Female Trouble

Reading articles or watching shows about female comedians is way more frustrating than it has any right to be. More often than not, the idea is still presented as something of an oddity, i.e. "isn't it crazy she's saying funny things AND has tits, you guys?" Depending on the story, it might even be an all-or-nothing deal; that either all female comics are funny, or none of them are. Point being, the writer already had a predisposition to loving or hating the thing they're writing about, so the story was immediately biased. This is ridiculous, as you wouldn't say the same thing about male comedians. "If you're a fan of Norm Macdonald, you'll also like Dane Cook" is a sentence that's never been said by anyone. Humor is a subjective thing, so not everyone is going to find all comics funny. Least of all if gender or looks are the defining characteristics, which they shouldn't be in the first place. Ideally, that should be a non-issue. But...

FOX News, the world's leading comedy site, posted an article essentially saying overweight or unattractive women comics are going the way of the fat, lonely dinosaur friend, in favor of hotter dinosaurs who might be just as funny, but are, you know, hotter. I'm paraphrasing, obviously. Here's the article that doesn't know what it's talking about.

Comedy should really be a meritocracy: If you're funny, that's all that matters. In reality, the gatekeepers(TV producers, club promoters, etc.) want someone they can market, and what's easier to market to America than a hot girl? Now, I have my own opinions about certain vagina jokesters(I got tired of writing 'female comics'). I like a lot of them, and gender isn't a factor in my fandom. They just have to be funny. Beyond that, some women, particularly those the TV/internet tell me I need to love or else I'm Double Hitler, I don't find funny. Again, it's all subjective.

For instance: Stop telling me Melissa McCarthy is funny. Stop that right now. Yes, she stands out from the women listed in the FOX article because she won an Emmy and America's love whilst being fat. That's not the issue. I just happen to not be a fan, and that should be fine. More than once, I've heard her compared to Chris Farley. I can only imagine she's flattered and sick of hearing that at the same time. Making that comparison just means Chris Farley was really funny when he was alive and not throwing stupid amounts of coke and booze into his face. Like most of the people I know(and you), I watched Tommy Boy a million times. Seeing Melissa McCarthy do a version of that hasn't yet won me over. Maybe I'm a weirdo, but you can't just be funny by proxy.

Whether it's your own doing or just a wave of media hype behind you, being a second-rate someone else is just an easy, stupid thing to be famous for. Besides, I'm sure she'd rather not be known as a female also-fat man-clown. Having someone thrust under my nose as being just like him, but with a vagina(crazy, I know), immediately makes me hate them. Realizing that was unfair to her as a performer, I decided the other day to make an effort to see what she can do. I watched Bridesmaids and her appearance on SNL. Not a peep. Not a titter. Sorry.

On the other hand, one look at my Twitter account shows I'm a fan of all kinds of funny ladies. If you're too lazy or just don't like Twitter, do me a favor and look up Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, Maria Bamford, Shelby Fero, Megan Amram, Jenny Johnson, Emily Heller, or any one of a thousand other really funny comedians. Not comediennes, Double Hitler.

The point of all this is twofold, so, points, I guess: Yes, there are some hot women comics. For every one of them, there's ten who look like Jim Norton. If you're funny, you should be able to get over on the strength of your material alone, man or woman. Even then, not everyone's going to like you. Further, making a blanket statement about female comedians and presenting it as the truth is not only inaccurate, but absurd. Then again, when did anything true ever come out of FOX News? Did I spend way too much time thinking about this? Probably. Did I have way too much fun writing a story with the phrase "vagina jokesters"? Definitely.