Why arent many female comedians funny ?

Ash.J.Williams

here's some of my favourites over the years

daisy donovan
Sally Philips
Alice Lowe
Drop the dead Donkey
Rebecca Front
Doon Mackichan
French and Saunders
Eleanor Tiernan

admittedly only one is standup....and that's rare enough


in fact essentially if you're female and hang with steve coogan or chris morris i guess you're funny

Pineapple1

Pineapple1 wrote: »

Probably in the minority here but I find her funny enough. Shes great in her movies and have seen her in The Roast Of where she is on stage. Always gets a chuckle out of me. The hate she gets over in the States especially is desperate.

The main reason for the flack she gets is because she stole a load of jokes. She was the hot ticket for a while and had to (or felt she had to) come up with new material all the time. She was called on it and initially claimed she'd never heard the jokes being made before. Then interview snippets surfaced of her saying she loved comedians x and y, was a huge fan and loved all their material. Turns out these were the people she stole from. In the stand up industry, this is what's known as "a dick move".

Her kooky shtick developed around the same time, talking about her fanny every second joke........ She basically turned into Jo Brand, though 40 years younger...... then the South Park episode called it like it was (as usual) and thankfully haven't seen much of her since

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eDxjxVl8S0

FunLover18

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

Starting at the chromosome, it's just inevitable that there will be greater variation as between women and men vs people of the same gender, across the whole range of human behaviours. Because the building blocks we're made from are different. I don't know if this disparity extends to humour, but anecdotally it does seem to affect our tastes and our motivations.

I think there is possibly a case to be made for women and men preferring different types of humour but even saying that I think it's a massive generalisation and based on old stereotypes that women are more prudish etc. I think genetics definitely plays a part, families tend to share a similar sense of humour but I don't know how far it divides down gender lines.

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

Take for example the fact that women tend to be more empathic than men. That's as scientifically solid a fact as that milk tends to have more nutrients than water. It's just one example of a biological difference, but it's relevant in that it might inform what we find funny, eg poking fun at a disability vs finding humour in being a Mum.

The point about empathy has been addressed further up but I'm not sure what point you're making about the mum jokes, I don't think men are less likely to find mum jokes funny than women, being a mum might add an extra layer to the joke but if you're a woman making mum jokes that only mums will get or relate then you're just a bad comedian. Humour's a difficult thing to talk about because it's hard to define what makes a joke funny but I also think it's important to differentiate between not finding something funny and not understanding or relating to joke.

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

We're just different. We're not aliens to one another, but clearly we're programmed differently and I see no reason to assume that this doesn't extend to our perceptions of what is funny.

But again I have to come back to what I said earlier about this only coming up when discussing female comedians. There's no debate about male comedians, there's debate about different male comedians which is a matter of taste but when it comes to female comedians it becomes a discussion on whether women are actually funny and what the argument sounds like, and I'm putting words in your mouth or having a go because I think we're largely on the same page, is that whilst both genders seem equally as capable as appreciating humour, one gender is better at delivering it

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

It doesn't really mean anything to say that I'm a man and I find Lee Evans tedious, but I think Aisling Bea is funny (she is). We're talking about overall trends, not our own anomalous characteristics. It's true, most men don't seem to find women comedians funny, but of course they can be, and are funny.

I don't know if it is most but it's certainly a fairly common belief amongst men but I think the quality of female comedians is just as varied as it is amongst males comedians but because there are fewer of them combined with that old adage that women aren't funny, the myth gets perpetuated.

Ash.J.Williams

Deleted User wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eDxjxVl8S0

that doesn't look like she stole the material, it looks like she paid someone to steal the material for her!

YFlyer

Guy Person wrote: »

Yeah, there was one specific joke she had that got lots of complaints and she changed her act after that. This is the joke.


"I used to date Hispanic guys but these days I prefer consensual"


She initially defended the joke but quickly changed her opinion when she kept getting stick on Twitter over it. She apologised and then started doing feminist, "woke" material. She was good on the Comedy Central Roasts but other than that I never really liked her act especially now with her "My pússy smells like a small barnyard animal" jokes followed by 60 seconds of gurning and random noises. She reminds me of Lee Evans a bit in the way they just make noises and do over exaggerated actions instead of just writing material.

Did they Jamaica change?

Annurca Apples

I think women are less capable of seeing underlying beliefs or assumptions, that are common in society. What good comedians often do is contradict these underlying beliefs in amusing ways.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Joan Rivers was the only exception to the rule.

