date=2021-08-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817020650/https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/podcasts/best-comedy-podcasts-of-2020/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kassel|first=Gabrielle|date=2023-05-23|title=21 Best LGBTQ+ Podcasts To Listen To In 2023|url=https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/g36409777/best-lgbtq-podcasts//|access-date=2023-05-27|website=Women's Health|language=en|archive-date=2023-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527040927/https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/g36409777/best-lgbtq-podcasts//|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kassel|first=Gabrielle|date=2021-05-26|title=You Need To Add These LGBTQ+ Podcasts To Your Daily Routine ASAP|url=https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/g36409777/best-lgbtq-podcasts/|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Women's Health|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920192521/https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/g36409777/best-lgbtq-podcasts/|url-status=live}}</ref> and one of the best queer podcasts by BuzzFeed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahad |first=Ab'ha |title=20 Best Queer Podcasts To Tune Into While Going About Daily Queer Life |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/abhaahad/best-queer-podcasts |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=BuzzFeed |date=15 March 2022 |language=en |archive-date=2022-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412043718/https://www.buzzfeed.com/abhaahad/best-queer-podcasts |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Acting and screenplay writing === Gavin is the co-creator of ''Gay Girl Straight Girl (GGSG)'' with Lee Hurst, who she calls "my favorite straight girl", and in which Gavin also stars.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2018-02-02|title=Ashley Gavin: comedy and social commentary|url=https://bowdoinorient.com/2018/02/02/ashley-gavin-comedy-and-social-commentary/|access-date=2021-06-12|website=The Bowdoin Orient|language=en|archive-date=2021-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608094348/https://bowdoinorient.com/2018/02/02/ashley-gavin-comedy-and-social-commentary/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3" />
==Personal life== Gavin is a lesbian and resides in New York.<ref name=":0" /> She is a WNBA fan who gets season tickets to New York Liberty games.<ref name=":1" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{official website|https://www.ashleygavin.com/}} *{{IMDb name|7932824}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavin, Ashley}} Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:Bryn Mawr College alumni Category:American lesbian comedians Category:American women comedians Category:American women podcasters Category:American comedy podcasters Category:American lesbian writers Category:Comedians from New York City Category:LGBTQ people from New York (state) Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people Category:21st-century American women writers Category:American TikTokers