God forgive me, women just aren't funny.

[Acsenray]

Women standups that I’ve quite liked include:

Janeane Garofalo
Sarah Silverman
Ellen Degeneres
Paul Poundstone
Laura Kightlinger
Josie Lawrence
Rita Rudner
Margaret Cho
Joan Rivers
Wanda Sykes

And there are probably several more that I can’t think of at the moment. There are probably a lot more men comedians that I like, but I had no problem coming up with this list.

[gallows_fodder]

The funniest person I’ve ever met is my best friend’s sister. I’ve known her for 20 years, and she is the only person in my life who routinely makes me laugh so hard my face scrunches up and tears come out of my eyes and I can’t breathe. Every time we get together, without fail, she makes me laugh this hard. It’s just the way she tells a story.

And she’s not a standup comedian, she’s a psychologist!

[Czarcasm]

Phyllis Diller was a damnfine stand-up comedian in her day.

[Cinnamon_Imp]

OP, have you watched any Jo Brand? Granted, her humour mostly revolves around hating men and being fat, but she cracks me up

[Small_Clanger]

[QUOTE=Cinnamon Imp]
OP, have you watched any Jo Brand? Granted, her humour mostly revolves around hating men and being fat…
[/QUOTE]
And cake! Don’t forget cake.

Along similar lines see Sarah Millican who currently has her own show. She also likes cake.

And Mel and Sue with the Bake Off, it really is all about cakes with the ladies.

[Nzinga_Seated]

I kinda wanted to let this thread sink and die, because I secretly didn’t want to disappoint posters with the reality that I wasn’t able to overcome my prejudice. I looked up the comics, and I just didn’t find them anywhere near as funny as the male comics that I like.

But then, I have to admit, I quite liked some of them. Jo Brand didn’t crack me up, but I liked her style on stage and would enjoy seeing more of her. And she pulled some chuckles.

So, I will do as RickJay suggested and try to keep my mind as open as possible when watching female comics. Because I realize that stand up must be a KILLER fucking game that takes huge courage and talent to pull off. I’ve watched a few documentaries that blew my mind about the world of stand up comedy, and fostered a real appreciation for the street level hustle of it. If it is hard for males to the point that I have heard, then I can’t even imagine how much harder it is for women.

I appreciate everyone’s suggestions. I have gotten some good chuckles.

[Tad]

@RickJay

Nzinga, I like you. You’re smart and seem like a nice person. On this, you’re completely wrong. Well, not completely… see below. Hitchens was wrong. But not completely, see below.

As you might recall I’m scraping along the lower rungs of standup. Just started 18 months ago, but I’ve gotten all over Toronto. I know a lot of really, really funny female standup comics on the Toronto scene. Hilariously funny. And elsewhere too; I did a show in San Jose and the headliner was a Bay Area comedienne and I was crying with laughter. I’m seeing the up and coming talent right here on the ground in a big comedy market and I am telling you, flat out, that there are screamingly funny female comics out there. Debra DiGiovanni is funny and she is - and I am saying this absolutely dead straight - not one of the five funniest female comics I have seen just in Toronto. If there is a difference in average funniness between female and male comics I do not see it. There are MORE male comics. They are not funnier, on average.

But women just don’t get the breaks. I know that sounds apologetic but it’s true. Men try and try and very occasionally one will get a break. Women almost never do; they simply cannot break through in standup, with maybe one exception every few years. (I think Ellen DeGeneres is one of the best of all time, YMMV.) I know how that sounds but you have to believe me, as a guy out there in the comedy bushes several times a week, that funny female comics are out there. You don’t get a chance to see them.

The comics you become aware of in popular media, the really successful ones, are a tiny part of the comedy universe and they are not, truth be told, perfectly coincidental with the set of the funniest comics out there. I’d certainly agree the absolute elite are the funniest - Louis C.K. is the funniest man in the business today - but a lot of the comics you see are out there because they’re just better at marketing, worked harder, hit a market segment at the right time, or just got the breaks. Dane Cook is not one of the thousand funniest standups in the business, but he’s one of the richest because he’s got a marketing approach that works for him. Russell Peters is funny but I can effortlessly name 25 funnier comics you can see for ten bucks in Toronto any week you want to come up here; Russell hit the big time because he got breaks at exactly the point that the market needed a comic with his point of view. (Note: I sure as hell am not suggesting I am funnier than any of these people.) And some of the folks funnier than those guys are women.

Why, precisely, women are not given the same chances to do big time comedy I cannot really explain to you.

Of course, everyone has their thing, and it may be that you are simply not predispositioned to find women funny. Nothing wrong with that. I don’t find battle-of-the-sexes jokes funny, but most people seem to think they’re a scream. That’s just me, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but if a battle-of-the-sexes comedian’s making the whole room howl except me I bow to his skill.

Part of this - actually, part of both issues here, why women don’t get breaks and why you don’t like them - is that much of an audience’s reaction to a comic is based on the legitimacy they place in the comic. If you would allow me to indulge myself to explain, your willingness to buy into the comic’s joke is proportional to the trust you have that the comic will make you laugh.

If you load up a Louis C.K. show on Netflix and watch Louis do his thing, he will do stuff that a no-name comic simply could not do. Louis will go (to me) incredible lengths of time without actually delivering a punchline, and for 2-3 minutes he might just do setup, with only the most mildly funny of punchlines.