Greentopia

Nonsense, plenty of good female comedians.

French and Saunders.

Joanna Lumley in Ab Fab.

Kristen Wiig

Melissa McCarthy

Sarah Millican

The late great Victoria Wood

Julie Walters-not technically a comedian but has done fantastic comedy roles.

Tracy Ullman

Lucille Ball

Shelly Long

Quantum Erasure

Zorya wrote: »

ok, that was funny

Morgans

Caroline Ahern was a genius. Julia Davies likewise in comedienne actor category.

I can't remember the last female comic that did a piece about periods that I saw. Guess they know the reception it would get.

A lot of the women mentioned here aren't funny IMO but then again the vast majority of male comedians are the same. Fair play to anyone making a career that way.

JohnnyFlash

Caroline Aherne did very little stand-up, and only at the beginning of her career though. Would be far better known for her comic writing and character development.

As an aside, I rewatched the Royle
Family recently, and it really was a brilliant TV show. I’d forgotten how poignant and sad the Nana dying episode was.

Quantum Erasure

Morgans wrote: »

can't remember the last female comic that did a piece about periods that I saw. Guess they know the reception it would get.
.

havent listened to any stand-up, male or female, for a few years... I try to keep on top of the Trump thing so I watch a bit of Stephen Colbert, and this popped up,

got a few laughs from me, mostly in the second half. but that would be what id imagine the stereotypical female comedian these days would be...

Wayne Jarvis

A few months ago ITV released a press statement saying they were banning all male comedy writing teams for their shows. I post on another forum too and they were up in arms over it which amused me. I pointed out that ITV have exclusively bad comedy shows anyway so it doesn't matter, they didn't take kindly to that opinion, trying to reason with angry men who think the women are taking over is like trying to hammer a nail with a balloon.

Roger_007

Roger_007 wrote: »

In order to be really funny comedians must be able to laugh at themselves, appear to be stupid, or inept, and be the butt of the joke.
Male comedians seem to find this easier to do than female comedians. Most of the females that I have seen seem to want to prove how clever they and many are blatantly sexist, (e.g. Jo Brand).

This.

I went to see a comedy duo called the Dirtbirds with my wife as we were on holiday and that was what was on.. I was one of about 5 men in the audience and I have to say it was one of the funniest shows I've ever been at. Was sore from laughing.

I think it's mainly because most of the female comics you think you would hate to be stuck at a dinner table beside them and they would call you a misogynist within 5 minutes. That Amy Schumer in particular... Always talking about her vagina IT'S NOT FUNNY FFS!!!

Other than that I can't think of any female comedians that I would be sore from laughing at... Plenty of male ones.

Morgans

Morgans wrote: »

Caroline Ahern was a genius. Julia Davies likewise in comedienne actor category.

I can't remember the last female comic that did a piece about periods that I saw. Guess they know the reception it would get.

A lot of the women mentioned here aren't funny IMO but then again the vast majority of male comedians are the same. Fair play to anyone making a career that way.

Definitely a far higher percentage of male comedians are funny. It's just true.

On the men and women differences women score far higher on neuroticism.in the big 5 traits. Women seem to care far more what people think of them than men.. Doesn't make for good comedy.

The example I give is that it's always said girls don't do IT because of sexism blah blah but back in the old days admitting you were into computers as a teen boy was to single yourself out for bullying, and making yourself into a dateless wonder, in short it was the most uncool hobby possible. It still is one with very negative stereotypes for men.

My daughter was a straight A student but went on to study biology as she had ZERO INTEREST in IT... despite my best efforts.

However still doesn't deter men entering the field but despite every advantage and encouragement that men don't get girls are mysteriously "put off".

The barriers to entry are literally zero... You can teach yourself online and then build some software to show employers. If you're good you'll have your pick of offers.

My theory is that women have to attract a man by showing they would be good mother to his children whereas men have to show they can be brave and protect the woman.and kids. It's as simple as that. We are hardwired that way.

Once you accept that men and women are very similar but also different in some fundamental ways the world makes a lot more sense.

NewMan1982

[Deleted User] wrote: »

On the men and women differences women score far higher on neuroticism.in the big 5 traits. Women seem to care far more what people think of them than men.. Doesn't make for good comedy.

