I'm amazed Jo Brand has so much love - rightly so, though. The most recent thing she did, with Vicky Pepperdine, was a sitcom set in a female geriatric ward, and was one of the best things I've seen in years. Ava Vidal (an ex-prison guard) and Sarah Millican (went into comedy after her therapist kept laughing at her) are both great fun. Sandi Toksvig and Sue Perkins are utterly wonderful, too.
I think that a lot of funny women express themselves as writers, or in other media, rather than standup. Laura Solon is fantastic but works almost entirely on the radio. Margaret Atwood's work, while not being comedy, always has a very strong and distinctly wry humour. And Nicola Barker's work is hilarious.
There's a series of interviews that Dawn French did called 'Girls Who Do Comedy' that's well worth a look - she interviews mostly UK comedians about their motives and whatnot. One thing that kept coming back about their childhood was simply 'boys don't date funny girls.'
I think that a lot of funny women express themselves as writers, or in other media, rather than standup. Laura Solon is fantastic but works almost entirely on the radio. Margaret Atwood's work, while not being comedy, always has a very strong and distinctly wry humour. And Nicola Barker's work is hilarious.
There's a series of interviews that Dawn French did called 'Girls Who Do Comedy' that's well worth a look - she interviews mostly UK comedians about their motives and whatnot. One thing that kept coming back about their childhood was simply 'boys don't date funny girls.'
