D’Lo is a queer/transgender Tamil-Sri Lankan-American actor, writer, and comedian whose work ranges from keynotes and workshops to stand-up comedy, solo theater, and plays; from films and music production to poetry and spoken word. As a speaker and performer, he focuses on social justice, queer/trans issues, immigration, family, and art. D'Lo was a keynote at the 2018 National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE), demonstrating his ability to make people laugh and think while tackling some of today's most challenging issues. He is a also co-producer for DisOriented Comedy, a mostly female Asian-American nationally-touring stand-up comedy showcase.
Rooted in social justice, D'Lo brings the fierce with the funny through his stories and stand-up comedy about being a queer/trans person raised within an immigrant family and community, as well as his stories about being an artist who was schooled by hip-hop, feminists, and queer artist elders.
While touring the university/college circuit in a post-Trump election era, D'Lo loves to engage the students in dialogue around issues that matter to them. D'Lo's time on campuses as a great opportunity for the Asian/South Asian, Women/Queer/LGBTQ, Creative Writing and Theater/Performance departments and other performance/comedy/hip-hop communities to come together in the same room. When campus audiences are comprised of different departments and student organizations, a 2-hour time slot with D’Lo allows the students to, first - sit back and have a good time with stand-up and storytelling, and second - engage in a conversation through his post-show Q&A with other students from different departments/walks of life (it sounds serious, but D'Lo keeps it light while talking about the heavy).
The documentary by Crescent Diamond based on D’Lo’s life/work, Performing Girl, won the best short documentary award at Outfest 2013, and he was part of the Emmy-nominated mini-doc series THIS IS ME produced by Rhys Ernst and Zackary Drucker. D'Lo's tv/film credits include co-starring in the HBO series LOOKING as Taj, on the Amazon series TRANSPARENT and the Netflix series SENSE 8. This year he is featured in Sundance Fellow Adelina Anthony’s feature-length film BRUISING FOR BESOS in the supporting lead role of Rani. He also appears in various Buzzfeed videos, on the web series EASTSIDERS and DYKE CENTRAL and the upcoming Issa Rae/Project Greenlight produced MINIMUM WAGE. His own web-series PRIVATE DICK is in post-production and set to be released this fall.
D'Lo's writing has been published in various academic publications including Nitasha Sharma’s book Desi Rap: Hip Hop and South Asia and the anthologies, The Austin Project: Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic and Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics and the new release of Monologues for Men of Color.
He is also the creator of the “Coming Out, Coming Home” writing workshop series which has taken place with South Asian and/or Immigrant LGBTQ Organizations nationally, providing a transformative space for workshop participants to write through their personal narratives and share their truths through a public reading. These workshops are specifically designed to provide emotional and spiritual support for individuals working through the complexity of their intersecting identities.
