'Can I Be Frank?' Takes on the Life of Frank Maya

Summary

All Of It: Episode Summary – "Can I Be Frank?" Takes on the Life of Frank Maya

Release Date: August 7, 2025
Host: Alison Stewart
Guest: Morgan Basakis
Runtime: Approximately 21 minutes of content before advertisements

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Introduction to "Can I Be Frank?"

In this episode of All Of It, hosted by Alison Stewart, the spotlight is on Morgan Basakis, a talented performer who has created a poignant one-person show titled "Can I Be Frank?" This production serves as both a tribute to the late Frank Maya, an influential comedian, and a deep dive into Basakis’ own artistic journey.

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Remembering Frank Maya

Frank Maya was a groundbreaking figure in the comedy world, known for being "one of the first openly gay male comics to gain a foothold in mainstream stand-up comedy" (00:09). Maya's career was tragically cut short when he died of a heart-related failure due to AIDS on August 10, 1995, at the age of 45 (00:09). Despite a brief mention in the New York Times, his broader talents as a writer, singer, storyboard artist, and provocateur largely faded from public memory.

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Morgan Basakis’ Journey to "Can I Be Frank?"

Morgan Basakis recounts how his journey with Frank Maya began unexpectedly in January 2023, after meeting Maya’s brother. This encounter sparked an "obsession" that culminated in the creation of his show (01:42). Basakis delved into Maya’s legacy through archival footage and personal stories, discovering Maya’s lesser-known talents as a visual artist, whose "incredible kind of paintings almost in a style of cartoon” are preserved at Visual Aids (03:30).

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The Significance of Frank Maya’s Openness

The conversation highlights the importance of Maya’s openness about his sexuality during a time when "gay people are being totally vilified" (04:18). Basakis emphasizes that Maya’s presence in mainstream comedy was a "huge deal" because it challenged the prevalent "white supremacy and homophobia" in the industry (05:24). Maya’s courage paved the way for future queer comedians, making his contributions "indebted to him" (05:24).

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Crafting the Show: Blending Past and Present

Basakis discusses the creative process behind "Can I Be Frank?", which intertwines Frank Maya’s original monologues and songs with Basakis’ own interpretations and fictionalized elements (06:36). The show features Maya’s "monologues, which [he] called rants", along with his performances at venues like PS122 and La Mama (06:47). Basakis collaborates with director Sam Pinkleton, who emphasizes the necessity of making the production both "entertaining" and "deeply respectful" of Maya’s legacy (11:04).

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Exploring Themes: Narcissism and Interconnectedness

A central theme in Basakis’ show is the tension between individual ambition and communal interconnectedness (08:28). He reflects on modern society's "collective condition of narcissism" and strives to highlight the importance of "throwing each other lifelines" (16:56) as a metaphor for mutual support in facing crises. This is symbolized through the use of a life preserver on stage, originally a part of Maya’s set (16:13).

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Stagecraft and Symbolism

The staging of "Can I Be Frank?" is meticulously crafted to honor Maya’s original setups, including the "life preserver" backdrop (16:13). Basakis also employs a notable mic cord, which represents an "umbilical cord" connecting generations of queer performers striving to make their mark (15:34). The stage is minimalistic, allowing the focus to remain on the narrative interplay between Basakis and the memory of Maya.

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Balancing Humor and Gravity

Basakis skillfully balances humor and serious themes, aiming to make the show "an entertaining night of theater" (11:04) while conveying powerful messages about the ongoing AIDS crisis and societal issues. He likens this balance to keeping a "musical instrument taut", ensuring that levity and gravity coexist seamlessly (19:26).

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Honoring the Past, Advocating for the Future

The episode concludes with Basakis stressing the enduring relevance of the AIDS crisis. He cites that despite advancements, significant cuts to HIV research and ongoing discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities indicate that the crisis is "still beginning" (20:09). Basakis calls for continued remembrance and activism to ensure a future where "everybody has quality health care and a society that values life over profit" (20:11).

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Notable Quotes

• "Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear... and a million other things." – Cristina De Rossi (Podcast Information)

• "He had that compulsion to make people laugh and to be alone on stage." – Morgan Basakis (03:25)

• "We have to keep throwing each other lifelines." – Morgan Basakis (16:56)

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Conclusion

"Can I Be Frank?" is more than a tribute; it’s a heartfelt exploration of Frank Maya’s legacy and Morgan Basakis’ personal artistic expression. Through a blend of humor, storytelling, and activism, the show invites audiences to reflect on the past while advocating for a more inclusive and supportive future.

