This past weekend, Comedy Central ran a “Superstar Standup Blowout” for the Fourth of July, running stand up comedy specials all weekend. Readers, I love a good laugh, and I love good stand up, so I spent a fair amount of time in front of the TV this weekend.
As the hours passed, I kept seeing male names. I realize that Comedy Central’s programming is often geared toward males (how many freaking Axe commercials do I have to see before I tear out my hair?), but I was disappointed with the sausage-fest, no matter how much I laughed. I know there isn’t a shortage of female stand-up comedians, but Comedy Central’s assumption that their prime audience is mostly male means that often, female standups won’t be picked up for comedy specials.
I then examined my own preferences. Who are my favorite comics? All of them are male: Dave Chappelle, Maz Jobrani, Jim Gaffigan… Frankly, this disappointed the feminist in me. Liking male standups doesn’t make me a bad feminist, but I had hoped I would have had some female favorites pop up sooner in there.
So I thought I’d devote a post to female stand up comedians. Feel free to discuss your favorites, plug up-and-coming female standups you know, or whatever else you feel is germane.
The names that first come up when I think of female standups are Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes, and Lisa Lampanelli. But my favorites have come from the Muslim comedy specials featuring Maysoon Zayid and Tissa Hami. Shameless plug for my sisters, but they’re really funny.
Here are interviews with Maysoon Zayid, a Palestinian-American, and Tissa Hami, an Iranian-American, for PBS’ special America at a Crossroads: Muslim Comics Come of Age. I would embed the interviews, but my embedding is screwy lately, so I didn’t want to risk it.
So, who are your favorites? Are there female standup comedians out there that you think are feminist role models?
{ 71 comments }
Oh, it’s been so long since I actually watched stand-up comedy. Is Judy Tenuta still doing stuff?
I can’t recall her name, and don’t have time to do a google search, but I saw a female standup on Comedy Central years ago. She was a very butch, short-haired blonde woman, an out lesbian. I think her name may have been Melissa. My late partner and I loved her so much we would watch CC hoping to catch more of her stuff, and prayed she would some day come to Minneapolis. Good, very queer comedy.
Whoopi Goldberg still does occasional stand-up. I saw a show she did on Bravo once and it was brilliant. Not sure if she count as feminist, but her Back On Broadway act as Lurleen really got to me as a wonderful female-centered piece.l
Ummmmmm…
Roseanna Barr
Ellen Degenerous
Tracy Ullman
Tina Fay
Amy Poeller
Sandra Bernhard
Lily Tomlin
Julia Louise-Dreyfus
Dawn French
Oh My… I could go on forever… most of my favourite comedians are well… comediennes.
Great Post!
And some of
Nikki Payne – She is both hilarious and I would say, feminist. I’ve seen her live and she made more than one comment about the reality of being a womyn in 2008. Realities that were critical and not “I cant find a decent man” type stuff. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikki_Payne)
Deb DiGiovanni – HILARIOUS as hell. Like, woah… Most people know her as the girl from “Video on Trial”
Dana Alexander – A womyn of colour from Alberta. ‘Nuff said.
Kristeen Von Hagen – (http://www.comedytime.tv/view_video.php?viewkey=733e7051e7a460f28f49)
Laurie Elliot – Also a “Video on Trial Judge”. She does this skit about playing dress up in the bedroom that kills me EVERYTIME.
As a Canadian, I must say there is never a shortage of kickass hilarious womyn to go and see at the local Yuk Yuk’s Club.
Sarah Silverman!
Sabrina Jalees usually cracks me up.
Anna, Judy Tenuta has been on those VH1 “I love the decade” shows lately. I haven’t seen her doing standup. My absolute favorite female comedian is Maria Bamford. She has always been solid but her latest album is amazing. She was also the only woman on Patton Oswalt’s Comedians of Comedy tour and she was awesome (as were all the guys on that tour: Patton, Zach Galifianakis, and Brian Posehn). Elvira Kurt is another one of my favorites but I haven’t seen her in a while.
Don’t forget Sarah Haskins and that new correspondant for the Daily Show (the one with the underoos)… And Lea Delaria.
