Link to the n*de dudes

When I reviewed the Disney Channel's long, tediously careful coming-out story Diary of a Future President, I didn't recognize the M&M guy, Brendan Scannell. But it turns out that he starred in a Netflix tv series that I reviewed, Bonding (2018, 2021): one of those semi-autobiographical series featuring the early experiences of a gay comedian (Rightor Doyle, not Brendan).

The bonding on my other website means male bonding, gay-subtext friendships. This bonding is tying people up.

Psychology student Tiff gets a job as a dom (heterosexual top), and talks her friend, aspiring comedian Pete (Brendan), into becoming her assistant. Well, he gets to touch hot guys' junk, and most heterosexual scenes don't involve vanilla. Besides, he's sort of bi.

Episodes involve learning the ropes (har har), quirky clients, Pete introducing his experiences into his comedy act, and both of them facing the problem of how to tell romantic partners about their job.

Pete dates Josh (Theo Stockman), and Tiff Doug (Micah Stock, n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).

Alex Hurt plays his wacky roommate, who is sort of straight (also n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends)

I found it a bit too cliched, depending on silly stereotypes, especially of clients. Plus a bit too heterosexual for a gay coming out story: Pete is sort of in love with Tiff.

Brendan has 25 acting credits listed on the IMDB, beginning with heterosexual roles like a disgruntled husband in Limp and Crunchy (2015) and disgruntled prank victim bait in Kill Game (2016).

But he got to be gay, or rather queer (wearing feminine outfits and use they/them pronouns) as Heather Duke in the 2018 tv version of Heathers. In case you haven't seen the 1988 movie or 2010 musical, it's not a comedy. There are multiple murders and suicides, plus blowing up the prom.

More after the break

Brendan's most significant movie role is in Bromates (2022), featuring Josh Brenner and Lil Re Howery as two straight guys, a free spirit and a stick-in-the-mud, who move in together after their girlfriends dump them (for cheating). Can two straight men share an apartment without a lot of gay panic jokes? Apparently not: according to Roger Ebert's Movie Nation, "the lumbering, heavy-handed script can't make a joke to save its a**." Brendan plays their gay friend, to prove that they're not really homophobic.

But he is primarily interested in stand-up, on Comedy Central and Netflix, and in comedy clubs.. His website lists shows coming up at The Elysian Vault, The Glendale Room, and Largo at the Coronet (where he will appear with Joel Kim Booster).

Yes, I am posting Joel Kim Booster's n*de scene from Industry again.

From what I could gather from the samples online, Brendan appears to riff on being femme to a gay audience, and on being gay to a straight audience:

"You shouldn't have given us rights, because now we run the culture. That was your first mistake. Your second was inventing youtube, because now every 11 year old is a full drag queen."

I'm not seeing a lot of Gay Pride in the queer-disparaging comments.