The Official Gays.com Blog

This week, we met up with Ruth Selwyn, the creator of Lizzy the Lezzy, an animated stand up comedy series that has taken Youtube by storm. Be friends with Lizzy the Lezzy here.

Hi Ruth. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview with us! Can you first give us a short introduction about yourself?
I emigrated from the UK to Israel in 1992, and I was living and working in Tel-Aviv as a freelance flash animator and web designer. I’d always wanted to be a film maker and in 2004 I took a year out to direct a documentary for Channel 5 in the UK, which lead to me directing four short films for a series on Channel 4 UK. Shortly after that I created Lizzy the Lezzy and my life has never been the same since.

You’re the creator of the wildly successful Lizzy the Lezzy. What inspired you to do that?
Lizzy the Lezzy was created out of the depths of post break-up misery. An old school friend told me to sign up to Myspace for the purposes of networking and possibly to meet a new girlfriend. Faced with an empty Myspace page and not able to upload any of the films I’d made for British TV, I felt like I had to create something to put on my page in order to make myself seem attractive to these ‘future girlfriends’. I’m an animator and a lesbian, so it seemed to make sense to create a lesbian animation, and thus the first Lizzy episode was uploaded to Myspace and was spread among the lesbians faster than an STD.  Needless to say, I didn’t find a girlfriend through Myspace!

Is Lizzy the Lezzy an extension of Ruth Selwyn?
Lizzy’s stories are based loosely on my experiences, but Lizzy tends to exaggerate sometimes. I think she started out as an extension of me but after 4 years of her going on about muff munching I won’t be sad if I never munch another muff again! OK, that’s not true actually. I was exaggerating.

Tell us about your move from the UK to Israel and about your subsequent coming out there.
I’d been working in the UK for an organization which supports mentally ill people and was caring for 3 schizophrenic men. After a while I felt that the job was too depressing for a 22 year old with her whole life ahead, and I packed a bag and headed to Israel for an adventure. I’d always felt that I would like to try “being” with another woman, and after 6 months of being in the country I got to snog an American chick. The earth moved, my knees buckled and I knew that kissing a woman was definitely something I would like to continue trying. So I tried it some more, and some more, and when I finally had a girlfriend I told my parents. In shock, my mum told me not to take pills to grow hairs on my chest – so I haven’t.  Now she’s so proud she sends Lizzy e-cards to all her friends.

What’s gay life in Tel Aviv like?
Tel Aviv is a very young, vibrant and gay city. I know of at least 10 lesbians who live on my street, and the street isn’t that long. There are good lesbian/gay bars and great parties. There’s even a Gay Center with its own gay friendly doctors surgery just down the road from where I live. I shall be going there for my next pap smear test.

What are your top 5 must-see Lizzy the Lezzy clips for those who don’t know her yet?
If you don’t know Lizzy it’s probably best to start with episode 1 “I’m Proud”. I think it gives good insight into who Lizzy is and what she stands for. Next I’d recommend Lizzy’s song for her exes – all of course whom I love dearly but I felt a small pay-back was in order. Of course most of them are now my best friends and Lizzy’s biggest fans, especially the one who helped me write the music for Lizzy’s lesbian anthem, which I feel is my best creation to date. Other favorites of mine are the episodes when Lizzy describes when she first realized she was a lesbian and when she talks about homosexuality being a temptation from the devil.

What’s next for Lizzy the Lezzy?
Good question. In theory I’d like to start making episodes about twice a week. I’d like to do more Gary the Gay episodes and possibly introduce some of the other characters who appear in the little rhyming book I wrote, Lizzy the Lezzy Gets Laid. I’d love to create a full length animated sitcom too. I’d like to travel the world meeting and filming all types of different lesbians and make it into an animated feature film. I’d like Lizzy to be the ringleader for world lesbian domination and I’d like to do a collaborative video with Ellen de Generes and Portia, with me in the middle.  In practice, a girl can dream.

What’s your vision for the LGBT community?
I hope every LGBT person can have lots of sex, and live a free, happy, sinful and debauched life without ever encountering prejudice or homophobia.