I hate to say it, but if we’re talking stand-up, probably only Maria Bamford would crack my top 10. I like the total package Janeane Garofalo and Sarah Silverman have in acting, but I wouldn’t rate their stand-up as the funniest by any stretch.
A good way to get a sampling of lesser-known comics, though: get the complete Dr. Katz series on DVD: Judy Tenuta is hilarious, Caroline Rhea (pre-Sabrina the Teenage Witch) is a riot, and I think Whoopi makes one or two appearances.
I agree that it’s pretty obvious that CC markets to men…I mean, check out all the “Girls Gone Wild” commercials on late at night. It’s ridiculous.
As far as female comedians go, I LOVE Sarah Silverman, and definitely love her show on Comedy Central!
Fortunately for me, I subscribe to XM, which has a comedy channel. They usually have a pretty wide array of female comedians…try checking that out.
http://www.meganmooney.com/
I saw her on Comedy Central once when I was just channel surfing during the day. Fairly hilarious. A+ I don’t usually like female comedians, but she was so good that even now, two years later, I remembered her name when you asked for female comedians. Ha.
(I don’t like many male comedians either.)
No one here has mentioned Kathy Griffin!
the graduate consortium in women’s studies at mit recently hosted an evening of feminist comedy, and i really enjoyed all the performances:
erin judge
desiree burch
vijai nathan
janice perry
the emcee was also pretty hilarious: mal malme.
http://web.mit.edu/gcws/Grad_Conference_08/index_schedule08.html
Paula Poundstone.
Ellen DeGeneres.
Some woman whose name I can’t remember.
Elayne Boosler’s pretty good, I think.
Second Kathy Griffin!
Tissa Hami came to my college in the fall. She was hilarious and she did a wonderful job of incorporating her humor into the cultural and feminist issues she talked about. Very smart and refreshing humor.
Sabrina Matthews is a funny lesbian comedienne…
I also like Sue Murphy, Kathleen Madigan, Retta, and Laura Kightlinger. Julia Sweeney is good too…talks about being an atheist and raising her adopted daughter.
I have to put in a word for all the ladies of Absolutely Fabulous, too…they crack me up!!
Elvira Kurt – “a comedienne… and a lesbian… both at the same time”
http://www.elvirakurt.com/welcome.html
Oh, there’re lots of good ones. I agree with the commenter above about Kristeen von Hagen. She’s hilarious. I also like Carol Liefer and Margaret Smith. There’s a canadian lesbian comic I like too, but her name is escaping me right now. It’s something Russian or Polish, I think.
I really don’t like Sarah Silverman (with the exception of the video “I’m Fucking Matt Damon”, which was more than a little hilarious).
Kathleen Madigan, Kathy Griffin… There was some young woman from Wisconsin on Last Comic Standing last week whose name I did not catch, but who was just extremely funny.
I remember being so excited when comedy central came on the air. I remember becoming rather quickly disappointed when I realized that yet again it was The Man Channel. I’m tired of the media making me feel like I don’t exist.
Well, I am a female standup, so I have a MILLION opinions about this.
Here are my favorites:
Tig Notaro
Maria Bamford
Wanda Sykes
Monique
Chelsea Peretti
Heather Lawless
I am a standup in Chicago, and our scene has lots of incredibly funny women, including:
Allison Leber
Cameron Esposito
Fay Canale
Jessica Halem
Beth Stelling
and me!
If you live in Chicago, it is so worth it to come out to see what female standups are doing.
Um, also, if you live in Cleveland, me and Cameron Esposito are doing a show at the Beachland this thursday.
Margaret Cho wins as far as I’m personally concerned… and I really want to know what happened to Brett Butler because I used to see her on Comedy Central and thought she was funny as hell. I also loved Paula Poundstone back in the day. Adele Givens (I think) also had a really funny stand-up special on CC.
Maysoon Zayid has a joke that I feel like I shouldn’t laugh at, but I instinctively snorted like an idiot when I first heard it: “I’m a virgin by choice. My father’s choice.” I can’t put my finger on why it made me laugh – maybe because it felt like a slap at the purity ball crowd?
As far as Sarah Silverman is concerned, I’m in the “hate her” crowd.
