Jordan Firstman

On social media, TV, and the big screen, Jordan Firstman is a leading voice in queer comedy. A writer alumnus of Search Party — the acclaimed dark comedy satirizing unmoored millennials — Firstman went on to debut a short film at Sundance, Men Don’t Whisper, alongside Search Party co-creator Charles Rogers. He returned to the prominent film festival this year in Rotting in the Sun, directed by Sebastián Silva. The meta production, serving up Hollywood satire and graphic gay sex, shows the chaos that ensues after a listless filmmaker (Silva) collaborates with a shallow influencer (Firstman). The characters meet on a beach in Mexico, which is where Silva and Firstman also first met one another.

Firstman became a social media star during lockdown with his series of zany impressions, portraying everything from Mother Nature to “the woman who wrote the copy for the Dr. Bronner’s bottle.” Previously, he made headlines by penning an ode to his icon Laura Dern, sung to her by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles at the 2020 Spirit Awards.

Despite his many hats, Firstman rejects labels. But he allows, “I guess if a farmer doesn’t feel like a farmer, and yet he is still farming…he would technically still be considered a farmer.”

He’s learned to take life’s obstacles in stride. “Sometimes the smallest thing can feel emotionally life-threatening — then you’ll get in a car accident or something and handle it with complete grace,” he reflects. “You can never predict what is going to take you down down down and what you’ll be able to deal with easily. I’ve had a couple extreme events in my life that had been especially challenging, but they taught me something or led me somewhere.”

Firstman also has advice for his peers: “To the gays in my world, I would say let’s be nicer to each other. I know it’s hard to be nice and easy to judge. Especially when you don’t feel good about yourself. But let’s try to be nice.” @jtfirstman