Okay, so more votes have come in (at least additional names to consider have) so I will wait a bit longer to put a bullet in the head of this less-than-overwhelming topic.
Y’all might as well vote or name some other “funny” women.
I thought it was a pretty good topic, I got to listen to some pretty funny routines picking out my faves. The fact that some men are incapable of finding women funny is more a matter for students of abnormal psychology than an indication that your topic was weak.
I appreciate your saying that. And for the sake of the 40 or so who have taken time to vote in the two preliminary polls and to offer other names in this thread, I do intend to follow through with a “Final Poll” at some point. Maybe a couple days after the last response or vote?
Just to summarize, these names will be on the Final Poll because they were mentioned after the prelim polls went up:
Brett Butler
Roseanne Barr
Joan Rivers
Josie Long
Lucille Ball
Others may be added if they’re mentioned after this post.
And unless things do change drastically in the next little while, these are the heavy vote-getters from the prelims:
Bea Arthur
Carol Burnett
Jane Curtin
Ellen DeGeneres
Tina Fey
Janeane Garofolo
Kathy Griffin
Madeline Kahn
Laura Kightlinger
Julia Louis Dreyfuss
Amy Poehler
Paula Poundstone
Rita Rudner
Gilda Radner
Kristen Schaal
Amy Sedaris
Sarah Silverman
And just to serve as a reference point, the current Voters counts are:
Funny Women Preliminary “A-L”
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 40
Funny Women Preliminary “L-T”
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 34
We all remember her hit characters from SNL. Not always the benchmark for high concept, but she might be the least funny stand-up I’ve ever seen.
She told an interminable story on “Dinner For Five” that was ridiculed soundly by everybody else at the table.
I love Andrea Martin and Catherine O’Hara just fine, but they’re sketch comediennes. I presume the list is mostly about stand-ups? I gotta go with Totie Fields. She was like the female Jackie Mason.
I would also agree with adding Joan Rivers - I know lots of people here hate her, but if you watch her current show, Fashion Police, and listen to her bitchy comments, she is hysterically funny.