Oh my GOD, Roseanne! ROSEANNE, ROSEANNE, ROSEANNE.
I’ll second Tig Notaro. I saw her in Minneapolis recently, and she had the entire audience cracking up. And she didn’t tell any stupid gender-based jokes, either.
I third or fourth Maria Bamford and second Chelsea Peretti, Heather Lawless, and Andrea Rosen. Also Jacqueline Novak, Kristen Schaal, Michelle Collins, and Jenny Slate (half of the duo “Gabe & Jenny”).
Tig Notaro!!!
and Morgan Murphy, Natasha Leggero, Sarah Silverman, & Mary Lynn Rajskub
Eruvande:
Thank you very much. The woman I was trying to recall is Sabrina Matthews. Now I have found her and bookmarked her site. I’ve lost some things from that time in my life, due to pain and grieving the loss of my partner. I’m now strong enough to reclaim parts, and Sabrina was one I wanted to recover. Thanks again!
Janeane Garafolo doesn’t get a mention!? I know it’s been a while since she’s done standup, and her movies were a bit cheesy, but her acts were always pro-woman. And even though she was mentioned, there is always the incredible Margaret Cho.
I second Elvira Kurt.
She’s by far my favourite comedy act ever.
Judy Tenuta! I loved Judy Tenuta when I was a kid. Does anyone remember in waiting for Guffman when Corky is wearing a Judy Tenuta t-shirt?
I watched Wet Hot American Summer last night. It is not a stand-up film, of course, but it is filled with hilarious women.
Margaret Cho has long been a hero.
Laura Kightlinger, Lizz Winstead, Sabrina Matthews, Judy Gold…
Oh, and Maria Bamford, of course.
Amy Sedaris, fer God’s sake!
And Catherine Tate!
And everybody else who’s already been said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzqnx6JEqmg&NR=1
I love Maria Bamford’s “Lady Voice”, you know, the one she gives all the irritating women in her life? It kills me!
I have a soft spot in my heart for Janeane Garofalo, especially after seeing her in Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion and thinking, “I’ll probably end up like that!”
I have to agree with Luna: other than “I’m fucking Matt Damon,” I find myself unable to laugh at Sarah Silverman’s jokes.
I wish I could see Kathy Griffin’s TV show, The D List? I hear from everyone that it’s really funny, and I feel like I’m missing out!!!
Two cents: Lily Tomlin kicks ass so hard. I wish she was my aunt.
Elayne Boosler! I saw her live once, and I think the only other comedian that made me laugh that hard was Eddie Izzard.
(how many freaking Axe commercials do I have to see before I tear out my hair?)
In the entire history of marketing, has there ever been an ad for a men’s personal-care product that didn’t depict hot women slobbering all over him the minute he applied it?
Oh, and I caught Rita Rudner in Vegas last year. Just about died laughing.
probably seconding or thirding lots of other comments:
paula poundstone is probably my all time favorite. i LOVE listening to “wait, wait, don’t tell me” on the weekends when she’s on it.
kathy griffin warms the very cold cockles of my heart.
of course janeane garofalo is, like, my all-time hero. i went as the bowler from mystery men for a costume party once.
and, of course, the all-mighty ellen.
Jill Twiss!
http://jilltwiss.blogspot.com/
Fatemeh, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Kathy Griffin’s show. I’m not into celebrity gossip or anything like that, but I still find her hilarious. She also gets together with a lot of other woman comedians on the show -like Rosie O’Donnell- and talks about being a strong smart, funny woman in the entertainment industry. She’s really making fun of it all on her show, and I love it.
It may be a coincidence, but most of my favorite woman comedians are lesbians: Elvira Kurt, Judy Gold, Suzanne Westenhoefer, Sabrina Matthews. I like a lot of other woman comedians, but these are my favorite. A lot of straight woman comedians seem to have “women are this way, men are this way” jokes, which get boring quickly.
And, while not a stand-up comedian, I am absolutely in love with Kate Beaton. She draws hilarious, history-themed comics: http://beatonna.livejournal.com/ She did an interview with Girls Read Comics a little while ago, and they talk about how audiences react to funny women: http://girl-wonder.org/girlsreadcomics/?p=159
Kathy Griffin was the first name that sprung to mind, immediately followed by Ellen. Love ‘em both.
