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

[Jesus Phish]

I've seen some funny female comedians, but not often enough to remember their names.

It's sad when they do fall into the routine of "i'm a woman doing comedy lolz", but there's plenty of terrible male comedians out there too.

 

[Merkavar]

90% of comedians are men. 95% of comedians are terrible. Good female comedians are necessarily quite rare, but that has nothing to do with gender.

Tina Fey is funny on 30 Rock. Amy Poehler is funny on Parks and Recreation. Sarah Silverman is funny anywhere. Humorous women exist.

38% of statistics are made up on the spot.

38%? link your source

I think the problem with female comedians is the topics they talk about. it seems most talk about something to do with their vaginas. either whats gone into it or whats come out. so sex, pregnancy or their children. alot of the time the jokes just arent funny.

 

[TheEndlessSleep]

most comedians on TV are bad in general

That's just not true...

 

[Aur0ra145]

By the mentioning of Pub I'm asuming you're a fellow Brit in which case I have to ask what cosy little hide away you've been able to hide in because there are plenty of violent women out there.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1356190/Female-offenders-Violence-common-time-crime-17s.html

Daily Mail, don't read too much for fear of turning into a 60 year old, house bound, racist.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7550755.stm

BBC, from 2008 but still relevant

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...g-culture-fuels-rise-in-attacks-by-women.html

Admitadly some of these article are old but nothing has changed, I trump your one social experience with cold, hard stats.

No, in Australia. And cold, hard facts?

How about the 'cold hard fact' that heterosexual males make up over 95% of serial murderers. I have yet to see how 'rising violence' seems to be your measure as to how wmen are equalizing the gap in promotion of violence in society... especially given that the BBC report states itself;

"Men and boys are still far more likely to be involved in violent crime, however."

Could it be that occasions for violence in the UK are merely increasing as the UK continues to suffer declining economic and social standards?

INCOME.

The less money that people or households earn, the more likely they are to become victims of violent crime. In 2002 the very poor (earning less than $7,500 annually) suffered violent crime at a higher rate (45.5 per 1,000 persons) than any other income group and more than double the rate for those earning $75,000 or more (19.0 per 1,000). Property crime rates for those earning less than $7,500 per year were also more elevated than those in higher income categories. (See Table 3.7.)

Read more: Victims of Crime - Characteristics Of Victims - Rate, Violent, Households, Rates, Persons, and Crimes http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/446/Victims-Crime-CHARACTERISTICS-VICTIMS.html#ixzz1IMsLamd1

Admittedly a US sociological study, but it does still highlight the divide between violence and the sexes.

And your second field report says 'doubled' in the 5 years, but quite sensationalist when it comes to arrests specifically to violent crime the figure has only increased by 11% ... and give the population increase in the country and devaluing of civil labour, are you surprised?

-----

Edit: Anyways, more on topic is I think this is why you get more male comedians ... because they get emotional, spiritedly more emotional and are generally confused and angry all the time. Or atleast confused. Or atleast confused and becoming angry at their confusion.

And it's funny stuff to comment on how confusing the world is, and the things you don't specifically get and end up speculating on it more than what is possibly healthy.

It's the basis of humour to outline things in reality that irk you. Observational humour ... and I think men are generally more confused by the modern world than women. alot of things that the modern world throws at them they look at and say "hang on a minute! Why is this important!?" ...

And it always good material during a comedy routine ... that's my theory why there are more male comedians, on average not better than female comedians, it's just a theory on why there's more of them.

I'm assuming that's reported crime you're referring to in your post. It's a widely known fact that most 'violent' crime that is initiated by women goes unreported. Also, research methods can have an AMAZINGLY HIGH degree of flexibility if not done correctly.

Not to start a fight, just thought I should say something about it. I'm taking a shit ton of criminal justice classes currently... And even though most violence by women goes unreported, they do still have a lesser propensity to commit violent acts when compared to men. It's a genetics thing.

--And for my next post we'll be talking about George Kelling and Broken Windows! Stay tuned after this word from our sponsors.

 

[The Harkinator]

Two words: Miranda Hart

 

[Jesus Phish]

Every year in england (at least it seems every year) Channel 4 release a top 100 list of stand up comedians. It's voted for by the public.

1 BILLY CONNOLLY
2 RICHARD PRYOR
3 RICKY GERVAIS
4 BILL HICKS
5 EDDIE IZZARD
6 PETER KAY
7 BILL BAILEY
8 CHRIS ROCK
9 MICHAEL MCINTYRE
10 VICTORIA WOOD

One woman in the top ten. The next woman listed is Jo Brand at 30. Joan Rivers at 57 and finally at 99 is Shappi Khorsandi.