The example I give is that it's always said girls don't do IT because of sexism blah blah but back in the old days admitting you were into computers as a teen boy was to single yourself out for bullying, and making yourself into a dateless wonder, in short it was the most uncool hobby possible. It still is one with very negative stereotypes for men.

My daughter was a straight A student but went on to study biology as she had ZERO INTEREST in IT... despite my best efforts.

However still doesn't deter men entering the field but despite every advantage and encouragement that men don't get girls are mysteriously "put off".

The barriers to entry are literally zero... You can teach yourself online and then build some software to show employers. If you're good you'll have your pick of offers.

My theory is that women have to attract a man by showing they would be good mother to his children whereas men have to show they can be brave and protect the woman.and kids. It's as simple as that. We are hardwired that way.

Once you accept that men and women are very similar but also different in some fundamental ways the world makes a lot more sense.

Any books I can read on where you got this info? Sounds interesting.

Annurca Apples

I just can't imagine women having the same energy and confidence on stage as this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVNEp6hZE3g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWmTz8VnRFU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6h1IP7eYiU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMqMKxJJYvY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNzPEcDOVeI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-GsS8sdRis

Morgans

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Caroline Aherne did very little stand-up, and only at the beginning of her career though. Would be far better known for her comic writing and character development.

As an aside, I rewatched the Royle
Family recently, and it really was a brilliant TV show. I’d forgotten how poignant and sad the Nana dying episode was.

The title of the thread doesn't just mention stand ups. But maybe there is something in that. The environment might be more difficult for female stand ups - doesn't mean that the comedy can be worse or better

Morgans

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Definitely a far higher percentage of male comedians are funny. It's just true.

And a far higher number of males are unfunny - just by the numbers. Also, are you the only person that can judge funny.

There are few enough female comedians that I find funny, but there are few enough males also.

Annurca Apples

Morgans wrote: »

And a far higher number of males are unfunny - just by the numbers. Also, are you the only person that can judge funny.

There are few enough female comedians that I find funny, but there are few enough males also.

On what basis are a far higher number if males unfunny?

Morgans

Annurca Apples wrote: »

On what basis are a far higher number if males unfunny?

By dint of the sheer numbers. Far far more males in the field.

Annurca Apples

Morgans wrote: »

By dint of the sheer numbers. Far far more males in the field.

I presumed you meant people in general, not just comedians.

blinding

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I think women can be equally as funny as men but maybe the stand up cock waving style doesn't really suit them

They are lacking something for that alright !

blinding

Women have other bits that seem far more important to human kind than being funny . And they are no laughing matter .

Quantum Erasure

The studies are in, and the results are.....

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/humor-sapiens/201910/are-men-really-funnier-women

on average, men appear to have higher humor production ability than women.

the evidence does suggest that humor plays a major role in mating, with a strong evolutionary basis
Humor is strongly correlated with intelligence, which explains why women value men with a great sense of humor,

thats it so...

Tammy!

Quantum Erasure wrote: »

The studies are in, and the results are.....

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/humor-sapiens/201910/are-men-really-funnier-women



thats it so...

And...this study?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/navigating-the-love-gap/201802/do-men-want-date-intelligent-women%3famp

So if guys like the idea of an intelligent/funny woman but not the reality of it...it would make sense for us to dumb ourselfs down, laugh at men's jokes, humour them...of course only as mating strategy that is

vriesmays

Humor is strongly correlated with intelligence and the smarest people are mostly men.

Sorry about that

vriesmays wrote: »

Humor is strongly correlated with intelligence and the smarest people are mostly men.

The smarest or the smartest?

EmmetSpiceland

vriesmays wrote: »

Humor is strongly correlated with intelligence and the smarest people are mostly men.

Swissfalls wrote: »

I find women are less capable of breaking free from group think and group assumptions. The best comedians can see the ludicrousness of some of the underlying assumptions we hold. Too most people they are invisible. Men seem to be better able to see these assumptions.

Jesus, now I’m not sure whether they’re laughing with us or at us.

biko

I just know that I like what I like. Some female standups and some male standups are funny.
As it's all subjective what you think is funny there is room for everyone.

Quantum Erasure

biko wrote: »

As it's all subjective what you think is funny there is room for everyone.

but not Alison Spittle....

(that wasn't meant in a mean way, she's just not funny)

faceman

Here we go. Woman aren’t funny yada yada. Nonsense. There is a larger cohort of unfunny male comedians than female yet the focus is always on men commenting on unfunny females.