One of my dearest friends (also one of my most hilariously funny friends) has the bad, bad habit of claiming that women just aren’t that funny- though I know he’s BSing, because his most recent ex is the funniest girl I know, and he is constantly surrounded by hilarious women. He’s just trying to get a rise out of us.. it really takes knowing him to understand this. But anyway, I think it’s a common misconception.
Just because comedy is an old boy’s club doesn’t mean that women don’t deserve to do it/are good at it!
My favorite- hands down, Margaret Cho.
I LOVE Marina Franklin, Ellen Degeneres, Laura Kightlinger, Janeane Garofalo, and Sarah Silverman.
And did anyone notice in the first semi-finals round of Last Comic Standing, no women comics were chosen to advance (and neither was Dan Naturman — total injustice, I know!). In my opinion, they chose the least funny people to advance that night, and all of the women were the funniest comics up there. They only chose two women to go to the final 12. Erin Foley, Shazia Mirza (another Muslim comic), Erin Jackson, Andi Smith, Jackie Kashian, and Mary Mack were all snubbed.
Sarah Freaking Silverman. I went to a panel once at the Paley Center with the cast of the Sarah Silverman Program and I have to tell you, I have a COMPLETE girl crush on her. Like, I would marry her tomorrow (and I could because I live in California hehe).
I also heart Lisa Lampinelli. She’s bawdy and does not cower away from looking ridiculous.
Jennifer Coolidge is one of the most brilliant improv comedians you could ever see. Look at her eyes in movies like “Best in Show.” You can SEE her thinking!
Fatemah, I totally agree with you on Maria Bamford’s voice. I LOVE her!
I wish Gilda Ratner was still alive. She was brilliant and wonderful, and the only woman that John Belushi thought was funny… basically bc he was a chauvinist guy who hate women comedians, but whatever, she’s fantastic.
Oy, I can wax comedy forever. I love that stuff!!!
Nicole, that Kate Beaton brought a big smile to my face. I love the Murphy Brown cartoon…because I love Murphy Brown. YEAH!
Maria Bamford, Shayna Ferm
Elayne Boosler! I saw her live once
Me too, and I was dragged to the show. I’d seen her on television and had not been impressed. Live? She was hilarious in the extreme.
I can’t believe no one’s mentioned any British comics yet. Jo Brand’s been up there with the best one liner stand ups in the world for the last fifteen years – can’t think of anyone who does the bait-and-switch thing better. And Nina Conti’s brilliant, and genuinely innovative. I don’t think anyone else could have resurrected, of all things ventriloquism, let alone done it so well. You can youtube her but I really recommend seeing her if you get the chance, she’s one of those performers you really need to see live to get the full effect.
Generally though, I’ve got to agree with Eol. I also don’t like much stand up comedy and that doesn’t help, but there are really very few female stand ups I’ve seen the past few years who I could bare to watch for very long. Maybe because a large percentage of the ones who get TV exposure have either an overly shouty or overly crude onstage persona and I really can’t stand that kind of comedy (my brother once sent me a link to a Dane Cook clip and I lasted about ten seconds).
That’s funny, just about all my favourite comedians are women! Wanda Sykes is currently my fav.
Sandra Shamas is hilarious; she has a series of one-woman shows that document her lovelife, her homelife, and many many HILARIOUS feminist critiques (My Boyfriend’s Back and There’s Going to be Laundry). I’d also add Wendy Liebman to the list. Inessa Frantowski is quite up and coming and funny funny funny.
I’d also absolutly second MANY people already mentioned: Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes, Nikki Payne, Jo Brand, Roseanne, Sarah Silverman, Janeane Garafaolo, Rita Rudner, Ellen, Laurie Elliot, Kristen Von Haagen, Sabrina Jalees, Tina Fey….jeez I feel like I’m missing so many people…
Somebody else noticed the crappy first semi-finalist choice on LCS! URRRRRGH! That was HORRIBLE. Yes the majority of the women up there and then A COUPLE of the men they chose were the funniest. But then over ALL the women they chose some funny guys and these two mediocre generics!
