While you may not know the name Jonny McGovern, you probably know the comedian by his most famous character “The Gay Pimp.” As the Gay Pimp, McGovern is known for his over the top CDs, live performances, podcasts and very sexy videos.

McGovern’s star is going to be shining very bright in the next few months as the Gay Pimp releases a new CD and video and McGovern prepares to make the jump to television.

“I’m feeling very faggoty,” McGovern says. “Daddy is planning a JLo-style assault on the universe. I’ve got the ‘Big Gay Sketch Show’ coming out and that same month my new CD Gays Gone Wild is coming out. I’m also premiering my new video on Logo on April 1.”

McGovern says that the new video won’t stray far from the themes of his previous video hits “Soccer Practice” and “Looking Cute/Feeling Cute,” and that the new video will be very tongue-in-cheek. “Believe me, you’re never going to get any heartfelt anything from me. I’m always going to have a nice big wink and a squeeze on your wiener.”

McGovern also stresses that the new video will have a ton of sexy dudes for everybody’s pleasure.

McGovern first created his Gay Pimp persona for a musical he wrote which took aim on wrapper Eminem’s anti-gay attitudes. “Back around 2000 or so, I wrote a musical called The Wrong Fag to Fuck With: The gay pimp vs. Eminem,” McGovern says. “It was back when Eminem was mouthing off about fags, and at the time I was really pissed about it, so I wrote a musical about it. It ends with Eminem bent over on stage.”

Outside of the new frontiers for his Gay Pimp character, McGovern will also be a cast member of the upcoming “Big Gay Sketch Show” on Logo in April. “This will be a little different for my fans,” McGovern explains. “I’m not going to be playing the Gay Pimp, I’m playing a bunch of different characters. They specifically wanted me to branch out and do other stuff.”

The “Big Gay Sketch Show” starts April 24 on Logo and will feature a group of mostly unknown comedians. McGovern describes it less like “Saturday Night Live” and more like a gay “Mad TV.” “There is no big guest star, and it’s more cast oriented. A lot of the people who work on the big gay sketch show even worked on “Mad TV,” McGovern says. “Scott King is our head writer, and Amanda Bearse who was Marci D’Arcy on ‘Married with Children,’ was our director, and she has directed a ton of episodes of “Mad TV” over the years, so we were definitely in very funny, able hands.”

Currently, the show has filmed a limited run of first season shows, and Logo is leaving the door open for more if the show becomes a big hit. “We shot six episodes, and Logo is talking to us about doing another one,” McGovern says. Hopefully a billion gays will watch the show and demand another 100 new episodes. I had a blast doing the show. It was really gay every day and the cast was way cool.”

“The Big Gay Sketch Show” will be produced by Rosie O’Donnell and will feature McGovern as well as many other up-and-coming comedians such as Erica Ash, Dion Flynn, Stephen Guarino, Kate McKinnon and Nicol Paone. Two cast members who received high praise from McGovern were Julie Goldman and Michael Serratto.

“My favorite lesbo comedian in New York City, Julie Goldman, is on it and another guy named Michael Serratto is hilarious and was just in Eating Out Two,” McGovern says. “He’s also going to have his own sitcom on Logo coming up soon called ‘That Gay Ghost’.”

McGovern speaks highly of the fun he had doing “The Big Gay Sketch Show,” but says he would love to have a show of his own too. “Believe me, I’m working on it, baby,” McGovern says. “I would like to have a late night gay-boy mansion show. Nude dudes sitting around interviewing guests, maybe a tranny walking around the audience. We’re also pimping around a TV version of the Gay Pimp podcast show.

“The Big Gay Sketch Show” was filmed in McGovern’s hometown of New York, which was fortunate for him. “Thank goodness because I don’t know how to drive,” McGovern says. “I grew up overseas and then moved to New York and never left. I’ve never had to learn to drive, but I may learn this year because it seems like I’m probably going to have to go to L.A. more and more.”

Previous to his current media blitz, McGovern’s previous highest level of exposure came in the 11th year of the “Ricki Lake” talk show when McGovern was a correspondent for the show. He looks back on those times fondly and says that in certain parts of New York he was a superstar.

“It was one of the best years to live in Harlem,” McGovern says. “At the time, I was living on 129th street and Harlem. It was Ricki Lake’s 11th year on the air, so it was winding down, but after the first episode aired, in Harlem I was Britney Mother Fucking Spears! Everyday when I was walking down the street people would shout ‘I love you!’ It was great.”

McGovern is also an avid podcaster and does a weekly podcast, with the occasionally brief vacation here and there. McGovern had no idea how quickly the idea would take flight. “The podcast has been a big surprise, I didn’t know how much it would take off, but we’ve got more than 20,000 people listening now. It’s a great way to tie in all the different things that I do, and it’s a great way to showcase other artists I’m working with. It also helps to keep my comedy edge fresh.”

Despite what his shallow Gay Pimp person may indicate, he actually does appreciate how much he can do to help people just by doing his podcast and being himself. “A lot of gay teens can listen in and get a laugh out of it and feel a little less alone,” McGovern says. “They can hear people say, ‘Yeah, we’re just like you and we didn’t go that crazy either. Liking wieners is OK, and it’s not going to turn you into the devil.’”

For more about the Gay Pimp, his videos, music, career, upcoming performances and other information, go to his Web site at www.gaypimp.com.