Is it just me ... or do women make terrible comedians?

[SovietSecrets]

Its just cause all the mainstream women comedians are really bad.

 

[Gigano]

Why the hell would being a woman inherently make you less capable of humour?

Gender does not define an individual, nor its abilities.

 

[Frankster]

Gotta agree with OP, i'm sorry but despite having watched female comedians in a variety of languages, on average I do find male comedians a LOT more funnier, whether this is because they are actually funnier or whether there's a psychological reason behind it, I know not.

It's not that female comedians don't make me laugh, it's that the best comedy i've seen or that has had the most effect on me has all been by male comedians. Would love to be proven wrong though.

 

[WolfLordAndy]

Not sure about the states, but I'd like to think Britain has a number of good-to-very good female comedians.

Jo Brand (already mentioned a few times from what I've scanned)
Shappi Khorsandi
Laura Solon
Jenny Eclair
Miranda Hart
Dawn French
Jennifer Saunders

On the whole, you do get alot less female stand up comedians, but I'd say you get some pretty good ones on more sketch based comedy.

 

[MasterChief892039]

My reaction to OP was pretty much the same as my reaction to this

Protip: If you have to say multiple times that you're not racist/sexist/homophobic, you probably are.

 

[Sparrow]

In proportion to male comedians, there are a lot less good female comedians. That much I will admit is true. They still exist however, you just got to look around a little.

 

[AngryFrenchCanadian]

It's just you.

 

[trollnystan]

I must admit that I don't often find female comedians funny. Years ago I went to see Eddie Izzard (whom I adore) in Stockholm and two Swedish stand-ups opened for him, one man and one woman. The man, David Batra - even though he recycled some of his stuff - I found hilarious, though quite truthfully I didn't understand some of what he said because of his strong Scanian accent. The woman, who's name escapes me, also recycled her stuff and I found her pretty boring. Maybe I can't appreciate tampon jokes, I dunno.

I don't find Sarah Silverman funny either. I laughed at her "I'm f-ing Matt Damon" song but that's about it.

I HAVE found some of the female comedians that have been posted on this thread really funny so I thank you all for your contributions! =D Shappi Khorsandi and Victoria Wood are new to me but I'm gonna check them out now =)

OT: I don't think women are less funny, but do know I very seldom get to see any female stand-up at all. There aren't many of them about compared to men. And as some folks have already mentioned or alluded to, perhaps a woman's comedic strength is when she can play it off a partner in sketches and such? Absolutely Fabulous and Smack the Pony are favourites of mine =)

 

[Boris Goodenough]

The only female comedians that have had me rofl (for real) is "Smack the Pony" team, but they truely are funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZePRVolYMV0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7ZrBCY9ipI&feature=related

 

[Harry Mason]

Oh goodness. Another silly thread full of vaguely sexist responses. Am I going to have to start sicking Hothead Paisan on you guys? If you value your gentles, I would steer clear.

But seriously, though I could cite Margret Cho, Wanda Sykes and others, I think I'll have to go with Felicia Day as an example of a good female comedian. She is able to write complete asshole alpha-geeks, timid shy misanthropes, and terrifying dominatrixes with equal ease. Whether you love the Guild or think it's overrated, you have to admit that she is carving out a niche for herself in the much neglected genre of geek comedy.

Also, her roots are in improv-comedy. You can even find some early examples of her improv with the guys who play Vork and Zaboo. There's a bit with Rachel Ray being a kangaroo that almost made me cry.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

There's lots of men who don't find female comedians funny, so your line of thinking isn't unusual

There are also a lot of women who don't think female comedians are all that.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Hahahahaha...no.
If you think women cant be funny, then you just never watched any comedy by women.

He clearly has. And to be honest I sort of share his opinion, there are a few funny women comedians but, on the whole they seem to fall flat, to me and many people I know anyway.

 

[noxymoron19]

THANK YOU. I can't stand women comedians. Thats not to say there aren't a couple I don't mind. I can stand Ellen and Tina Fey. But the women stand up comics hurt my insides.

 

[FaithorFire]

snip

Lots of people are trying to tell you you're wrong, but completely miss the real question. Comedy is 100% subjective, and the comedy you like is not apparently done by women, but that does not mean you can say there are no "funny" women.
Example: Lisa Lampenelli. She's been quoted here as a funny woman a few times, and to many she is, I however find her disgusting, tasteless, and slightly nauseating. That doesn't mean she's not "funny" though. She just isn't funny to me.

You get it right? You're kind of asking a question with no good answer AND saying that what you find funny, does not include female comedians. And I'd actually agree with you, I can think of only one woman comedian I find funny: I really like Kaitlin Olson from Sunny is Philadelphia becasue she has no problem making a fool out of herself and she has great delivery with her"everyday" stories. (Like on Conan a while back)

 

[Plurralbles]

if they could do anything but complain about their menstrual cycle I'd giv ehtem more credit but... seriously most are just garbage.

 

[DJROC]

I feel like a lot of it is socially constructed. I think that people tend to react less positively towards women who act the way stand up comics usually act. I feel like a lot of stand up comedy is made up of complaining and cursing which, in my limited experience, are frowned upon more when women do them than when men do. I know a few women who are some of the better improvisational comedians that I know, but they're also the only female improvisational comedians I know. Maybe I find them funny because improvisational comedy is also a very different comedic style than standup.

Even in this thread, several people have linked a lot of female comedians. Vanessa Hollingshead was linked early on, and I found myself saying "I don't like her standup." But then I tried imagining a man saying the words and, to be honest, I thought it was funnier. Again, I think that's because I've grown up identifying that type of anger and complaining as "okay" for men and "not okay" for women.

forsinain42, on the other hand, held up a selection of female comics that I found very amusing. But in my opinion their comedy was also much less angry and abusive, and instead they were more witty.

I think "intelligent" comedy, as a rule, is more rewarding but also far more difficult. So again, I feel like women don't have the social acceptance to fall back on the angry/crass/vulgar comedy that it seems like the guys tend to get away with.

 

[Shining_Pyrelight]

I don't like male comedians, to me it's all stale material about sex. I prefer female comedians, I find them funnier since they generally have more going on to talk about.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I find it hard to find good ones on TV but when I do, oooohhhh boy

 

[RabbiiFrystofsk]

Shilpa Shetty (honestly don't know if that's how you spell her name) made me laugh when i watched her on a live at the apollo tour years ago. Her joke about her niece thinking she was ghetto was genius.
EDIT: After searching that name and finding out it was that indian actress, i did some more searching and her name is actually Shappi Khorsandi.