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*For those interested in experiencing Frank Maya’s forgotten brilliance and Morgan Basakis’ creative homage, "Can I Be Frank?" is currently running at Soho Playhouse until September 13, receiving strong reviews for its "highbrow comedy that won't soon be lost to the archives" (00:09).

Transcript

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart, where we return to the Soho Playhouse with another show called Can I Be Frank. Frank refers to Frank Maya, a writer, comic provocateur, singer and storyteller who was about to hit the big time when he died of a heart related failure due to AIDS. He was just 45. It happened almost 30 years ago, August 10, 1995. And the story was in the New York Times section B, page 8. It mentions his performances at places like PS122, his stage rants, and quote, he was one of the first openly gay male comics to gain a foothold in mainstream stand up comedy. It was a short blurb. However, Maya's talents was much bigger and sadly forgotten except for a few people, including my guests, Morgan Basakist. Frank spoke to Morgan's soul, which you can see in this 70 minute one person show. We learn about Frank, what was important to him. But there's another show going on too, one where we get to see Morgan working through a few things as an artist, getting their staging right, showing what it's like to be your own prop person and making sure the audience comes to appreciate Frank Maya, and to appreciate Morgan too. The show just opened to strong reviews. One said Basakis delivers, Bakas delivers. An evening of highbrow comedy that won't soon be lost to the archives. Can I Be Frank? Is running at Soho Playhouse until September 13, and Morgan joins me in studio. It's really nice to meet you.

[Morgan Basakis]

Thank you so much for having me.

[Alison Stewart]

So when did you first hear of Frank, Maja?

[Morgan Basakis]

Oh, wow. Okay. Well, I remember exactly. It was January in 2023. And I tell this story in the show. I just happened to meet his brother actually, and it sort of began this obsession that I have that this show is really the culmination of.

[Alison Stewart]

So you went to the YouTube?

[Morgan Basakis]

I went to the YouTube. I went to the YouTube as we do, and I was so grateful to find all these videos that who I would later find out was one of Frank's exes had digitized and whose name is Neil Greenberg, who's kind of a figure in the show and amazing choreographer and amazing person who's really welcomed me into his life and into Frank's life and today is actually 30 years since Frank died today. So I'm very honored to get to talk about him and do this show and meet with you today.

[Alison Stewart]

Thank you.

[Morgan Basakis]

Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

What was the purpose of Frank's work, of his comedy? When you think about it, after watching all those videos, what Was the purpose.

[Morgan Basakis]

Oh, wow. Well, I think there's this desire to be seen and there's this desire to delight others and to be delighted in that I think so many of us can relate to. And I think he had that. He had that compulsion to make people laugh and to be alone on stage, which is a particular kind of compulsion, you know, or pathology that I share too. And, you know, he joked that he was trying to make the world safe for him and that, you know, he was using his own story to kind of. To get his story out there and I think to make more space for all of us.

[Alison Stewart]

What was something that the rest of us don't know about Frank? That you know about Frank after watching all the video and doing all the research.

[Morgan Basakis]

Oh, wow.

[Alison Stewart]

Or maybe somebody's told you about it.

[Morgan Basakis]

Maybe someone's told me so many good stories. Well, the thing I love that I actually don't talk about in the show, he was an amazing visual artist. And I mean, he painted the backdrop in the show, this big life preserver. But he made all these incredible kind of paintings almost in a style of cartoon. And a lot of them are in the archive at Visual Aids, an organization that honors and tends to the work of artists living with HIV and AIDS and also who be lost to the crisis.

[Alison Stewart]

It's weird because everything I read about him and I went online and I went into the archives, they all have this line about the first openly gay comedian.

[Morgan Basakis]

Right.

[Alison Stewart]

It seems almost silly, right? But really for the youngins or for people out there, like, you really need to think about it. Why was it such a big deal?

[Morgan Basakis]

Right? It's such a good. Yeah, and I appreciate it's almost like a joke to have to be the first openly gay something, honestly. Yeah, exactly. Like I'm the first openly gay person to get a. Whatever matcha this morning, I think. I mean, it was 1987, and there's a literal national gay panic going on. And we're in this particularly terrifying moment of the AIDS crisis in which gay people are being totally vilified. And comedy is really like, especially at that point, a real bastion for white supremacy and homophobia and transphobia. And it was a really big deal for any comedian who's not straight, white man to be getting that mic. And so it was a huge deal for him to get to do that and to be on national television that same year and to get to tell his story and be revealing. And we take that for granted. Now. We're like, oh, yeah, of course every comedian's gay, but you Know, like, is there a gay person who's not a comedian? So, yeah, so we're indebted to him.

