Erin Markey

Erin Markey (born 1981) is an American writer, comedian, and performance artist based in New York City. Markey's work combines elements of cabaret theater and comedy and often incorporates stories of their childhood in the Midwest. The New York Times has described Markey variously as "hilariously sociopathic" and as having "a cult following as an alt-cabaret star with swaggering confidence and off-kilter sense of humor."

Early life and career beginnings

Markey was born in Michigan in 1981. They were raised Catholic. Their father was a marketer in telecommunications and their mother was a medical assistant. Michelle Tea wrote favorably of Puppy Love, calling it "innovative" due to its unusual treatment on the topic and also praised Markey's voice.

In 2013, Markey starred in Progressive Theatre Workshop's God Hates This Show: Shirley Phelps-Roper in Concert, Live From Hell, a musical written and directed by John J. Caswell, Jr. that satirized Westboro Baptist Church. Markey played Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Fred Phelps, the founder of Westboro Baptist Church. In the play, Phelps-Roper has died and gone to hell and sings songs expressing the hateful beliefs of the church. As one account described their performance, "acked by a full rock band, Markey as Phelps-Roper sings such 'hits' as 'Death in Your Window,' a parody of Melissa Etheridge's 'Come to My Window,' and 'Stinky Freak,' known in non-heelish circles as 'Super Freak.' She's [sic] accompanied by a trio of backup singers and dancers in full-on cabaret mode."

From 2013 to 2014, Markey's show Erin Markey ran at Joe's Pub. Jarrett Earnest, writing about the show, observed that "Markey plays 'Erin Markey' as an outsized persona through autobiographical sketches interlaced with musical numbers—a tried and true nightclub strategy. The songs, usually contemporary pop songs, are performed with an intensity that unravels them." Asked about their work in Erin Markey, Markey explained, "It's funny to be making this show right now where I'm supposed to be Erin Markey the whole time because I feel like I work best when I'm in character. That's when I'm most honest. .... I had trouble writing a bio recently because I was like, 'I don't want to be called a performance artist. I don't wanna be called a comedian, I don't want to be called an actor, or a singer or a cabaret artist,' because none of those things seem to really describe who I am. A one-person show written by and starring Markey, the show purported to present deleted scenes from the Broadway musical Fun Home. Asked about the inspiration for Deleted Scenes from Fun Home, Markey described how they became obsessed with the score to the Broadway musical Fun Home, saying that "for largely unnameable or unknowable reasons, I was activated in a strange way that I had no control over."

On January 13, 2016, Markey's show A Ride on the Irish Cream, which was funded in part by an Indiegogo campaign, premiered at the Abrons Arts Center of the Henry Street Settlement. The show has been described as "a musical anchored inside the memory of a Michigan backyard on the bank of the Kawkawlin River. A live band and original score become the space for the thrills and terrors of a relationship between Reagan (Markey), a vainglorious self-made girl, and Irish Cream (Becca Blackwell), her family's pontoon boat/horse. They are in love, but when their relationship is tested by dust ruffles, sex for money, severe T-storms, and a secret cellar, the only way to stay together is to remember all the parts of themselves their bodies tried to forget."

In 2019, Markey appeared in the third season of the HBO series High Maintenance, playing the character Cori. The Atlantic described their performance as a "lived-in depiction of blue-collar crunchiness."

Personal life For several years, Markey was in a long-term relationship with performance artist Becca Blackwell, with whom Markey has had numerous artistic collaborations. In November 2022, Markey married film producer Gwen Bialic, who worked as a Unit Production Manager on High Maintenance.