Are Women Funny?

YES.

Yes they are.


It goes without saying (he says hopefully) that this is a stupid, asinine question. "Women" are no less funny than "men" are and to believe so is not only ignorant, but misogynistic.

I watched a "documentary" called Women Aren't Funny recently which is the brain-child of Bonnie McFarlane a comedian who I don't think is funny at all (having nothing to do with her lack of Y chromosome.) It sought to ask a number of professional comedians—both male and female—if women are "as funny as men."

It was not meant to be hard-hitting investigative journalism and it wasn't really all that well done. But it did show me how many comedians I once respected are misogynist ass-hats. 

An artist's rendering of the illusive "Ass-hat"

I don't have the energy to properly articulate exactly how upset it makes me when someone says "Women just aren't as funny as men." There are a number of comedians who I will not support anymore after hearing them say something like that.

Todd Glass (a great comedian) made a great point when asked to list "5 funny woman comics". Would anyone let you get away with saying "Ok, name 5 funny black comedians. They're just not as funny as white ones!" It's bullshit, frankly. 

There are certainly far fewer female professional comedians, this much is true. For the few ladies who make it their career choice, its a tough unbalanced group. Often, women won't be picked to headline because promoters know (or believe) that a male comedian simply brings more people into a club. 

I'm not going to demean anyone by listing 5 "female comedians who ARE funny" because that simply perpetuates a garbage cycle. But I am going to link to a few comedians who rank highly on my personal comedy scale. I hope you enjoy them!

Tina Fey is awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

Chelsea Peretti: One of the Greats

Sarah Silverman delivers a heartfelt tribute to Joan Rivers

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Chelsea Peretti: One of the Greats

Chelsea Peretti released her brand-spankin' new comedy special "One of the Greats" last Friday and you should be watching it.

Filmed live at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Peretti manages to turn her hour of stand-up into something much closer to a one-woman show.

One of the Greats does a few things that I've never seen in any other comedy special before. Every special will cut to the crowd between jokes for a few seconds, you know, get the audience reacting.

But in One of the Greats, 90% of the cuts to the crowd are these shots of people - still in the audience - but doing really strange things that are jokes in themselves.

A man pouring salt on a hard-boiled egg, a couple making out aggressively, a cute dog looking off-camera adorably, they are never referenced directly but it shows the amount of effort put into the production of the show.


Some comedians (like John Mulaney) take great pains to write material that is funny regardless of delivery and then tweak the delivery to get the most out of it.

There are a few comedians (Maria Bamford comes to mind) who write material that isn't necessarily funny on paper, but is so soaked in their persona and voice that it's still hilarious.

I don't want to talk to too much about the special, because I really suggest that you watch it. In place of further detail, take some .gifs of Peretti.

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