Op-Ed: Why Bad Male Comics are Threatened by Funny Ladies

WHY WOMEN ARE A “PROBLEM”

Women are growing in number in the comedy world, and some men just can’t seem to take the heat.

Some male comics will moan at every turn that it’s because the women aren’t funny, or they are “sleeping their way” into opportunities, or they “have it easier” or they are “bitches”…they complain too much or they ask for things they don’t deserve.

WHY WOMEN ARE A “PROBLEM”

Women are growing in number in the comedy world, and some men just can’t seem to take the heat.

Some male comics will moan at every turn that it’s because the women aren’t funny, or they are “sleeping their way” into opportunities, or they “have it easier” or they are “bitches”…they complain too much or they ask for things they don’t deserve.

Some of us DO happen to be bitches, but please don’t paint our whole gender with the same brush, ok? Being a bitch is a lot of work and I take my role quite seriously.

Someone explained to me a while ago the real reason these men have a problem with women in comedy:

- It’s not that they are all women-haters, in fact, many love and support women.

- It’s not the fact that they want comedy to be a total boys club - again, they like having women around and want to see more women (even if just for the dating possibilities).

- It’s not that they don’t think women are funny - women, just like men, come in all stripes and variations in terms of their style and ability.

- It’s not because women complain too much, demand too much, or get too much (all comics are entitled otherwise they wouldn’t have any hustle).

- It’s not because women use their sexuality to benefit (the thought of sleeping with someone for stage time is pretty laughable).

No, the real reason, my friend explained to me, is very simple:

The more women in comedy, the less men there will be.

Obviously, there is room for as many comics as want to perform. New people can start rooms, and in cities like L.A., where there are reportedly upwards of 10,000 comics, there is still a thriving industry. If anything -- the more comics the better.

However:

Women are now among the people who get “brought up,” as it were. The ones who make it to the 1% of comedians who get on television, or the 10-20% who actually make money performing.

If the market is flooded with women, of varying levels of skill and types of humor, well the powers-that-be will have to start booking them, paying them, using them (heaven forfend!). They will start choosing comics with an eye toward gender in the name of presenting balanced programming and lineups. After all, women are more than 50% of the population, and it follows that female audiences would like to see themselves reflected onstage and onscreen.

And who, do you ask, will suffer?

Not the very funniest men, the super talents who burst out onstage like they’re rocketed in on a bolt of lighting. Not the hustlers, the guys who work their ass off and are always reaching for higher. Not the stalwart, beloved veterans who destroy consistently. Not the grizzled road comics who are known from Saskatoon to St. John’s. 

No, the guys who will suffer will be your average Joes, the guys who stumble in, deliver the same old 5 or 10 minutes with a meager enthusiasm and a moderately good writing. The guys who try to pass dad jokes off as, you know, actual jokes. These guys who used to be able to get work by being just funny enough are now finding those spots are getting taken up by ladies.

Ladies who are smart and funny and sometimes even pretty, too. And who aren’t about to start apologizing for “stealing work” or whatever other nonsense. And who will roll their eyes at their complaints and carry on killing it night after night. [Ed note: I am not one of these women, I wish I could be even a fraction as breezy as these chicks]

more on next page...