If the judges were women, and especially women of color and they chose white women/women of color overwhelmingly then there would be some media stir about bias. But ’cause it’s white guys it’s, like, default.
Anyway-
Wanda Sykes, Lisa Lampanelli, Shazia Mirza, Mary Mack, and some I can’t thinkof right now but wanted to respond in agreement with the LCS issue, heh.
***There was some young woman from Wisconsin on Last Comic Standing last week whose name I did not catch, but who was just extremely funny.***
Mary Mack, that’s who I was thinking of, she’s freaking hysterical. She should have been put through, instead of all those unwatchable hacks that they put through. I think they maybe sent a total of one or two funny people on to the finals.
What? What?
French and Saunders!
Beaten to it, so I’ll just second Jo Brand and French and Saunders! When I grow up, I want to be Jo Brand.
Gina Yashere is freaking hilarious.
Rebecca, I agree. Gina Yashere is awesome.
I’m a stand-up comic here in NYC, and so I have a ton of favorites..in no particular order (except #1):
1. Margaret Cho
2. Maria Bamford
3. Judy Tenuta
4. Amy Sedaris (not technically a stand-up, but amazing)
5. Tina Fey (again, not a stand-up, but the best)
6. Amy Poehler (not a stand-up, but rocktastic)
7. Becky Donohue
8. Rachel Feinstein
9. Judy Gold
10. Rosie O’Donnell’s old stand-up
11. Wanda Sykes (because I love her delivery)
I could go on and on…
Victoria Wood!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZCIKjYDf1g
Rita Rudner, Brett Butler, Tina Fey, Margaret Cho, Kathy Griffin, Sarah Silverman, Roseanne Barr, Janeane Garofolo, Val Kappa, etc etc etc
I have to disagree with the assessment that Comedy Central shows a majority of male comedians. They show women comedians all the time, it’s generally how I learn about new comedians and watch some old favorites. It sounds like you just caught a “block” of male comedians when you watched it. They also do “blocks” of female comedians or common themes, etc. Anyway, one of my new favorite female comedians is Lynn Koplitz.
I LOVE Maria Bamford!!! She is so great! I don’t really like super-sexual or gross-out humor, and she is hilarious without trying to get a laugh through shocking you. I’d say she’s my famous comedian period.
Maria Bamford!
If anyone hasn’t caught her show on Super Deluxe yet, I suggest checking it out:
http://www.superdeluxe.com/sd/series/bamford_show
Ah, I forgot Julie and Jackie: http://www.julieandjackie.com/web/
Finally, someone mentioned Victoria Wood!
Also, shout-out to Bridget McManus (whose act has apparently been accused by promoters of being ‘too gay’, which makes me like her more) and Julie Goldman, two funny, smart lesbian stand-ups.
Jen Kober! She generally tours the college scene and I couldn’t stop laughing… She’s bringing heafty back!
Canadians Mary Walsh and Cathy Jones. I’ve seen Cathy live and they’re both brilliant!
Maria Bamford is awesome. I’m a big fan of jackie kashian too.
I caught tig notaro’s act and she wasn’t bad, but I heard she doesn’t help her female comic friends or actively tries to hurt their careers. she’s getting a really bad reputation as a bad person and a user. Still, her timing is good and she doesn’t do generic chick comedy. I do comedy in Ohio and we have a lot of funny ladies here.
Barb pennerton is really good but she’s not yet well known.
How sad. The post above is obviously by Tig Notaro’s stalker. She has been trolling the web with slander. Some posts she tries to seem real, others she is ruthless. Anyway, I too love Tig and Maria Bamford.
Why would someone post slander? Did Tig notaro do anything to this person? There must be a reason. I never heard of notaro but I’m curious now why she is so hated.
Jackie,
I don’t get it. I get mentioned and you come out to spoil my fun. Tig is a very bad person. She has brownnosed her way to to the middle but her karma will take her down down down. I doubt she has a stalker, and you calling anyone ruthless when tig is the epitome of ruthless makes me LOL. I do hope this post isn’t censored as others have been. That’s not cool.
Comments on this entry are closed.