# What is with all of the lesbian stand-up comics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877 "2004-08-01T22:27:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/21 "2004-08-02T07:01:31Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > No, no, no. I love Elvira. I just find it annoying how much she make “I’m a big lesbian!!!” a part of her act. I give her some points for the bits about how her parents reacted to it (very funny stuff) but otherwise I am kinda tired of it. It is a bit like a black comic coming on stage and doing the typical “White people like _this_, but black people is like **this**!”. _groan_ > > I just think that she is better than it. When gay people become garden variety then I’ll agree with you. Until then, we really need these comediennes to open some eyes. Elvira Kurt’s Kitten With A Whip CD is kick ass. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/22 "2004-08-02T11:41:26Z")
Has Elvira Kurt gotten any new material? I have heard about 4 different performances of the _Kitten with a Wit_ stuff, but no other stuff from her. I like it and still makes me laugh, but I want more. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/23 "2004-08-02T12:57:20Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > :eek: Margaret Cho is a Commediane? Wow, someone better get her some funny material and QUICK! > > Seriously, to me, she is one of the un-funniest commedianes I’ve ever heard. Ugh. > > E3 Same goes for all female commedians. Thanks for talking about your periods. They’re hilarious. New material please? ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/24 "2004-08-02T13:07:26Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Ever since she got really political, yeah. Before that she was really good. No, she wasn’t. Her entire act was her making a funny voice, squinching up her face and pretending to be her mother. It was one of the most irritating and annoying performances I’ve ever seen. Another male gay comedian is Mario Cantone. He’s done some specials for Comedy Central and some spots on other shows like Tough Crowd, Chapelle’s Show, etc. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/25 "2004-08-02T15:59:24Z")
_rolls eyes_ and nobody thought to contact me? > [@](#): > > I’m guessing they’re given more prominence today than in past decades because of the success of TV shows featuring Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres. Everyone wants in on the Next Big Thing. It’s interesting. Suzanne Westenhoefer has been doing stand-up long before these women were out – unlike her, they came out after they got famous, and doing it the opposite way has probably negatively impacted her career and those of other lesbian comedians who were out before hitting the big time. That said, there are plenty of gay male comedians; the Queer Comics show at Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival had five comics, of whom four (including Scott Thompson) were male. It may be, however, that lesbian comics have more main stream exposure, possibly for the same reason that _Star Trek_ has had a number of lesbian kisses but no gay boy kisses. _bitter, party of one…_ It was odd to me to hear Elvira Kurt discussing her sexual orientation ‘gratingly’ (if you want to call it that, which I do not.) In fact, she only talks about it in about the last third of her CD. I know many lesbian comics who discuss it all the way through their act, in a humorous way that forces the straight people in the audience to come into their world. > [@](#): > > There are no black lesbian stand-up comedians. There do seem to be somewhat more gay black male comics than female, but Karen Williams is a black female stand-up comic. > [@](#): > > Same goes for all female commedians. Thanks for talking about your periods. They’re hilarious. New material please? I suppose someone finds them funny, such as people who find women’s lives interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/26 "2004-08-02T16:30:04Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > No, she wasn’t. Her entire act was her making a funny voice, squinching up her face and pretending to be her mother. It was one of the most irritating and annoying performances I’ve ever seen. > > Another male gay comedian is Mario Cantone. He’s done some specials for Comedy Central and some spots on other shows like Tough Crowd, Chapelle’s Show, etc. Margaret Cho’s act is far more than her impression of her mother. In the two concert movies she’s done over the past five years, the section on her mother is 15-20 minutes out of an hour and a half. If you don’t like it or her, don’t watch. Many of us find her hysterically funny. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/27 "2004-08-02T16:32:48Z")
> [@lee](#): > > Has Elvira Kurt gotten any new material? I have heard about 4 different performances of the _Kitten with a Wit_ stuff, but no other stuff from her. I like it and still makes me laugh, but I want more. lee has the title of Kurt’s CD correct, unlike me who was having a brain fart. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/28 "2004-08-02T17:09:07Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > No, she wasn’t. Her entire act was her making a funny voice, squinching up her face and pretending to be her mother. It was one of the most irritating and annoying performances I’ve ever seen. If you’ve seen her on Comedy Central, you don’t see much more than impressions of her mother. The good stuff, which manages to be a nice mix of funny, raunchy and insightful, is on the videos like **Mockingbird** says. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/29 "2004-08-02T17:13:50Z")