[Alison Stewart]

Frank used to do these rants, but they used to be about all kinds of topics. I have one here. It makes me laugh. It's F2 I'm gonna go to. It's from 1987. It's from LA Mama, and it's about corporations convincing us not to cook anymore. Do you know what I'm talking about?

[Morgan Basakis]

Yes. Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

All right, let's listen to Frank. Maya.

[Frank Maya]

Get those grandmas. Kill those grandmas. Kill, kill, kill those grandmas. Get those grandmas. Kill those grandmas. Kill, kill, kill those grandmas. All those grandmas out there still trying to make those chocolate chip cookies at home. Find them and kill them. That's what the interoffice memo from Duncan Hines said. And all those housewives out there still trying to make your own cake from scratch. We know you're out there. We're gonna find you.

[Morgan Basakis]

We're go.

[Frank Maya]

We're sick of you old fats cooking at home.

[Morgan Basakis]

How dare you.

[Frank Maya]

We're looking for young kids, young American kids who drink NutraSweet, who have no idea whatsoever what homemade tastes like.

[Alison Stewart]

Oh, my God. I'm gonna clap as well.

[Morgan Basakis]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

Yes.

[Morgan Basakis]

That was amazing in the office.

[Alison Stewart]

Kill those grandmas. Kill those grandmas. When you watched his performance, what did you look for in his performance that you knew that you would then use in your performance?

[Morgan Basakis]

Right. I'm so happy. You just played his voice and you just played. I mean, that was. It still thrills me to hear him. Well, I was looking for the. He has so many monologues, which, as you said, he called rants. And then he has all these songs. And in 1987, the show you just played from, he was really making this transition from, like, kind of downtown performance art, you know, like La Mama, P.S. 122, the kitchen, over to a few years later to, like, trying to be a standup comic. So in those years, he's really, like, developing his comedic. And you can kind of hear him discovering his way. So I just try to hone in on some monologues or some rants that really resonated with me. And I picked some songs of his that we really loved and with my incredible director, Sam Pinkleton, and we just kind of wove the show together around some of his major set pieces in the show. And then my kind of Persona, constantly interrupting, getting in the way, and almost, you know, battling for space.

[Alison Stewart]

That's my next section. I have my first section is Frank. And my next section, Morgan.

[Morgan Basakis]

Okay, here we go.

[Alison Stewart]

The character Morgan we meet on stage, is it you? Is it a heightened version of you? Who's Morgan that we meet?

[Morgan Basakis]

I know I need to get back into therapy to figure it out. I think that it's like a Persona, you know, kind of definitely a heightened Persona. Kind of delusional, narcissistic, maybe well intentioned, but certainly powerless over their own ambition. And yeah, that's sort of the character that I've been working with for many years.

[Alison Stewart]

Morgan on stage is going through a few things. We get to watch. What is he going through as a performer?

[Morgan Basakis]

Yeah, well, I think this. I think the struggle, if you can call it a struggle of sharing space, you know what I mean? Which I think for solo performers is a thing. And I think I would say for many of us, we live in a culture, a collective condition of narcissism. Like there is like a such a profound investment in the self and a refusal to kind of feel our interconnectedness and our interdependence. And there's so many social conditions that are. That want that for us, that I think it is a struggle to push past our own narcissism and to push past our own selfhood and individuality. And really that's the struggle of the show is like. Is for the Morgan character to move beyond the sense of being an individual and being an original and acknowledging that we're all deeply derivative and constituted by one another.

[Alison Stewart]

He is often seen screaming to a woman named Gloria in the back.

[Morgan Basakis]

That's right. That's right.

[Alison Stewart]

You don't really see she's a director or a stage manager. Who is Gloria and what is her role?

[Morgan Basakis]

Oh, my God. Well, yeah, Morgan is constantly screaming to Gloria Gomez, who's our incredible stage manager, who we worked with at La Mama, where we first staged the show last year, which is where Frank performed this piece in 1987. And Gloria is an amazing person and she's become kind of like the foil for the Morgan character who is barely keeping it together. And yeah, I think Gloria is the true star of the show.

[Alison Stewart]

Now, can you explain to people, you said you performed this before at La Mama, and some of it is what Frank said, literally. Other parts of it are your imagination.

[Morgan Basakis]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

Can you explain how that is divided in the show?

[Morgan Basakis]

Yes, exactly. Okay, great. So, yeah, so Frank performed this piece called Frank Maya Talks at La mama on East 4th Street, a legendary venue where everybody has passed through and continues to. And I sort of. I start the show with one of his monologues from that show. And then it's a series of interruptions and trying to. And I keep returning to Frank's work and also kind of imagining my work in his style. So I do some things in the style of him, some sort of things that he did. And then eventually in the show, I think what's exciting is you start to get a little confused. Where's my work and where's his?