So from that list, 4% are women, and 75% of those women are british.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-100-greatest-stand-ups/articles/greatest-stand-ups-of-all-time

EDIT: Added source before someone asks for it.

 

[Lilani]

I think it's simply because there are fewer to choose from. Comedy has always been an still very much is a male-dominated profession. I mean, sure there are are probably more "good" male comedians, but for every good one, you can bet there are 10 or 20 bad ones. And truly, the same goes for women. The only difference is their numbers are probably 10 or 20 times smaller.

I could list 6-8 male comedians whose names I know off the top of my head--and then tell you which I do and don't like. As far as female comedians, I've seen probably 2 or 3 in action, but I can only remember one of their names (Chelsea Handler). And I don't even like her very much.

 

[matt87_50]

yeah, its so true!! sure there are some good ones... but guys just seem better at it...

guys generally have a better sense of humor...

 

[MercurySteam]

I think this has been done before awhile back. Yes, jokes to do with their vaginas and periods are tasteless though only about half the female comedians I've seen are like this so perhaps we're just not looking hard enough.

Whilst men joking about their dicks isn't?

Men tend to talk about sex in general, while most women go on and on about what happens in their underwear. Not all of them though, just some.

 

[hotacidbath]

The problem is that comedy is based on experiences and men and women experience many things differently. An easy go to topic is sex and men and women, in general, see sex differentely. I find a lot of women comedians to be very funny, but I know that the experiences they talk about won't translate to others. It's similar to a quite a few male comedians who talk about their dicks for ten minutes. It's not funny to me because I can't relate, but I can't say it's absolutely not funny. I'm sure someone else will hear that joke and have a "why didn't I think of that" moment. Another problem is that it's very hard to create humor that everyone can relate to in some way. Mike Birbiglia is one that comes to mind for me, but others may not find him funny.

As for trying too hard to be controversal. Comedy is very dominated by men and women may feel the need to step up the raunch in order to compete. I'm a volunteer firefighter on a crew filled with guys and developing a thick skin and a dark sense of humor is something you need in that kind of atmosphere. It just comes with the territory. I imagine it's pretty similar for women on the comedy scene, especially in comedy clubs. That sort of back stage mentality will eventually seep into their acts.

I also think that most comedians with a lot of television appearances, both male and female (ex: Dane Cook and Lisa Lampanelli), are bad examples of stand-up comedy and you really need to work to find the good ones.

Edit: There's an interesting documentary about the comedy scene called "I Am Comic" which interviews a lot of comedians and goes into why they do what they do. A common trend is an overwhelming need to make others laugh, even if they're unhappy themselves. The amount of comedians that are in therapy, take anti-depressants, or need to constantly stay busy to keep out of their own heads is amazing. Chris Hardwick also talks about this a lot on his Nerdist podcast where he interviews fellow comedians. This doesn't have much to do with the topic at hand, but if you're interested in the personal lives of comedians and what goes on off stage this is a neat movie to check out.

 

[tehroc]

Most women aren't funny but every once and a while you can find a woman who has mastered the art. I used to have a crush on Laura Kightlinger in the 90s. Her humor was dark which is something I find women have trouble with usually.

 

[lizabeth19]

(In response to the feminist Saelune)

Me? Feminist? No. Im not dumb enough to be offended by Duke Nukem. And I prefer equality. (to me, most feminists care more about shifting power than balancing it)

Hey, Saelune, just like you can't generalise about female comedians, you really can't generalise about feminists (or any kind of movements either). Feminism has a wide array of voices, as diverse as humanity itself, and covers a rainbow of issues, including issues related to masculinity. Clarissa Thorn, for example, is a BDSM-practising feminist who has recently been hosting a massive debate about masculinity in current culture. And racalicious, a blog that generally addresses race in current culture, recently talked about "white female privilage" in regard to the video posted by ex-UCLA student Alexander Wallace and her unapologitically racist video.

 

[Verlander]

you just haven't seen the right ones, there are a lot of terrible ones out there, just as there are terrible male comedians.

I love
She does a rap of Lucy in the sky with diamonds, that is just pricelss. Which isn't in here and I cant find

Sorry dude, but that it terrible. Stupid accents, verging on racism?... no thank you. Just my opinion though.

OP: The reasons for this is kinda already documented. It's all to do with the male gaze. Basically, men won't listen to anything that covers feminine topics (obviously this is a generalisation). Which means periods, motherhood, and that sort of thing are out for men, and for half of the audience. However, when a woman gets on stage, she has a level of expectation which she has to match up to in order to please the audience.

