‘I wear my pride on my sleeve’: Inside Zach Noe Towers’ ‘Twink Death’ rebirth

Comedian, actor and writer Zach Noe Towers is having a sparkling breakout moment. After years of building a loyal audience through stand-up, TV appearances and by regularly lighting up our earholes on SiriusXM’s “Jeff Lewis Live,” Towers has delivered his strongest statement yet, “Twink Death.” Taped in Santa Monica at Westside Comedy Theater, and now streaming on YouTube, his first offering was encouraged and produced by super talent Bob the Drag Queen, who has been more than a mentor to him.

Filled with hilariously candid stories about growing up in the Midwest, the use of the word “gay,” finding sobriety and the importance of texting back (noted), “Twink Death” makes a perfect intro to a man who isn’t afraid to mine every corner of his life for a laugh. With his irresistible positivity, Towers, who’s spent years refining his craft, still feels like someone at the start of a much bigger story. But let’s revisit in 10 years.

I really loved your special, it grabbed me immediately with your “straight versus gay man” scenario. Now that you’re in your Twink Death era, how has celebrating Pride month changed for you?

Zach Noe Towers: Thank you for watching it, I was speaking right to you! I think like a lot of gay men, I have been on quite the arc when it comes to embracing Pride. When I was a young, scared little Midwestern gay boy in the closet, it struck fear into my heart. Nowadays, being gay is my absolute favorite thing in the world. If it were a choice, I’m choosing it a million times over. I wear my pride on my sleeve year-round so really it comes down to seeing my community, all in one place, all at one time, and it really just sets me up for the rest of the year.

And this is a big year for you because you put out your debut special. How is that even possible after all of this time and how do you streamline that into one hour?

Putting my first special out has been so liberating because as a comedian, we can toil and toil forever, moving punchlines around, moving premises around, and new current events can influence your content. Beyond the work I was doing in my notebook by myself, up until the day of the taping, I was still moving stuff around. I think maybe I’ve been a little too precious and this first special taught me I can actually take my time. Bob the Drag Queen is a driving force in the creation of this special and when we set a deadline for the day we’d shoot it, it really just honed me in. It made me kill some of my darlings and really focus on what I want this sampler platter to be. I had to think of this like, OK, if nobody has ever heard of me before, and God saved their soul, what would I want them to know about me? And I think I covered those bases; gay from the Midwest, sober but still making bad decisions, and a sex-positive human.

Towers poses with Bob the Drag Queen

(Andrew Max Levy)

On Bob’s podcast you said, paraphrasing, now that you have a special out you can put out more, so people get the opportunity to say I like the second special better while discussing and sharing.

I had a friend recently describe it as artists and creators have a library with projects, or with books. Your goal is to put as many books on the shelf of your library as possible so people can take them down. Like oh, this is when he was in his 30s, and this one is the thing he made with this other person. That really clicked in my brain. This might be the only thing on my shelf right now, but I’m really happy it’s on the shelf and that people can find me when they’re meant to find me.

I imagine a lot of people are finding you through “Jeff Lewis Live” on SiriusXM. You guys have amazing banter, have you known each other forever? How did this collab come to be?

I was actually brought to Jeff Lewis’ doorstep by Fortune Feimster, she was the stork that delivered Zach Noe Towers to Radio Andy. She was a regular on his morning show and was like, I think you would enjoy my opener. I want to say that was maybe, three years ago? Then I turned into basically a weekly guest on the show. The real thrill for me is that not a lot of people get to go toe-to-toe with Jeff. I find it exhilarating and hilarious to give him grief, and if I had to guess, he feels the same way towards me. He likes to stir the pot, and you know, I’m just a spicy ingredient in that little soup.

Now in his self-described “Twink Death era,” Towers reflects on how Pride transformed from something terrifying in the closet to an empowering, year-round celebration of queer community and joy.

(Kim Newmoney)

It’s really fun every time you’re on. I have to congratulate you on your sobriety, I know it’s not always the easiest in LA.

Well, this is going to sound like I’m so codependent on this person, but the person who planted the seed of sobriety in my head was Bob the Drag Queen. Around 12 years ago, we met performing on the same gay cruise, and Bob is very public about being a sober member of society. I was not when we met. Bob would talk to me when I was hungover, and I’d ask Bob questions about what it’s like being sober. Then Bob became the person that I would send a picture of my 90-day chip to, and he’d be like, hell yeah, congrats! That was kind of the start of our friendship.

When I was ready to get sober though, I was blessed to be in L.A. because there are recovery meetings all day and night in this town. I have a theory that comedians are either in addiction or in recovery. Maybe that’s a signifier to how our brains are wired a bit, but there are so many sober members of the comedy community, and through recovery you can bond with people so fast. Then you just need one of them to be in the room, or at the show, or the after party, or the networking event to be like, OK, exhale and let your shoulders drop, you can do this. I also got sober right after I turned 30 , and my hangovers then were starting to be these day and a half-long experiences. On my worst days, I have to go back to that. Thank God I’m not sweaty, nauseous, calling out of work and wondering if my friends all hate me. That alone is reason not to drink or do drugs.

That’s exactly what it is. I remember the fun, but that hangover? And hard pass on starting the count over, so I’m proud of us. I’m also proud of how honest, to a fault sometimes, you stay with your comedy and podcasting.

The way in which I don’t have a filter could be my greatest strength, or it could be the thing that leads to my downfall. I think people tend to speak more freely when not so many eyes are on them so if anything, I’m saying this now. I hope I stick to my guns and keep being honest, keep toeing that line of what people deem inappropriate versus appropriate, and that I keep pushing myself to be brave and speak my true experience. Not by putting anyone on blast and not by outing anyone’s struggles, but by keeping the burden of truth squarely on my shoulders. I hope that for myself, and we can go back and reference this interview in 10 years when I’m in jail.