# God forgive me, women just aren't funny. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320 "2012-08-13T00:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/41 "2012-08-13T11:54:57Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > There are tons more men in comedy than women and, frankly, quite a lot of them aren’t that funny either. > > Women are getting this double-edged sexism thing there, though. If you’re bad at stand-up it’s because you’re not doing it like the men, and if you ARE doing it like the men, then you come across as dykey (or Jewish), so either way you’re screwed. > > It’s like when women couldn’t win in the workplace. If they were cool-headed and focused then they were “barracudas” and if they were warm and fuzzy they were “ditzy” and not serious. I had a boss who nearly had a nervous breakdown about whether to put family pictures up (“cares more about her family than the job”–they don’t say that about men who put up family pictures) or not to put up family pictures (“cold stone bitch”). > > Obviously they’re still getting this in the stand-up comedy field. > > Also, if they do jokes that resonate with the women in their audience they might lose the men, but if they do routines aimed toward the men they may lose the women (not interested) AND the men (too dykey). Male comics don’t have that problem, mainly because they don’t care about that problem. > > There are lots of funny women, mostly not in stand-up. I think Ellen DeGeneris is pretty funny. I never saw any of her stand-up except an old clip of when she was on Johnny Carson, and she was way funny. I also saw an old clip of Jay Leno on Carson–when he was very young–and he wasn’t funny at all–he died up there. > > I have gone to open-mike night and frankly, the women and the men left me equally cold, but it seemed to be more of a delivery problem or a timing glitch in the case of all the comics. They were all trying to say funny things. None of them were trying to say things funny. > > The women who make me laugh tend to be doing routines that probably wouldn’t make a guy laugh, like Kathleen Madigan. Example: Her friends send Christmas cards with pictures of their husbands and children. What should she put on hers? Pictures of her sleeping late and having extra money? Jay Leno as a stand up was a monster pre- tonight show. He would be on Letterman a couple of times a month it seemed. I made sure I stated up to watch each time. At the time there was no one better. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/42 "2012-08-13T12:06:52Z")
That’s true in improvisational comedy, too – female performers are generally not as strong. There’s something about the physicality and immediacy of the medium, something about the “play” aspect and the way performers bounce off each other and take risks. On stage, anyway, the women tend to be weaker. OTOH, women sitting around drinking coffee and cracking clever jokes? Comedy gold. Men don’t pull off that one the way we do, generally speaking. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/43 "2012-08-13T12:37:26Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Do yourself a favor and check out Tig Notaro, Jen Kirkman, and Chelsea Peretti. All hilarious comedians that also happen to have vaginas. But are any of them women? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/44 "2012-08-13T13:01:57Z")
Being funny is not a valued trait to American girls growing into women, so the pool is much smaller. So there’s not as much cream-of-the-crop talent. In a group of boys, being “the funny one” is a highly valued trait, typically ranked just under “great at sports”. And you do have to be legitimately funny to hold that spot as a man, not just be the one who will dare or deign to try and be the cut up (ladies). Women are told to be other things - to act other ways. It’s no surprise that there are a significant number of lesbian stand up comics because they’re already rejecting even more significant societal norms. Also, lots of women are told they’re ‘so funny’, when actually they’re just attractive and/or have a general fun personality (not the same thing as funny). Everyone was just trying to compliment their looks in a non-obvious way. Of course there are mixed results when one of them takes the compliments literally and tries to do stand-up. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/45 "2012-08-13T13:04:12Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > WANDA SYKES!!! Don’t like her. The rare time she pulls a chuckle from me, it is despite the fact that I don’t like her brand of comedy. Her voice makes me crazy. > [@](#): > > …On the hip hop tip, I have mad love for MC Lyte. My all time favorite female MC, and Latifah is not too far behind… MC Lyte was the truth…one of the best who ever did it… On the first two albums. Everything after that makes me think she had a ghost writer at first. Completely baseless accusation, but one that I have truly believed since I was a kid. The difference between “Lyte as a Rock” and “Roughneck” is just too great. Totally different styles, skill level, everything. Queen Latifah I liked, but I think she fell off. The first album was the only one I liked. I don’t accuse her of having a ghost writer for that though, because her later, weaker stuff was in her same ‘voice’. Can’t really explain it. [QUOTE=Hilarity N. Suze] …The women who make me laugh tend to be doing routines that probably wouldn’t make a guy laugh, like Kathleen Madigan. Example: Her friends send Christmas cards with pictures of their husbands and children. What should she put on hers? Pictures of her sleeping late and having extra