Coming-out comedy ‘Lesbihonest’ brings Laura Piccinin’s story to Surrey
Published 11:30 am Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Hyped as “a hilarious autobiography of some gay girl from Toronto,” Lesbihonest is touring B.C. cities this spring including Surrey on Thursday, April 9, in the Studio Theatre at Surrey Arts Centre.
Laura Piccinin created the solo production in 2021 for the Fringe festival in Toronto, where she lives.
“In Smithers this will be my 100th show,” said Piccinin, who on tour alternates performances of Lesbihonest with Go, the comedic story of her 336-kilometre hike in coastal Newfoundland.
She describes Lesbihonest as a narrative-theatre show told in the style of stand-up comedy.
At an open mic, she recalled about its creation, “I had these kind of funny stories about my family’s reactions to me coming out, and they were all so absurd. There was a theatre producer there who said, ‘Hey, you know what? That’s really funny. Why don’t you make it into an hour-long Fringe show?’ I was like, “Oh, OK.’
“So I went back to my journals where I had all these recollections of everyone’s reactions. I compiled them all together and then built, like, a nice through-line, the meaning of it all, and I’ve been touring it ever since.”
Piccinin says she loves telling people all sorts of eccentric stories, whether they want to hear them or not, according to a bio on her website.
She’s worked as a dancer/aerialist with Tokyo Disney and playwright for new Canadian musicals, among other artistic adventures.
“I think comedy comes first for me for everything, but I’ve never really been a stand-up comedian,” Piccinin noted. “I don’t do bits and I don’t have, like, sets that I’m working on. I pretty much have this one show that’s stand-up comedy. My other work is still comedy, but not stand-up. I’m no stranger to comedy.”
Lesbihonest, she says, can be enjoyed by diverse audiences as young as 14 years of age, as long as they’re OK with some foul language.
“Oh yeah, straights are welcome, too,” she deadpanned. “I have found that (the show) resonates with people, whether they know someone who’s queer or not.
“I think people really resonate with the theme of identity, and mostly people can just sit back and laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, you know? There’s so many different ways to react when someone comes out, and sometimes you can catch yourself being that person saying maybe almost the right thing and then finding out later that that’s really funny.”
At Surrey Arts Centre, tickets for Lesbihonest are sold for $39 on purchase.surrey.ca, or call 604-501-5580. The show comes with an audience advisory for strong language, mature themes and assault.
“I think it’s a good laugh at yourself instead of maybe more yelling at the audience, like, ‘I’ve had a tough time and it’s all your fault!’” Piccinin said. “There’s really none of that, it’s just a good, easy time.… It can get a little sentimental and a bit sad, but I don’t keep anyone there for too long. I’ll bring them right back up for some more funnies.”