[Alison Stewart]

What changed as you were working on this project? Because it started as one thing, and it's what it is today might be different than it is next year. But I'm curious, what was the biggest change from the beginning of it?

[Morgan Basakis]

Okay. Wow. Okay. Well, I think I just have continued to discover stuff in his work. Every time I return to his stuff, I'm like, oh, my God. I'm getting his work on a deeper level. And I think Sam Pinkleton, my director, said this thing in the beginning that was so helpful to me. He was like, first and foremost, we have to make an entertaining night of theater. It's wonderful. This is about a person that people should know about. It's wonderful that you have messages about how the government is continuing to decide that certain populations are disposable. And first and foremost, we have to make a really entertaining night of theater. And so that has been such a useful compass to keep sharpening as we've done it over the past. Over the past year, to keep honing and sort of paring down and finding what. Making sure every single word and every single gesture is necessary. That's been a delightful process.

[Alison Stewart]

Well, Sam Pickleton was sitting right there, right here, three weeks ago.

[Morgan Basakis]

Oh, my God.

[Alison Stewart]

Josh Sharp was sitting right there.

[Frank Maya]

Oh, my God.

[Morgan Basakis]

My ancestors.

[Alison Stewart]

And we asked him a little bit about working with you.

[Morgan Basakis]

Oh, my God.

[Sam Pinkleton]

I am working with an incredible, incredible genius comedian, activist, hero called Morgan Basakis, who is making a show called Can I Be Frank? That is a kind of conversation with dance, with a comedian called Frank Maya, who died of aids. He was a comedian who was kind of just on the precipice of mainstream success when he died of aids. And Morgan has made this hilarious show that is an excavation of Frank's material, and it's. There's nothing like it. We're doing it at Soho Playhouse, and it starts previews next week.

[Alison Stewart]

All right. He said activist in the beginning?

[Morgan Basakis]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

Do you consider yourself an activist?

[Morgan Basakis]

Well, yeah. I mean, yes. It's kind of inextricable. My artistic and political commitments and, you know, certainly, like so many people, I wake up thinking about the horror in Gaza every single day. And like so many other people, feel like it is my responsibility to do every single thing I can to stop our government's complicity in the genocide that Israel is carrying out in Gaza. So. And that comes out of a long standing commitment for me, both inside of Jewish communities and inside of all of our communities, to organize us against racism and against war and into solidarity movements.

[Alison Stewart]

My guest is Morgan Basakis. He's starring in a one person show called Can I Be Frank? It's a meditation on the work of comic Frank Maja, who died in the mid-1990s. I want to talk to you a little bit about stagecraft, a little bit about how Sam was helpful to you. Okay. He said you had to put on an entertaining show. What did that mean to you when he said entertaining show?

[Morgan Basakis]

First of all, yes, it's a great question. My biological father, Sam Pinkleton, what did he mean when he said that? I think he's like, you have to earn. You gotta earn the gravity, you know, you gotta earn the sincerity. You have to earn the message. And I really agree with him. And I think there's something about really balancing the gravity and the levity and making sure that the humor is carried throughout that makes the message of it so much more digestible and metabolizable. And it's Mary Poppins, you know, it's Spoonful of Sugar. Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

You're constantly wrapping yourself in a mic cord. The longest mic cord I have ever seen anyone, ever.

[Morgan Basakis]

Thank you. That's an honor to be recognized. Thank you.

[Alison Stewart]

What's the deal with the mic cord?

[Morgan Basakis]

Oh my God. Thank you for asking. No one's asked yet. Well, we discovered it in rehearsal because we'd always use a cordless mic. And then we were like, oh my God. This chord just presents all these kind of choreographic opportunities. And also to me, it kind of also represents this kind of, this kind of umbilical cord, this kind of across generations that is like the microphone cord for so many of us queers of like, we are passing down the mic and we need to get on stage and we have this need that we don't even know totally understand where it comes from to get on stage and try to make people laugh. And that is. It just carries through so many generations.

[Alison Stewart]

Well, it's interesting because when I watched one of the past, Frank Maja, he had one of the long chords, I was like, oh, is it that? But then at the same time when you're on stage, like, you don't really know what to do with it. It's like wrapped five times around your arm. You've got a woman in the audience, you ask her to hold the cord. It was one of those things that was, like, funny and you're not sure why.

[Morgan Basakis]

Totally. I appreciate you naming it. Yeah. Choreography. Yep.