I’m not particularly a fan of stand up but my favourite stand up comedian is female, Luisa Omielan. Her energy, humour and storytelling skills live are second to none.

In the improv world most of the improvisers who influenced me are female. While some aren’t household names, they are some of the funniest people on the planet. People like Susan Messing, Katy Schutte, Maura Mannle, Jamie Moyer, Patti Stiles, Josie Lawrence, Jenna O’Brien to name but a few. Some of them do tv and film work too.

Women arguably make better comedians because they’re not blinded by male ego, desperate to present an image of a testosterone rich man who can impregnate with boring dick and sex jokes. This is a common opinion in the comedy world, not just my opinion.

I often think that when men claim women aren’t as funny as men, it’s coming from an area of massive insecurity.

Rant over.

biko

Why are English standups better than Irish standups?
No-one knows, but it's true.

KaneToad

Its all subjective. Don't think it's gender. For example, in my opinion:

Taskmaster on Dave, series 9

Greg Davies - not funny
Alex Horne - funny
Rose Matafeo - funny
Jo Brand - not funny
Katie Wix - funny
David Baddiel - funny
Ed Gamble - funny

No doubt the next poster will disagree vehemently...

Silentcorner

biko wrote: »

Why are English standups better than Irish standups?
No-one knows, but it's true.

Scottish stand ups also....same population....hell Glascow has produced way more successful comedians than Ireland has...does that make me insecure or racist or something?

It is a collective confidence thing in my opinion, confidence is not something that can be bestowed on oneself (although plenty do) it is hard earned and often a painful journey...

Silentcorner

faceman wrote: »

Here we go. Woman aren’t funny yada yada. Nonsense. There is a larger cohort of unfunny male comedians than female yet the focus is always on men commenting on unfunny females.

I’m not particularly a fan of stand up but my favourite stand up comedian is female, Luisa Omielan. Her energy, humour and storytelling skills live are second to none.

In the improv world most of the improvisers who influenced me are female. While some aren’t household names, they are some of the funniest people on the planet. People like Susan Messing, Katy Schutte, Maura Mannle, Jamie Moyer, Patti Stiles, Josie Lawrence, Jenna O’Brien to name but a few. Some of them do tv and film work too.

Women arguably make better comedians because they’re not blinded by male ego, desperate to present an image of a testosterone rich man who can impregnate with boring dick and sex jokes. This is a common opinion in the comedy world, not just my opinion.

I often think that when men claim women aren’t as funny as men, it’s coming from an area of massive insecurity.

Rant over.

Why can't this topic be discussed rationally....is it beyond us? What f##king difference does it make, most of us can't even speak publically, male or female, let alone attempt to make strangers laugh!

Ash.J.Williams

Men have no problem self deprecating and that's where a lot of classic comedy comes from.

faceman

Silentcorner wrote: »

Why can't this topic be discussed rationally....is it beyond us? What f##king difference does it make, most of us can't even speak publically, male or female, let alone attempt to make strangers laugh!

Yes it is. The suggestion that gender influences how funny someone is down right offensive

Silentcorner

faceman wrote: »

Yes it is. The suggestion that gender influences how funny someone is down right offensive

I can see you are down right offended...how noble of you!

Prepare to be outraged....Men and Women are not the same!!! Therefore the outcomes of sport, comedy, art, endeavor, creativity etc etc including comedy will all be different!!

We don't live in a Communist State...yet!

It's only offensive to women too though..

faceman

faceman wrote: »

Here we go. Woman aren’t funny yada yada. Nonsense. There is a larger cohort of unfunny male comedians than female yet the focus is always on men commenting on unfunny females.

I’m not particularly a fan of stand up but my favourite stand up comedian is female, Luisa Omielan. Her energy, humour and storytelling skills live are second to none.

In the improv world most of the improvisers who influenced me are female. While some aren’t household names, they are some of the funniest people on the planet. People like Susan Messing, Katy Schutte, Maura Mannle, Jamie Moyer, Patti Stiles, Josie Lawrence, Jenna O’Brien to name but a few. Some of them do tv and film work too.

Women arguably make better comedians because they’re not blinded by male ego, desperate to present an image of a testosterone rich man who can impregnate with boring dick and sex jokes. This is a common opinion in the comedy world, not just my opinion.

I often think that when men claim women aren’t as funny as men, it’s coming from an area of massive insecurity.

