We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful DP Kronmiller. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with DP below.

Hi DP, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

Last year near my birthday I came out as transgender on stage for a stand up comedy showcase for agents and casting directors. It was a huge risk, not only because being trans is a lightning rod at the moment but also it was a showcase put on by my commercial agent to help his clients book more and here I was stepping out on stage in makeup and clothes that did not match the middle aged male roles for which I was often auditioning. Adam kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to do it but I remember it not really being a choice for me. I couldn’t stay in the closet anymore. My wife had urged me to come out and she felt it would open up doors, not close them. And she was right. She usually is.

For my whole life I felt misunderstood, out of step, hidden in plain sight. People knew me but didn’t really know me. The only people in my life who ever really knew me were my wife and daughter – I’ve always made it a point to be honest and open with them. We have no secrets in our house.

I came out slowly. First to a few close friends, several who were LGBTQ, and then to some family members. Everyone was really supportive, if surprised. I had presented very male for so long, the beard, the sloppy black t-shirt, seeping with male privilege. But once I came out publicly, a weight lifted. I was less angry. Freer. Happier in many ways.

Around the time I came out however my mom’s health took a turn for the worse. She contracted Covid from a respite caregiver and though she got through the initial infection seemingly unscathed, about four weeks after she no longer knew who I was and thought a baby doll was real. During this four week period I sensed something was off and felt it was important to come clean with my mom. So I came out to her.

Now mom was a conservative Christian and we had been missionaries to the Amazon jungle in Brasil when I was a little kid. My earliest memories are of the Amazon river and the farm we lived on deep in the heart of the jungle.

But mom said she knew. She didn’t judge me. She didn’t start crying. She accepted me.

She would pass away a few short months later. One of her doctors told me that her Covid infection in May had most likely accelerated her undiagnosed Alzheimers and the disease swept her away from us. I feel fortunate I was able to come out to her when I did, in that moment of clarity, one of the last full conversations with my mom prior to her mind going.

DP, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a storyteller. Sometimes that story is written down, sometimes it’s a series of shots, sometimes it’s a documentary and sometimes it’s me telling jokes on stage. In the last few years I’ve branched out to filming comedy specials for comedians and am currently editing a feature documentary I directed about Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank trying to survive the pandemic. I’m really proud of the doc and can’t wait for people to see it. It’s got some amazing comedians in it from Jay Leno, Christopher Titus, Dana Gould, Adam Ferrara, Hal Sparks, Mary Lynn Rajskub and many more amazing and kind funny people.

And my wife, Jennifer Emily McLean, and I are writing a number of scripts right now and are very excited to see the WGA strike wind down. Our focus lately is lampooning our life as parents and my experiences coming out. We write seamlessly together. It’s one of my favorite things in the world – writing with my wife and building our FishEyedLensy brand. We’re both very proud of our action comedy film Boris and the Bomb now streaming worldwide – you can find it in the United States on Tubi.

But what I’m most proud of is our daughter, Zooey. She’s only 9 but is already writing and directing her own short films. She’s like a modern day Greta Gerwig meets Tarantino. Funny, dark and daring.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

To tell the truth. That’s the goal.

I came out because I’m worried for people like me. We’re being singled out for our apparent differences and ignored for how similar we are to everyone. The more of us that come out, the safer we all are.

All storytelling is truth telling. You can’t be a filmmaker, standup comic or artist if you avoid the truth. It’s all about baring it all to the world and allowing people inside. By doing that I think we can find some peace amongst each other.

So if I have any goal it’s to tell the truth through what we produce. As a standup comic that’s always my goal on stage. Sure I embellish here or there for a laugh but 99% of what I talk about on stage is true and happened. It’s in that pocket of truth that understanding can be born. Or something noble like that.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to stop doubting myself, second guessing my choices as an artist and avoiding the call of the keyboard. I had to unlearn hating myself. I had to stop tearing myself down. And I had to start being myself in public.

The first time I came out on stage I was terrified. I hadn’t been nervous on stage in years. That night I was trembling. My wife and daughter drove me to the club and it was the first time in my life I was out of the house in makeup and wearing non-male clothing, wearing my clothes. For the first time being me. Would I be laughed off the stage? And laughed off not in the good way? Would I be bullied like I had been as a little kid or would I be accepted?

But it was amazing. They laughed the right way. I felt empowered. I’ll never forget how happy my comic friends were for me. Amanda Cohen and Karen Vasquez came up to me after all smiles, thrilled for me. It was life changing. Since then I’ve been flourishing as a comedian. I got into the Burbank Comedy Festival, made it through a round of Uncle Clyde’s Comedy Contest and am booking regularly as a standup. It’s exciting.

When I’ve run into my more famous comedian friends I was relieved that they rolled with the “new” me. Adam Ferrara complimented my hoop earrings. Adam Conover treated me like I was just another comic. Jay Leno shook my hand and looked me in the eye with immense kindness. And Jimmy Brogan is still the GOAT and acted like it was no big thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://fisheyedlensy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dpkronmiller/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@dpkronmiller

Image Credits
DP Kronmiller, Jennifer Emily McLean, Zooey, Jimmy Brogan, Flappers Comedy Club