[Alison Stewart]

Excellent. The staging. The staging of the show is interesting. You used the same life preserver that that Frank used in his program. First of all, why did you choose to use that?

[Morgan Basakis]

I knew right away when I saw the video of his work, that I wanted to recreate that very simple set that he had, which was his backdrop of this life preserver. And I asked my dear friend Eli Harrison to recreate it. And so they meticulously recreated it, which I think was just its own kind of beautiful gesture of honoring, to recreate what somebody else made. And I think the symbol means something to him. And also it can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people. So it's this kind of very open ended, I think, that people can kind of make their own meaning off of. And he also was making. He made merch, he made buttons, he made T shirts. You know, that was his logo. He was kind of getting his logo out in the world, so we wanted to honor it that way.

[Alison Stewart]

What does the preserver mean to you?

[Morgan Basakis]

Oh, to me. To me, it means we just have to keep throwing each other lifelines. That's our work in this world. As crisis after crisis and nightmare after nightmare. The way through it is to throw each other life preservers. Like, if we're only focused on ourselves, we're cooked. And to me, the meaning I make of it is that that's our work is to constantly keep throwing each other.

[Alison Stewart]

Life preservers in the show. You sing.

[Morgan Basakis]

Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Got a beautiful voice, by the way. When did you decide there would be singing in the show?

[Morgan Basakis]

Oh, I always knew because he was singing in his shows and the music was so amazing, and I thought, oh, my God, I can't. And that was part of the eerie thing of discovering his work was like these jokes feel very familiar. The songs, which are kind of these neurotic pop songs. He has a song called God is Busy, you know, like, he has a song called Too Nervous, like. And that also really resonates with the kind of songs I make. I have a song about Seltzer, you know what I mean? That is tied to the Boycott Divestment sanctions movement. And so I knew right away I had to do some of his songs.

[Alison Stewart]

What do you hope people will talk about after they see the show, they leave, they go out, they have a drink. What do you hope they talk about?

[Morgan Basakis]

Well, I hope they'll go and do research and go and look at more. More videos of. Frank, you mentioned.

[Alison Stewart]

I'm sorry to interrupt you. You mentioned a series of people whose writings that we could read.

[Morgan Basakis]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

Would you name them really quickly so if somebody wants to go Google them?

[Morgan Basakis]

Oh, yes. At the end of the show. Yes. Oh, that's okay. So the.

[Alison Stewart]

You can remember.

[Morgan Basakis]

Yes. Well, some of the artists I name in the show, I name like Ron Vodder and Cookie Mueller and Chloe Zubailo and Reza Abda and Frederick Weston and Ray Navarro and Charles Ludlum. And then I end the show talking about an activist and a writer who's so important to me and so many people named Douglas Crimp, who was a member of ACT UP and who wrote a very important essay called Mourning and Militancy that has been a guide for so many of us. So I encourage people to read that essay.

[Alison Stewart]

It's funny because the serious part of the show, again, it's. But it's funny, but it's serious, but it's funny. And I asked my previous guest the same thing. How did you decide on the balance?

[Morgan Basakis]

Yeah, I almost think about it like a musical instrument that you want to keep taut, like between the humor, between the gravity and the levity so that you can, like, play it. You know what I mean? So at any time, I'm trying to keep both of those. That chord kind of taught. And I like the feeling of constantly zigzagging the audience back and forth to remind us that we don't need to take ourselves that seriously and we can really care about something.

[Alison Stewart]

With only a few more minutes, I'm curious. Why do you think it's essential to keep the conversation about the AIDS crisis going 50 years after it?

[Morgan Basakis]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

Why is that important?

[Morgan Basakis]

This is such an important question. Because the AIDS crisis, as my friend and hero, Greg Bordewitz says, is still beginning. The AIDS crisis is not over. In fact, right now we are seeing billions of dollars in cuts to HIV research, to vaccine research, both in the US and around the world, while the US Is sending billions to arm genocide. And so this crisis is not over. The attack on public health in this country is terrifying. The attack on LGBT people, on queer and trans people, the scrubbing of HIV and AIDS from federal websites and data. This crisis is just beginning. And our responsibility is to make sure to honor those we have lost and to continue their fight and to continue the struggle for a future where everybody has quality health care and a society that values life over profit.

[Alison Stewart]

The name of the show is Can I Be Frank? A meditation on the work of comic Frank Maja. I have been speaking with performer Morgan Basquias. Morgan, thank you for coming to the studio. We really appreciate your time.

[Morgan Basakis]

Thank you so much for having me.

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[Morgan Basakis]

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