Last Things First: James Tom

The comedian James Tom now jokes about having told they/them pronoun jokes as far back as 2013 quote-unquote “before most non-binary people were born.”

Back then, Tom felt alone in the world and in the comedy community. But now, living and performing as a gay trans man, Tom told me over Zoom that he feels more like “the estranged father of the non-binary transmasc comedy community.” We also spoke about Tom’s unique experience getting Just For Laughs New Faces in 2021 when the pandemic forced the festival out of Montreal to Los Angeles, writing for the queer pirate comedy, Our Flag Means Death, on Max, what to make of Dave Chappelle and JK Rowling’s obsession with trans people, and what it has felt like to watch other comedians such as Molly Kearney and Mae Martin successfully navigate similar spaces in show business. Tom’s credits also include appearances on Life & Beth, Tuca & Bertie, an Off-Broadway run in 2023 of one-person-show, Less Lonely, and the 2024 Netflix stand-up showcase, Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda. We spoke about all that and more just before hitting the road for a West Coast tour. There’s a lot to get to, so let’s get to it!

On May 27, 2025, the comeedian hosts James Tom & Friends at Littlfield in Brooklyn, “a lineup of New York’s best & most intergenerationally traumatized Asian comics, musicians, and drag artists for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.” With Charlene Kaye, Max Higgins, Ái Vy Luu, Usama Siddiquee, Julia Shiplett, and The Illustrious Pearl.

For reference, here’s Tom’s essay for Them about becoming James.

Here was Tom’s New Faces performance for Just For Laughs in 2021, and how I wrote about it at the time: