Tien Tran

Tien Tran (she/her) is an LA-based comedian, actor, and writer. She co-hosts Jockular alongside her dear friends, E.R. Fightmaster and Katie Kershaw, and most recently starred as Ellen in Hulu’s How I Met Your Father. You can find her on IG @hanktina.

Describe Jockular in ten words or less.
Comedy besties talking everything queer, trans, and women-forward in sports.

How did the three of you join forces for this?
Katie, E.R., and I met in Chicago while working at The Second City and immediately bonded over not being bad men in comedy. When the pandemic hit, we were all living in different cities, so to stay in touch we started sending each other women’s sports stories and memes. We're talking everything from inspirational documentaries about the 1996 USA Women's Basketball Team to ripped queers bench-pressing 700 lbs. We had the idea of pitching a comedy show all about women's sports to Hyperobject Industries, and they agreed to turn our little gay group chat into a podcast! It's truly a dream come true.

Who is this show for?
Jockular is for comedy fans who love sports and sports fans who love hot goss. And just to be clear, we won't be talking stats and numbers, so we'd love to be a home for people new to sports while also giving diehard sports fans the pop culture takes that you definitely won't get anywhere else.

What’s the queerest sport and why?
Women’s soccer. Doctors have told me that soccer made me gay. So, thanks for signing me up, mom and dad!

What’s the straightest sport and why?
All sports are gay. Even football. Men in tights overflowing with toxic masculinity? That’s a Kinsey 3 at least.

Who would you like to be power slapped by? (I stole this question from the show.)
Well just in case you’re not familiar with power slapping, it is a real sport where players stand across from one another and take turns slapping each other as hard as possible. I would like to be power slapped by Michelle Yeoh, specifically as the mother in Crazy Rich Asians. She looked like she really wanted to slap someone, but she never got to :(. 

Fill in the blank: you will like Jockular if you like ________ (can be person, place, food, TV show, etc.)
March Madness, The World Cup, The Olympics, shows like the Queer Ultimatum, watch every episode of the L Word (both generations), or watch any movie because there’s a lesbian kiss.

Self-care tip: If you’re straight, try being gay for a little bit. You might like it. 

Thanks, Tien!