Brian Gallivan, aka The Sassy Gay Friend, aka our dream BFF, lives with us. Not with us, to our dismay, but in our beautiful, super-fun, sweltering city. We were excited—if not overjoyed and doing cartwheels—at the chance to chat with Gallivan about being a good friend, "sassy gay" or otherwise, and enjoying his sweet home, Chicago. We're thrilled to call him our own, and wait with baited breath to see if he'll snag us on the street one day. This is why we officially get dressed in the morning.
Why is Chicago a great place to live?
"All I know is that as soon as I moved here, I immediately felt at home. I had a job at a pizza place in Lincoln Park, and I used to walk all the way home up Clark Street to Andersonville where I lived because I just wanted to experience Chicago as much as I could. Some of my best friends of all time I met in Chicago, and I had possibly my favorite job ever in Chicago—working at Second City comedy club."
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Where are some of your favorite local hotspots?
"Bricks Pizza, Second City, Sidetrack, Svea, Corcoran’s, Old Town Ale House, iO, The Annoyance, and Oprah’s apartment. I have been to all but one of those."
What makes Chicagoans special?
"They're friendly but not fake."
What do you love most about your job?
"I love that I don’t just have one job; I get to be an actor, an improviser, and a writer. Every day is different. With the Sassy Gay Friend videos, I get to do even more stuff. Especially now that we’ve partnered with MiO—we get to make even more Sassy videos, plus different types of videos, which is exciting. And they pay me! And they give me free MiO! My Dad always said, 'If you can get free stuff, great, but if you can get free stuff that’s actually good, even better!' So, with MiO, it’s a win-win."
What is your favorite piece of advice on how to be a good friend?
"I think it’s all about honesty and knowing that if you are real friends, you can sassily speak the truth. But you speak the truth to help them improve their lives, whether it’s work, love, sex, whatever. In the MiO videos, Sassy tells fictional/historical characters to say FTS to their old drink and use MiO to make a beverage that’s perfect for them. A good Sassy Gay Friend tells people to say FTS to everything that’s not working in their lives. We can all do better! For instance, if I had a Sassy Gay Friend this morning, he would have told me to shower and put on something cute before I went to the coffee shop to answer these questions. Then I could have flirted with the cute guy at the next table. I did NOT have that SGF this morning, so instead, that cute guy is giving me a really dirty look. Dirtier than my hair. Oh well. I’m a stupid bitch."
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