money? [/QUOTE] That’s funny. [QUOTE=Ambivilid] I think stand-up comedy is just hard-period. Many otherwise funny comedians just bomb when it comes to stand-up gigs. A truly funny stand up comedian is hard to come by; and there are certainly fewer women doing stand up than men… [/QUOTE] This is such simple common sense, I am ashamed I haven’t considered it. Posters in this thread are straightening me, \*in \*_theory_. I mean, you all are really convincing, \*on \*_paper_. But I surely hope this will pan out in practice. In other words, lets make with the funny comedienne clips. The line from Kathleen Madigan made me laugh. I’m about to look her up. Also, about to look up the other suggestions for comics I haven’t heard yet. [QUOTE=picker] Reported for douchiness. Specifically, the don’t be a stupid jerk rule. [/QUOTE] Yeah, pretty sure he was just joking. [QUOTE=Ellen Cherry] Ahahahahaha! Hee. Hee. Knock it off. [/QUOTE] That struck my funny bone, for whatever reason. [QUOTE=Becky2844] Girl, you are funny. Like dry white wine. Best taken with a smirk. (Forget the lime; the acid’s already in there.)… [/QUOTE] Thanks. I’m goofy, in that I really love to laugh, so I have a bad habit of taking nothing very seriously. I probably should change the thread title, because I really do mean stand up comedy. By the way, shout out to Ellen, who has made me chuckle often with her stand up, now that I think of it. [QUOTE=fessie] …OTOH, women sitting around drinking coffee and cracking clever jokes? Comedy gold… [/QUOTE] So true. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/46 "2012-08-13T13:33:37Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Wow. Rickjay, that was one hell of a post. Thank you. I honestly appreciate that you took the time to write that. One thing that hit the nail on the head for sure is the idea that I’m not giving them a chance. Because you are sooo right about me over analyzing them in a way that I bet I’m not doing to their male counterparts. When I looked at alice in wonderland’s suggestion, I actually caught myself doing it. I was only seeing Digiovanni in tiny 60 second clips, and I felt myself trying to see if she was trying too hard, or forcing it or…I guess I just wasn’t really buying into it. You have raised some very good points, my friend. I have to stress, again, that there’s nothing wrong with you choosing not to like female comics. I am not suggesting you need to start liking them. At the risk of pointing out the obvious, you can’t find time to like everything. I’m just suggesting that the claim that women aren’t funny as standup comics cannot be _objectively_ supported. Comedy is subjective. (As you can tell I find the subject interesting.) On the other hand, one can go outside one’s own preferences to acknowledge some people must be funny to others even if they aren’t to oneself. I do not remember ever, once, a single time, laughing at anything Will Ferrell has ever done. Ever. To me he’s as funny as a school bus fire. But he must be funny, because millions of people find him hilarious. I don’t think that means I’m missing anything, he’s just not my brand of sauce. You can’t like everything. You don’t have enough time in the day to do that. So hey, laugh at who you wanna laugh at. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/47 "2012-08-13T13:39:58Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > “Wait Wait” does suffer from feeling they need a female panellist on every show though. Poundstones probably the best person on there of any gender, but when she isn’t on the show the other two frequent female panellists are aggressively unfunny. They don’t even try to make jokes any more. See, I don’t think Poundstone is funny one single bit on Wait Wait. Her delivery to me seems very forced, like "Oh, this is where I INSERT JOKE (have you ever noticed there’s a pause right before she INSERTS JOKE?) Nine times out of ten I’ll sit there and roll my eyes instead of laugh :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/48 "2012-08-13T13:54:49Z")
Have you seen any of Aisha Tyler’s standup? Cracks me right up. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/49 "2012-08-13T14:24:29Z")
I wonder if it has something to do with the women’s component of the audience? A lot of times when I’m watching standup on TV, I notice the weaker jokes will at least get laughs from the women. I put this down to the traditional woman’s role in society as the ones who keep things “nice” - breaking up fights between their sons, not letting the discussions at dinner parties turn into arguments, facillitating the flow of polite society, supporting consensus instead of confrontation, etc. But they aren’t able to extend that to a woman comic, at least not in a mixed-gender settings. In all-women “girls night out” settings it’s “you go girl!” but when men are paying attention to the woman onstage it’s “who’s that bitch think she is?” OTOH, when the female comic really puts herself at risk, even in a mixed audience, the women rally to her: listen to who laughs hardest when Mo Collins starts in on [date-underwear vs period underwear](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbrHek2Q5WA) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/50 "2012-08-13T14:32:28Z")
It seems at least half the people I follow on Twitter are hilarious women. I pretty much only follow comedians and comedic feeds. After work or during lunch I can link to them. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/51 "2012-08-13T14:32:37Z")