As for gay male comedians, I’ve seen one on Comedy Central a couple of times or so, just goes by Ant, don’t know his real name though. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/30 "2004-08-02T20:01:50Z")
Elvira Kurt is hilarious. I’ve only seen her on Comedy Central but I found her to be funny and she didn’t beat the “I’m a lesbian” thing into the ground. In fact I don’t think she even mentioned it until about half way through the show. Marc ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/31 "2004-08-02T20:24:00Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I suppose someone finds them funny, such as people who find women’s lives interesting. ??? Are you saying that if you’re tired of hearing yet another round of menstruation jokes, that means you don’t find women’s lives interesting? I hope I’m misinterpreting your comment. And not just to **matt\_mcl** but in general, it sounds like people are way too sensitive about this. A comedian has to be funny, first and foremost – you shouldn’t be expected to cut them any slack because they’re black, or latino, or asian, or gay. If somebody can talk about being black and make it funny (e.g. Dave Chappelle), then it works; if they just keep harping on the same old material (e.g. Sinbad), then it’s just annoying. Same for gay comics. I’m skeptical that Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell were successful because they waited until after they were famous to come out; I’m more inclined to think that it’s because they had to develop a comedy routine that works without using their sexual orientation as a crutch. Has Paula Poundstone ever come out one way or the other, by the way? And I’ve never seen Elvira Kurt and had never heard of her before this thread. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/32 "2004-08-02T21:20:06Z")
This makes very little sense to me. There are, what, 6.2 billion standup comics out there? and none of them reaches all parts of the global audience equally; they all have their nich audience. No single standup comic is not grating to SOMEONE out there. So why would you see this given fact as a problem? Like the ones you like; ignore the ones you don’t. Each of the comics mentioned above have reached enough of an audience to have entered the OP’s radar; thus each has, demonstrably, a supportive–if nichey–audience. A comic doesn’t speak to you? Guess what? they probly know that; they know who their audience is and who it isn’t. To criticize a comic–especially one who’s earned his or her own fanbase–because their lowest common denominator doesn’t include you, **Muaddib** , in their audience, smacks of some kind of straight white male entitlement. Ever notice how many straight white male standup comics there are out there? So why go around wishing to co-opt the individual voices of non-straight-white-male comics? That Elvira or Cho, or whoever, doesn’t make you laugh, **Muad** , is 100% about you, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the comic. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/33 "2004-08-02T21:20:12Z")
I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say half of all female comics are lesbians, but they do seem to be openly gay much more often than the general female population. Doesn’t really surprise me, though. Women make up a very tiny percentage of stand up comics. It’s very much a boy’s club. This makes it much easier for a smaller number of lesbian stand ups to skew the percentages of gay-to-straight women comics. On top of that, since there seems to be a vague cultural bias against female stand-ups, it makes a certain amount of sense that the women who try to make a go of the profession tend to be gay more often than one would expect. They’ve already broken a much bigger cultural taboo (“Don’t be gay,”) so it wouldn’t be nearly as big a deal for them to break a much more ephemeral and subliminal taboo (“Women aren’t funny.”) ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/34 "2004-08-02T21:27:04Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > And I’ve never seen Elvira Kurt and had never heard of her before this thread. I’ve only seen her on Comedy Central, but she is, obviously, a lesbian comic. Her parents are from some southern European country, I think, because she looks somewhat exotic, and when she imitates her mothers voice, she speaks with a foreign accent, though I’m not sure which one it’s supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/35 "2004-08-02T21:28:34Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say half of all female comics are lesbians, but they do seem to be openly gay much more often than the general female population. Doesn’t really surprise me, though. Women make up a very tiny percentage of stand up comics. It’s very much a boy’s club. This makes it much easier for a smaller number of lesbian stand ups to skew the percentages of gay-to-straight women comics. On top of that, since there seems to be a vague cultural bias against female stand-ups, it makes a certain amount of sense that the women who try to make a go of the profession tend to be gay more often than one would expect. They’ve already broken a much bigger cultural taboo (“Don’t be gay,”) so it wouldn’t be nearly as big a deal for them to break a much more ephemeral and subliminal taboo (“Women aren’t funny.”) There’s a bias against women comics? What do you have to back this up? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/36 "2004-08-02T21:59:10Z")
