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Know Your Instagrammer: Michael Burbach

"I think we have lost our sense of sisterhood. People seem to just be looking for a fight. We are all in this together."

Born in Iowa, 26-year-old Michael Burbach fled his Catholic school upbringing after graduation to move to New York City to study acting.

"My YouTube impressions of Patti LuPone helped enormously in finding a community," he explains matter of factly.

Quickly embraced by the downtown city in NYC, Burbach found both a home and a community. "I was the college kid who was reciting Shakespeare and Chekhov uptown, then dashing to midtown to catch a Broadway show, and then down to Joe’s Pub or Marie’s Crisis for a drink and some performance art."

Past credits of his include the Williamstown Theatre Festival and playing one of Vince Vaughn's many biological children in Delivery Man. But perhaps Burbach is best recognized as the face of Citi Bike on Facebook.

Below, we chat with Michael Burbach/@bananabasket


What’s the biggest difference between Michael Burbach and @bananabasket?

@bananabasket is just a heightened version of Michael. I’ve used @bananabasket to express myself in so many different ways over the years. My online persona is a bit cockier, freer, and better lit. The humor, the passion, the sassiness... that’s all the real me – just with a Valencia filter.

Who do people tell you that you look like the most?

I get Colin Farrell (and take it as a great compliment) but I don’t really see it.

When did you first became aware of your sexuality? Do you recall the instant or was it over time?

It was over time. I grew up in such a conservative environment. I just knew that being gay was bad. But I was incredibly curious about anything queer, and Judy Garland was my patron saint. I saw Tootsie when I was eight years old and taped it on VHS and watched it over and over again. I went as Margaret Hamilton for Halloween about four years in a row. I’ve always had a flair for the dramatic and the theatrical.

I could always find safety and escape in the arts. I never had a problem being my authentic self and doing what I wanted to do. I didn’t care one iota about fitting in. But it was around 13 when I knew I had to face something that wasn’t going away.

You love Hedwig & The Angry Inch. Like, love it. What is your connection with that show?

Hedwig was my teenage hero. I found the film in the ‘Musicals’ section at my local Borders and snuck it home. It had an immediate impact on me. I had never seen anything like it. I tried to play it on the bus on a school trip and my teacher pulled the plug after two minutes. I got a Hedwig tattoo when I was 17. Hedwig gave me the strength to be myself during the hardest times of my life.

Hedwig is pain, passion, love, identity. She is a true original. She is all of us. Every year I learn something new from her. When I moved to New York, I met John Cameron Mitchell at a party. Since then, we’ve become dear friends. He’s had a tremendous influence on me, both as an artist and a friend. He has taught me so much about art, film, humor and life. He is very special.

Name 10 gay people.

Oscar Wilde, Pedro Almodóvar, Stephen Sondheim, Sir Ian McKellen, Tennessee Williams, Alexander McQueen, Alison Bechdel, Tony Kushner, Luke Evans, Noël Coward.

Who is your favorite fictional gay character?

Willow Rosenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

What makes you uncomfortable?

People who don’t know pedestrian etiquette, the prices at Opening Ceremony, Anne Hathaway’s Oscar acceptance speech.

How does a guy get your attention?

You know, we live in this world where we are immediately judged by our appearance. It’s exhausting and ultimately pointless. At the end of the day, who cares how many likes that selfie got? I’ll meet someone who looks so interesting online and then they turn out to be this robot Barbie in real life. There’s no excuse to be boring. We have unlimited information at our fingertips and people remain uninformed and shallow.

This is why I need the theatre. There’s no filter, no barrier. There’s an immediacy, a real human connection. That’s magic to me. Someone who can show who they really are with no tricks. What is more charming than wit, humor, personality? True passion and uninhibited earnestness seems to be in short supply these days. Want to get my attention? Be clever, be kind, be funny. Above all, be authentic.

If you weren’t an actor, what would you be doing?

I’ve been a visual artist my entire life. When I very young, I was something of a loner and art became my outlet. I would draw characters from The Wizard of Oz obsessively. My parents quickly put me into art lessons. I still paint and draw a lot, but most of it stays private. Art is my life, so if I wasn’t acting I would be designing and creating something.

What’s the most important issue facing LGBT people today?

The lack of community. People get so wrapped up in who said what. Instead of coming together, I see schism after schism dividing each “group." It feels a bit like the high school cafeteria. “You can’t sit with us.” We live in this culture that loves to be outraged and offended. People don’t know how to pick their battles. I think we have lost our sense of sisterhood. People seem to just be looking for a fight. We are all in this together.

If we start falling apart from the inside over petty nonsense, that will be a real shame. Let’s try having each other’s backs. Everybody say love.

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