If I got on stage and did that I’d be hated, even if I told the same jokes. I could never, ever go two minutes without telling a joke, because no large audience knows me and can trust that I will bring the house down at the end of a long setup. Even if I end a 3-minute setup with jokes of absolutely Grade-A caliber, the audience will have turned against me and won’t laugh (much.) Even if my delivery was just as good (which it’s not, but bear with me here.) The thing is that Louis C.K. can go three minutes without telling a really Grade A punchline because you trust him to do that. The audience has every expectation that waiting three minutes is worth it, because there will be a huge payoff, because they know Louis is really funny. They know there’s a reason you pay $70 to see him rather than seeing him at an open mic night. They know Louis is going to end that long setup with hysterically funny jokes, so they’re willing to wait. It’s a very participative, interactive art form.

Other factors besides fame and reputation come into play as well - how friendly a comic looks, whether you identify with him, whether you are attracted to them (Dane Cook gets laughs this way) whether they say things that you agree with, and so on. Much of the reason you laugh at people is because you have decided you want to laugh at them. It is as important for a comic to make you want to laugh at them with non-joke signals as it is to tell jokes. If the comic can get you on his or her side, you’ll laugh. You will forgive and overlook their errors. Youll find humor in everything they do. If they repulse you, the laughs will be extremely hard to come by. You will be unforgiving. You’ll try to see through the facade instead of suspending your disbelief.

Female comics are always working against the assumption that they aren’t funny. There’s a lot of reasons for that, but there it is. And if you have assumed they are not funny, you won’t find them funny.

And again, that’s really quite okay. If it’s not your thing it is not your thing. People think Bill Hicks was super hilarious; his stuff leaves me cold. I know he was a genius, though, because he sure made other people laugh. Or as one comedian told me once (himself pretty successful) “I don’t find Jerry Seinfeld funny. But I’ve heard of him, and he’s never heard of me.”

More or less I agree with what you’ve said here, but I think you’re being a bit apologetic and relying a bit too much on your own sense of humour (as others here are) to give your answer.

It’s absolutely true that there are, proportionately, less women in the stand-up arena–and for those who are, they don’t get the same opportunities on average. It’s also true that saying women aren’t funny isn’t something correct to say, and that there are definitely very funny female stand-up comedians.

But that’s about where I have to stop agreeing with you. There were master craftspeople in the comedy business throughout the years and I don’t think any of them were women. There may be a lot of reasons for that but ultimately I think, especially now, talent shines brighter than your gender. I’ve never known a female comedian whose star was as bright as Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy, Steve Wright, Louis CK, Rodney Dangerfield, and so on. It’s more than just their inability to break out in the business. Again, I must stress that, especially now, talent shines very brightly when it’s there. When there is a master in the room you know it damn well. I know many funny female comedians but nothing in the order of the master comedians (not even close), and certainly the number pales in comparison with the number of half-way funny male comedians. I’ve certainly never seen anything as interesting as Emo Philips from the female crowd.

That isn’t necessarily a systematic gender discrimination I’m putting forward there, because I would never say women couldn’t rise to those heights. I’m also a bit arrogant in my thinking that I don’t believe my regard for Pryor, Carlin, Murphy, etc, is a result of general consensus and prestige. Again, masters often get their reception for a reason (and sometimes the reasons are bad, but I don’t think they are for those I’ve mentioned).

So I absolutely believe you and know for certain there are funny female comedians in the world–probably lots. And, probably, there are still greater numbers of funny men. And, quite probably, none of those women are masters of their craft like those I mentioned. I’m not really sure what the reason for that is, nor am I sure that I care very much. I will support a master female comedian should I come upon one. So far–not so good.

[mhendo]

@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?

I’m a guy, and i find Kathleen Madigan very funny. Wanda Sykes at her best is great. While i’m not sure if she does stand-up, i find Kristen Schaal from the Daily Show (and Flight of the Conchords) pretty hilarious.

There have also been, over the years, some very funny women writers. Molly Ivins used to crack me up, even when she was discussing some very serious stuff. I loved Erma Bombeck and Cynthia Heimel, too.

ETA:

I might add, too, that there are plenty of well-respected male stand-up comedians who i only find intermittently funny. I love Louis C.K.'s TV show Louie, but to me the least interesting part of the show is when he’s doing his stand-up stuff.

[mhendo]

@RickJay

If you load up a Louis C.K. show on Netflix and watch Louis do his thing, he will do stuff that a no-name comic simply could not do. Louis will go (to me) incredible lengths of time without actually delivering a punchline, and for 2-3 minutes he might just do setup, with only the most mildly funny of punchlines.

If I got on stage and did that I’d be hated, even if I told the same jokes. I could never, ever go two minutes without telling a joke, because no large audience knows me and can trust that I will bring the house down at the end of a long setup. Even if I end a 3-minute setup with jokes of absolutely Grade-A caliber, the audience will have turned against me and won’t laugh (much.) Even if my delivery was just as good (which it’s not, but bear with me here.) The thing is that Louis C.K. can go three minutes without telling a really Grade A punchline because you trust him to do that.

All of this is completely spot-on, IMO. Expectations and credibility give the well-known people an incredible head start, and much more leeway for the periods when they’re really not very funny.