Rant over.

Never heard of any of those ‘funny’ comediennes. Not one of them. Doubt I’d find them funny anyway, as your whole rant just shows that your world view doesn’t fit with mine, so we are not likely to find humour in the same places.

I’ll leave you to the funny women I’ve never heard of and I’ll stick with the comedians that make me laugh.

Signed,

Middle aged white male who doesn’t loathe himself.

Wibbs

faceman wrote: »

Women arguably make better comedians because they’re not blinded by male ego,

I dunno when "male ego" suddenly became always a bad thing, while for some reason the "female ego" goes unmentioned and undefined and uncriticised. Sure it can cause issues, but look around you, damned near everything you see and interact with and damned near every advance in this world was built by it. Without it, yep we'd have had fewer conflicts(but not none by any stretch), but we'd also likely be still living under lean-tos around cave mouths.

As for comedy, it's extremely subjective at the individual level and as JZ notes "your world view doesn’t fit with mine, so we are not likely to find humour in the same places".

JayZeus wrote: »

Signed,

Middle aged white male who doesn’t loathe himself.

:D:D

Dog Murphy

Lux23 wrote: »

Some men find it hard to relate to the experiences of women - even though we make up half of the world, our worldview is considered niche. For example, I've never had an erection, but I have laughed at jokes about getting boners in an awkward place - it's pretty funny. But if a woman stands up and talks about the time she got her period at work and left a mess all over one of the conference chairs, a lot of the male audience will not find that funny. They probably think it's almost tragic.

It's probably the same reason a lot of men won't read a book by a female author because subconsciously they don't believe the writing could reach the depth of feeling that a man might.

That's more because a very high percentage of books by female authors are chick lit and therefore are designed purely to appeal to women.

Dog Murphy

biko wrote: »

Why are English standups better than Irish standups?
No-one knows, but it's true.

They have about 12 times our population might have something to do with it.

AlphabetCards

faceman wrote: »

Yes it is. The suggestion that gender influences how funny someone is down right offensive

Lol, don't you claim to be a comedian or actor or something like that? Your woke take on this is so far off the mark.

Ironicname

faceman wrote:

Yes it is. The suggestion that gender influences how funny someone is down right offensive

Haha. Jesus you are easily offended. Also proven yourself to be a hypocrite.

Which is it:

offensive to suggest gender influences how funny someone is

Or,

Women make better comedians because they are not blinded by the "male ego"?

Seems you only get offended when women come out as less well off.

How noble. How brave. How modern.

You should be proud of yourself for sticking up for the poor women.

It's almost as if you feel that they need your help. That's a little sexist if you ask me.

faceman

JayZeus wrote: »

Signed,

Middle aged white male who doesn’t loathe himself.

Oh god, I totally loathe myself, its a mid life crisis!

Wibbs wrote: »

As for comedy, it's extremely subjective at the individual level and as JZ notes "your world view doesn’t fit with mine, so we are not likely to find humour in the same places".

Completely agree with this. However gender isn't a characteristic of the quality of comedy

Ironicname wrote: »

Haha. Jesus you are easily offended. Also proven yourself to be a hypocrite.

Which is it:

offensive to suggest gender influences how funny someone is

Or,

Women make better comedians because they are not blinded by the "male ego"?

Seems you only get offended when women come out as less well off.

How noble. How brave. How modern.

You should be proud of yourself for sticking up for the poor women.

It's almost as if you feel that they need your help. That's a little sexist if you ask me.

But isn't many opinions in the discussion hypocritical. Would those who make a generalisation that women aren't as funny as men, agree then that all male comedians are funny? Obviously not. So why then is there a stigma with female comedians. If men are the funnier sex, would that not mean they are the funnier on a consistent basis?

There has been much research done on the topic and there is very little difference in quality of comedy output. What is more interesting is research that asks the question why we hear these views.

There was a study done in 2011 where male and females wrote comedy captions for cartoons but the author wasn't credited. A study group then provided feedback on the captions. One of the questions asked to guess the gender of the author. The funnier captions were missattributed to male writers. Even more interested was that both male and female participants missattributed.

Another study took pictures of attractive men and women and put funny and funny statements under each picture. Participants were asked which was more desirable. Women were drawn to the images where the statement was deemed funnier but men didn't care if the female statements were funny or not. The study also showed women were more attracted to men who could make them laugh while men were more interested in women who would laugh at their jokes.