> [@Master Control](#): > > There’s a bias against women comics? What do you have to back this up? Maybe he was thinking of class acts like [Jerry Lewis](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001471/): > [@](#): > > Lewis Sets Tongues Wagging At Aspen Festival > 14 February 2000 (StudioBriefing) > Jerry Lewis proved himself dumbfoundingly politically incorrect on Saturday during an appearance at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO. As reported by the Associated Press, Lewis was asked which female comics he admires. "I don’t like any female comedians, " he recalled. When Martin Short, who was moderating the panel reminded him of Lucille Ball and remarked, "You must have loved her, " Lewis replied "No, " then added, “A woman doing comedy doesn’t offend me but sets me back a bit. … I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world.” He apologized later, but made it clear he hadn’t been kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/37 "2004-08-02T22:18:32Z")
> [@Master Control](#): > > There’s a bias against women comics? What do you have to back this up? The fact that there are so damned few of them? I’m not talking about any sort of an institutionalized or even conscious bias ( **Marley** ’s quote to the contrary, which doesn’t really do anything except show that Jerry Lewis is an unfunny prick, and who really needs a cite to know that?), but rather, I think there’s some sort of cultural pressure at work that tends to generate far more men than women who have a compulsion to get up in front of a bunch of strangers and try to make them laugh. (I think it was Nick Giraldo who said, “The reason there are so many more male comics than woman comics is that women don’t need to be funny to get laid.”) I’m not suggesting that there’s any sort of a concerted effort to keep women out of comedy, merely that our cultural perception seems to hold comedy as something men do, and that a woman who has had to struggle with coming out of the closet will, almost by definition, be more aware of and more willing to struggle against socially imposed conceptions of gender roles. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/38 "2004-08-02T22:53:57Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > That Elvira or Cho, or whoever, doesn’t make you laugh, **Muad** , is 100% about you, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the comic. Some of you are misinterpreting, and focusing on the wrong thing. I love Elvira Kurt. She is one of my favorite stand-up comedians out their. What I find grating is that every time I hear her lately it has been a big portion of her bits on being gay, and (even though her stuff on it has been better than anyone else) I find it cheap. Again, it is like how every black comedian act sounds the same, or how Jewish comics will often fall back on their heritage as a crutch, same for Hispanic, Italian, Asian, etc. It is grating and it is cheap, especially if it is a comic that you really respect and like. I swear that some of you guys are looking to be offended. BUT! All of that was not the point of the thread! What I want to know is why are such a large percentage of female stand-up comics lesbians? ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/39 "2004-08-02T22:57:43Z")
> [@Master Control](#): > > …and when she imitates her mothers voice, she speaks with a foreign accent, though I’m not sure which one it’s supposed to be. She is from the old country, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877/40 "2004-08-03T03:25:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > The fact that there are so damned few of them? I’m not talking about any sort of an institutionalized or even conscious bias ( **Marley** ’s quote to the contrary, which doesn’t really do anything except show that Jerry Lewis is an unfunny prick, and who really needs a cite to know that?), but rather, I think there’s some sort of cultural pressure at work that tends to generate far more men than women who have a compulsion to get up in front of a bunch of strangers and try to make them laugh. (I think it was Nick Giraldo who said, “The reason there are so many more male comics than woman comics is that women don’t need to be funny to get laid.”) I’m not suggesting that there’s any sort of a concerted effort to keep women out of comedy, merely that our cultural perception seems to hold comedy as something men do, and that a woman who has had to struggle with coming out of the closet will, almost by definition, be more aware of and more willing to struggle against socially imposed conceptions of gender roles. When there’s one race, or gender, or, whatever, dominating something, you can’t automatically assume some sort of bias. Do you think that there’s a cultural bias against white basketball players? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-all-of-the-lesbian-stand-up-comics/257877.md?page=3)