I agree with the OP for the most part. There are terrific female comedic actors, but in stand-up, not so much. Roseanne used to kill me, in both genres. She was earthy, direct, somewhat vulgar, and got right to the heart of things. Haven’t seen her lately, other than the ad for the roast with the shotgun, which was funny. Ellen was okay, but hit or miss at times. Wanda Sykes was funny early on, but has gone downhill, as many comedians do. It’s a tough biz. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/52 "2012-08-13T15:36:16Z")
If you look at the funniest stand up comics, the traits that make them funny are stereotypically masculine. Irreverence, boldness, provocativeness, “meanness” (for the lack of a better word). Since girls aren’t encourage to exhibit these traits like boys, you’ll find few women who do. Then you have to consider, out of those women are who are irreverent, etc., how many of them are going to also have the right kind of stage presence _and_ be funny? Physical attractiveness can cause your audience to be too distracted to laugh at you, so a woman can’t be too pretty and expect to do well as a comic. All of these reasons are why you don’t find that many women in the stand up business. Those who are in it are working against a lot of obstacles. If you took Chris Rock and made him a woman, but kept his persona the same, would you find “her” just as funny? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/53 "2012-08-13T17:09:30Z")
Garfunkel and Oates(Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci) make me laugh out loud, without fail. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/54 "2012-08-13T17:09:54Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Lisa Lampanelli, makes me laugh. I don’t know how in the hell she managed to get a free pass from the black community to make the jokes that she makes, but she did it. If her material is even a little autobiographical, I’m gonna guess she got the free pass by fucking them for it. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/55 "2012-08-13T23:09:08Z")
I don’t know if Adele Givens has done much in the last few years, but she is/was fucking funny. And obviously smart. I like that combo. In general, though, yeah, I think women tend more towards collaborative humour than the solo stuff. Four women hanging out over coffee are, collectively, so funny you can’t breathe. Stick any one of them on a stage with a mike, and probably not so much. My husband has this theory that it’s because, in stand-up, the relationship with the audience is inherently combative, and that suits male humour (which is often about one-upmanship) better than female (which is often about bonding). ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/56 "2012-08-13T23:58:55Z")
I’m out of touch, but in past decades I thought there was no shortage of female comedians. I liked Poundstone, Degeneres, as well as Elaine Boosler. And although she ran out of material fairly quickly I loved Judy Tenuta. Just wonderful arrogance, oddball sexuality and spirit channeling. And then there was a small, somewhat glamorous, uhh… Rita Rudner. She was good. I haven’t seen much of Sarah Silverman’s standup and wasn’t wild about her TV show, but she did well in The Aristocrats. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/57 "2012-08-14T02:05:08Z")
I wanted to hate Sarah Silverman, and did, for her “I’m a cute chick saying gross/racist/outrageous things!” schtick. But I started watching the _Sarah Silverman Show_ and was hooked. Not sure if I would enjoy her stand up routine, but she’s brilliant in situation comedy. The funniest regular character on _Curb Your Enthusiasm_ - outside of Larry David and Wanda Sykes - is Susie Essman. I know she does stand up, but I’m left in stitches watching her on the show. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/58 "2012-08-14T07:53:56Z")
I can’t believe you feel this way. I would be curious to know which male comedians you find to be funny. My guess though is that I have never heard of them. My favorite female standup comedians: 1. Ellen De Generes 2. Roseann Barr 3. Sarah Silverman 4. Margaret Cho 5. Wanda Sykes I must admit the pickings are slim. However there are only two people who have ever made me think I had just seen the funniest person in the world Steve Martin and Roseanne Barr. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/59 "2012-08-14T18:46:25Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Also, lots of women are told they’re ‘so funny’, when actually they’re just attractive and/or have a general fun personality (not the same thing as funny). Everyone was just trying to compliment their looks in a non-obvious way. Of course there are mixed results when one of them takes the compliments literally and tries to do stand-up. Really? I am complimented on my looks/personality with reasonable frequency, but the last time I can remember someone complimenting me on being funny was in fifth grade – and that was a girl. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320/60 "2012-08-14T18:53:11Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > If I remember her correctly, from the 80s/90s, she used to be \*almost \*funny, but never quite made it. I kept getting ready to laugh when she was setting something up, but, it rarely happened. She seemed to get a lot of adulation, tho. > Maybe she got a new writer, or she revamped her stuff. She’s the only comedian I know whose better at ad-libbing then with pre-written jokes, which is probably why she’s popular on Wait…Wait.. I saw some TV specials with her stand-up, which was alright, but she was a lot funnier when she was riffing off the audience then with her prepared stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-forgive-me-women-just-arent-funny/631320.md?page=4)