BETCH-Fest :: Liam Sullivan Summons Drag Alter Ego 'Kelly'

Her lipstick is smudged, her wig is askew, her fashion sense sucks, and--oh yeah--we're pretty sure we spot an Adam's Apple underneath that five o'clock shadow on her rosy-cheeked face.

On the surface, Kelly doesn't exactly sound like the kind of fabulous diva you expect Web-savvy gay folk to swoon over.

Yet throughout the last two years, "she" (and her creator, comedic actor Liam Sullivan) has become an internet phenomenon. Armed with a designer handbag full of catchphrases ("Betch!" "Deck!" "Shetbag!"), a viral online video named "Shoes" and a seemingly limitless array of vacuous stares and finely honed wit, Sullivan has parlayed his Kelly character into a one-woman empire of bumper stickers, T-shirts, mp3s and shet like that.

And while Sullivan is straight, the local-grown funny boy (he hails from Norfolk, MA) has amassed a huge following in the gay community.

It doesn't hurt that he's currently touring (as himself, Kelly, and several other characters) as the opener for queer-friendly comedian Margaret Cho. The two met when, unbeknownst to Sullivan, he rented the "Shoes" robot costume from Cho's husband. Now, the dynamic duo will make a local stop together when Cho's "Beautiful" swings through Boston on Saturday, April 5 at the Orpheum Theatre.

"I remember the first time I ever performed that character [Kelly]," he remarks. After attending Clark University in Worcester, waiting tables in Boston and kicking around small parts with local theatre companies (including the Lyric Stage Company of Boston), Sullivan moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams of acting.

After a few more years on the West Coast, training in improvisational comedy, auditioning for parts and composing comedic songs, he finally decided to don drag and take one of his favorite impressions to center stage. Thus was born a na?ve, obnoxious, yet strangely endearing Valley Girl named Kelly.

"I remember going in to the bathroom and changing into the Kelly gear," recalls Sullivan. "I said to myself, 'Oh my gosh, this is either going to be really embarrassing or really great.'"

It was most certainly the latter. In 2006, Sullivan capitalized on the growing popularity of YouTube, the little user-generated content Web site that could. He began posting clips from "A Liam Show," his collection of short comedy films.

Fast forward two years later when YouTube becomes a major part of the average person's vernacular. Now, Kelly is one of the mega-site's proudest ambassadors: her debut music video "Shoes" is the Top 10 most viewed videos (No. 7) in the history of the culture-altering Web site, receiving over 18 million views by the end of March 2008. The video ended up receiving MTV rotation and the song itself is still sitting pretty on iTunes Top 10 comedy tracks, where it has appeared continuously since its release.

It even spawned a full-length Kelly album (Shoes), featuring follow up electro-pop ditties (and accompanying videos) like "Let Me Borrow That Top," "Txt Msg Brkup" and "What R U Guys Talking About?" And you know you've made it big when a Britney Spears mash-up ("Gimme More Shoes") is making the online rounds.

Sullivan manages to keep a sense of humor about the cultural phenomenon his feminine side has become. "I'm not exactly devastatingly handsome," says Sullivan of how he decided to put on panties for his part. "I'm not the leading man type, or the best friend role. It's tough to cast me... I thought, 'well, I can do fringe characters. Why don't I embrace that? I can do something that people don't really see everywhere."

But Kelly is far from fringe. For many, she's become a Halloween costume idea, a favorite forwarded e-mail or a "you gotta see this!" moment in swapping hilarious YouTube vids with friends. In short, she's a mainstream cultural legend.

"The other day, I was curious to see how the iTunes music video [of "Shoes"] was doing," says Sullivan. "Out of the Top 100, it was No. 47... right between Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears."

Sullivan continues, "If that's not mainstream, I don't know what is."

But in describing Kelly, Sullivan also reveals the biggest key to her idol status with the gay crowd: her attitude. "I think I have a real gay sensibility," says Sullivan. "I'm a straight guy, but I'm not some macho construction guy. I'm artsy and crunchy and stuff like that."

"Growing up, I never felt like I fit in," explains Sullivan. "I think everyone feels like that at some point in their life. Being gay and growing up in a predominantly straight world, it must make people feel like, 'I'm strange. I'm weird. I'm not like everybody else.' Well, I always felt that way [too]."

So does Kelly. But according to Sullivan, what separates her from the pack--and endears her to fans-- is that she simply doesn't care. "It's a really freeing thing to be like, 'Yeah, I'm strange. I'm weird!'" he says.
"Margaret [Cho] was saying that she really liked one particular part of the 'Shoes' video: the part where Kelly stands up and says, 'I'm gonna get what I want!' It's not only funny, like a bratty teen... but it's also her saying, 'I don't care what anybody says... I'm gonna do it!'"

Sullivan says he has strong affinity for his alter ego. I love that girl!" he jokes. "She's inspiring to me. Whenever I get low, when I say 'I should quit this [comedy], I suck, I'm going to die penniless and insane... that's when I ask myself: 'What would Kelly do?'"

Sullivan continues to perform as a variety of characters in and out of drag: Mother Grandma, Dr. Ulee and folk singing lesbian Aunt Susan, to name a few. Several will pop up on the Cho tour.

But there's a special place for Kelly in his heart.

"We root for her as we make fun of her," says Sullivan. "In most other stereotypes, we're making fun of Valley Girls... but this time around, I wanted people on Kelly's side. We want her to win. She's our heroine, not the butt of a joke."

And thanks to his gay fans, Sullivan is learning a few new jokes of his own.

"I don't always get the references," he admits of some gay jokes. "The song 'Let Me Borrow that Top' took on a whole new meaning after I was made aware."

Liam Sullivan is the opening act for Margaret Cho's "Beautiful" stand-up performance. 7:30 p.m Saturday, April 5. Orpheum Theatre, 1 Hamilton Place, Boston. $28.50-$45.50. 617-679-0810 or www.livenation.com.