It seems there has been a lot of press recently about women in comedy. Of course, there was the notoriously stupid article by Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair last year entitled, “Why Women Aren’t Funny.” I’d link you, but, you know, it’s stupid. He essentially says that women aren’t funny biologically because they don’t need to be funny to attract a mate, they just need to be attractive. Then Vanity Fair tried to make nice a year later by spotlighting women in comedy, with a cover featuring media darlings Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Sarah Silverman and profiles inside on a bunch of other up-and-coming funny ladies. The thesis of that article: “Wait no, women can be funny AND attractive!”

This week, Paolo tipped me off to this article in Time Out Chicago and its ensuing discussion, and Annie tipped me off to this article in Ireland’s Sunday Tribune, and I thought I would weigh in.

I’m a comedian, I’m a feminist, and I have over-thought the issue almost to the point that I don’t know where to begin. I don’t like how the discussion has put a lot of male comics on the defensive, especially because as a white person, I know how hard it can be to see how easy you have it. A lot of well intentioned, perfectly nice male comedians I know have NO IDEA why it is hard for women to be comics or what they can do about it.

For the purposes of discussion, I offer what I think are two of the main reasons why it has taken so long for women to break into comedy, and some possible things we can do about it (all of us! together!), after the jump!

Posted: July 29th, 2008 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 1

Ahhhh, what a delicious, delightful, delectable piece of news this is! A couple of teenagers in Connecticut pled guilty to a series of crimes inspired by this shitty Dane Cook joke. Maybe they were confused by how unfunny it is. They were probably thinking, “Hey, why aren’t I laughing? Maybe in order to understand this joke I must commit crime.”

Posted: July 28th, 2008 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 1

Via the Chronicle and pretty much every other news source, Estelle Getty, the Emmy-award winning actress who played Sophia Petrillo on the Golden Girls, has died at the age of 84.

Anyone who watched the Golden Girls knows that she was a powerful comedic force. With her go my hopes of a Golden Girls movie. She will be sorely missed.

Posted: July 22nd, 2008 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 4

It’s all about the USA!! Last night, for the second year in a row, Miss USA fell down in the Miss Universe pageant. Let’s see you beat that, France.

This year:

Last year:

Posted: July 14th, 2008 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 2

You’ve probably heard about this already, but in case you haven’t, here’s more proof positive that British people are smarter than Americans. I always assumed - especially in light of the insane popularity of the Borat movie - that eventually Sacha Baron Cohen would get overexposed here just as he did in Britain and be forced to adapt his approach. Thankfully, Americans are stupider than British people and Cohen once again duped a bunch of rednecks.

Apparently, Cohen & co. put on a cage fighting event in Arkansas for his new Bruno movie, attracting thousands of fans. They thought they were getting a cheap show, with “hot chicks, cold beer, and hardcore fights.” What they got instead was a little gay action. From The Smoking Gun:

Both cards ended with two male grapplers (one was identified as “Straight Dave” and wore camouflage) tearing each other’s clothes off and, while in underwear, kissing down their opponent’s chest. This man-on-man action triggered Fort Smith fans to throw chairs and beer at the ring, according to one cop present…

I can’t wait for this movie.

Posted: July 10th, 2008 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 1

…So says comedian Lee Camp on Fox news. The clip appears to be from a while ago, before Huckabee dropped out even. While it’s not clear what prompted the criticism here (aside from, well, the truth), and while he wasn’t particularly well spoken, kudos still to Lee Camp for using his time on Fox News wisely.

Even though this guy is supposedly a comedian, the funniest thing about the whole exchange is that immediately after arguing that, “You can get all the news that you can at Fox News,” the anchor then transitions to another broadcaster surrounded by women in Star Trek outfits promoting a book about Captain Kirk’s sex appeal. Check and mate.