It all comes down to recognition. Every time a man sees a man, he doesn't immediately think "oh look, it's a man". Instead, they regard each other neutrally. However, whenever a man notices a woman, he immediately recognises her as such, and he already gains a bias and preconceived notion as to what the woman can, can't, should and shouldn't do, which makes comedy that much harder.

Take you for instance. You go through female comics looking for a funny one. If you find a new female comic, you already begin by thinking that she won't be very good, which means the jokes have to be twice as funny in order to impress you. If you found a male comic you'd never heard of, you wouldn't have that kind of prejudice, and it would allow to you weigh his merits out reasonably.

This is a problem for all men and female comedians. Some just ignore the men, and write jokes for women (to an extent Jenny Eclair, and Victoria Wood). Some just power through, becoming parodies of the "ultra feminist" (like Jo Brand, and Janeane Garofalo) and those have become the most successful. Some continue the way men do, and have limited, but noticeable success (Whoopi Goldberg). Then some do their hardest to suck up to the male audience, either by using their looks, or just making jokes designed to particularly interest men (Sarah Silverman).

It's worth noting at this point that women don't have this same problem, probably because of the patriarchal society that we already live in. Oh, and the fact that there aren't as many female comedians, probably doesn't help.

 

[Zaik]

Typically they jump straight to sex jokes and stay there more or less the entire time.

It doesn't seem to work as well in comedy as it does everywhere else though.

 

[SovietX]

Yeah im with OP here, whenever I watch a comedy festival and a woman comes on im instantly annoyed. Almost every female comedian I have seen talks about either: Having kids, being a terrible parent, periods, weight issues or workplaces. Their jokes often sound like they are trying too hard, sure I may giggle every once an awhile when they throw out a good one liner but most of the time its painful to see them die up on stage. And the only laughs I hear in the audience are from other females. Maybe they are only funny to other women.

Favourite stand ups would have to be Arj Barker, Stephen K Amos and Dave Chappelle.

 

[lizabeth19]

The problem is that comedy is based on experiences and men and women experience many things differently. An easy go to topic is sex and men and women, in general, see sex differentely. I find a lot of women comedians to be very funny, but I know that the experiences they talk about won't translate to others. It's similar to a quite a few male comedians who talk about their dicks for ten minutes. It's not funny to me because I can't relate, but I can't say it's absolutely not funny. I'm sure someone else will hear that joke and have a "why didn't I think of that" moment. Another problem is that it's very hard to create humor that everyone can relate to in some way. Mike Birbiglia is one that comes to mind for me, but others may not find him funny.

As for trying too hard to be controversal. Comedy is very dominated by men and women may feel the need to step up the raunch in order to compete. I'm a volunteer firefighter on a crew filled with guys and developing a thick skin and a dark sense of humor is something you need in that kind of atmosphere. It just comes with the territory. I imagine it's pretty similar for women on the comedy scene, especially in comedy clubs. That sort of back stage mentality will eventually seep into their acts.

I also think that most comedians with a lot of television appearances, both male and female (ex: Dane Cook and Lisa Lampanelli), are bad examples of stand-up comedy and you really need to work to find the good ones.

Edit: There's an interesting documentary about the comedy scene called "I Am Comic" which interviews a lot of comedians and goes into why they do what they do. A common trend is an overwhelming need to make others laugh, even if they're unhappy themselves. The amount of comedians that are in therapy, take anti-depressants, or need to constantly stay busy to keep out of their own heads is amazing. Chris Hardwick also talks about this a lot on his Nerdist podcast where he interviews fellow comedians. This doesn't have much to do with the topic at hand, but if you're interested in the personal lives of comedians and what goes on off stage this is a neat movie to check out.

I think it also really depends on personal taste. Right now, I'm really enjoying yahtzee's video game reviews. He has a way of putting things that I find hilarious. Judging by some of the topics I see on this forum, and the number responds that they gather, I'm probably in the majority here though.

 

[westhamhaz]

Dammit her name escapes me.. but Royale family was written by a woman, she also stars in it and its hilarious

 

[Dan Stillman]

Yeah I have yet to see a funny one myself. People like Janeane Garofalo just really aren't funny.

 

[hotacidbath]

Snippity

I think it also really depends on personal taste. Right now, I'm really enjoying yahtzee's video game reviews. He has a way of putting things that I find hilarious. Judging by some of the topics I see on this forum, and the number responds that they gather, I'm probably in the majority here though.

And that is definitely the big thing. I like the lampooning of pop culture that Kathy Griffin does, but many people just can not stand her. On the other hand, Bill Burr has a really strong fan base that loves him but he's not my cup of tea. I'm not going to sit here and say he's a bad comic, he's a good comic with a good sense of timing and deliery, but I just prefer to watch someone else instead. A lot of it comes down to personal taste rather than men vs. women.