Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness is kick-stepping into 2025 with their first-ever comedy special, Fun & Slutty, premiering Jan. 23 on the streaming platform Veeps. For the reality star-turned-comedian, the milestone feels deeply personal.
“I’ve been obsessed with comedy since I accidentally shoplifted Margaret Cho’s [comedy special] Notorious C.H.O. from Blockbuster when I was 14,” Van Ness, who uses they/them pronouns, told Yahoo Entertainment. “Stand-up comedy is where I feel the most myself — it’s raw, unfiltered and it’s just me and a microphone.”
Years later, Cho became one of the clients of the hair stylist in Los Angeles and gave them the ultimate push to pursue comedy. “She was the one who told me I was supposed to be a comedian, and she was the one who got me to go up for my first time at an open mic night,” they said.
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Van Ness credits Cho, along with the comedians Lisa Lampanelli and Wanda Sykes, as pivotal figures who helped them find confidence as a young queer kid growing up in Quincy, Ill.
Although Van Ness is no stranger to the stage — having spent years on sold-out comedy tours like Road to Beijing, Imaginary Living Room Olympian and Jonathan Van Ness and Friends, which sold out Radio City Music Hall in 2019 — this special feels distinct.
In Fun & Slutty, Van Ness takes audiences on a roller-coaster of vulnerability and humor, exploring hookup culture in the days of MapQuest, their sexual awakening, recovery from meth addiction and, ultimately, their journey toward self-discovery and healing.
“I wanted to treat it like an adult sex-ed class,” they said of the special, which mixes humor with lessons on finding one’s sexual confidence. For Van Ness, turning challenges into punchlines has been nothing short of cathartic.
“Stand-up is making fun of things that would otherwise make you cry,” they explained. “It’s the avenue where I find joy in the sadness. I find life-affirming magic even in really sad trauma. And I think that’s queer magic. It’s queer joy. I think that’s how we do it.”
Reclaiming the word ‘slutty’ and finding joy
For Van Ness, the title “fun and slutty” isn’t just about sex — it’s about embracing the things that bring unbridled happiness.
“Slutty is anything that brings you unbridled joy,” they explained. For them, that joy comes from a variety of unexpected places.
“I’m really slutty for gardening, like, I just cannot get enough of a pumpkin, I can’t get enough of a watermelon, and, so unironically, I love growing eggplants,” they quipped. “I’m also such a skincare slut. And television wise, I’m really slutty for shows like Bad Sisters, Alone and A Beautiful Mind. So good!”
Although Fun & Slutty celebrates the expansive definition of being “slutty,” beneath the laughs lies a deeper story — a search for joy and belonging that ties back to Van Ness’s childhood.
“For the first 17 years of my life, I felt really uncomfortable in my skin, and I was kind of forced to learn how to entertain myself, and how to imagine a better world,” they said.
Van Ness held nothing back onstage while filming the special in Austin, Texas. (Veeps)
In their early 20s, Van Ness turned to methamphetamine as a coping mechanism, a journey they revisit in the special with candor and laughter.
“Even though things that have been heartbreaking and traumatizing didn’t go the way that I wanted them to go, I’m still so excited that I’m here and that I get to learn and really live,” they said. “When you’ve spent so much of your formative years not being able to see a future for yourself, when you are actually living the future for yourself. … I’m going to find joy.”
Van Ness’s ability to turn pain into laughter is central to Fun & Slutty, where they share raw and personal stories about addiction, rehab and navigating life as a nonbinary public figure.
“Everything is about perspective,” they explained. “Even the hardest things in my life have shaped who I am, and I’m grateful for that.”
After wearing a Christian Siriano gown at their Golden Globes red-carpet hosting debut, Van Ness was targeted online, including by the author J.K. Rowling, who criticized their stance on gender-affirming care the day after the Globes.
“I’ve been wearing dresses in public for years, and it still surprises me when it surprises people,” Van Ness said of the criticism. “Fashion is about self-expression — it’s for you, not for validation from others.”
They added, “Womanhood isn’t about a dress. Transness isn’t about clothes. It’s about how you feel.”
Queer Eye connection
For Van Ness, being part of Queer Eye has given them the confidence to pursue stand-up with full force. They credited their newest castmate, Jeremiah Brent, with bringing a fresh sense of energy and compassion to the group dynamic.
“He is so sweet,” they shared. “The first thing that Jeremiah did was give me this pink quartz crystal, and he was like, ‘I want you to know that I’m a safe space for you. You can come to me whenever you need anything.’”
Brent’s kindness came at a critical time for Van Ness, who described being “thoroughly traumatized” by personal challenges over the past year. “I really don’t know if I could have endured what I endured without his friendship on the other side,” they said.
Now streaming its ninth season on Netflix, Queer Eye continues to inspire audiences with its heartwarming transformations. It’s the same energy that fuels Fun & Slutty, which Van Ness describes as part of their mission to make people feel seen, celebrated and empowered — even during life’s darkest moments.
“There’s this adage: ‘You can’t get blood from a turnip.’ Well, not me, honey,” Van Ness joked. “If there’s any joyful blood in that turnip, I’m gonna find it.”
