Female Comedians?
So.... I'm taking a senior-level English class about Comedy.
I'm trying to do a research paper on what I'll call the latest comedic revolution, in that the new comedic male is not the stereotypical handsome, strapping man, but is instead someone who would be considered the lovable fool (ie Seth Rogan). It's also going to cover women's role in the new comedy, as there are more women in mainstream comedy than ever before (Fey, Poehler), but despite the fact that women play a more active role, plus-sized women are still strapped to the old female comedic stereotype. This is the main point of the paper.
For example, Mad TV has a plus-sized comedienne, but I never see her with a leading, funny role in any of the sketches. She always gets the matronly, boring parts. Even the characters who are unattractive (albeit funny) are played by her thinner, more attractive counterparts. The comparison I'm trying to make is basically going to be the drag movement in contrast to beautiful, thin women still getting the funny roles.
Anyway, I'm looking for any female comedians that don't/didn't follow the stereotype of comediennes of her particular era. I've got Carol Burnett as a good example so far, but I didn't know if anyone else really followed or had any ideas about... you know, funny chicks.
Proceed to give me info. :] Thanks.
i think kristen schaal is kinda cute and she doesn't really fit in with other comediennes. i saw her standup once and it was one of the funniest things i've ever seen. she was on 'flight of the conchords' and some other stuff. she's a weird one.
Well, according to Andrew Stott, "Women have been systematically denied the power to be funny [because] there is the […] opinion that women are not as naturally funny as men" basically because comedy is a boisterous, aggressive artform and women are "naturally" neither of those things.
Of course! *slaps forehead* It all makes sense.
Schaal's all about being an oddity. I laughed at the part of her show when a guy in the front that she was hitting on (actor of course) screamed, "You made me gay!" and storms off.
I hate comedians who aren't funny but get their laughs from reacting to other funny people. Like Ben Stiller. He's not funny, he just usually plays the "normal one."
Lisa Lampinelli
kirk beat me, lov l.l.
nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it.
I'm trying to do a research paper on what I'll call the latest comedic revolution, in that the new comedic male is not the stereotypical handsome, strapping man, but is instead someone who would be considered the lovable fool (ie Seth Rogan). It's also going to cover women's role in the new comedy, as there are more women in mainstream comedy than ever before (Fey, Poehler), but despite the fact that women play a more active role, plus-sized women are still strapped to the old female comedic stereotype. This is the main point of the paper.
For example, Mad TV has a plus-sized comedienne, but I never see her with a leading, funny role in any of the sketches. She always gets the matronly, boring parts. Even the characters who are unattractive (albeit funny) are played by her thinner, more attractive counterparts. The comparison I'm trying to make is basically going to be the drag movement in contrast to beautiful, thin women still getting the funny roles.
Anyway, I'm looking for any female comedians that don't/didn't follow the stereotype of comediennes of her particular era. I've got Carol Burnett as a good example so far, but I didn't know if anyone else really followed or had any ideas about... you know, funny chicks.
Proceed to give me info. :] Thanks.
When has the male role ever been "handsome or strapping?"
It's always been the lovable fool.
also, i think you got to make a distinction from comedic actresses and stand up comediennes.
I got to go with Belushi here, in that, I don't find many female stand ups to be very funny at all. But there are plenty that are great at comedic acting. Sarah Silverman is one. Can't stand her at all when she's doing stand up but she's not too bad when she's in a movie or a sketch.
Nate makes a great point. Comedians are different than comedic actors, though they can obviously overlap. I can't immediately think of any female comedian that is actually good, I can of course list great male comedians...
Also, I think Rosanne basically blows your idea out of the water.
Oh and though I despise her, you can't write off Queen Latifah. Oh and Rosie O'Donnell. They have both made huge careers not being the "typical woman".
it's not that i despise her. i love queen. but she bothers the fuck outta me from time to time with her soapbox preachings.. and i wish rosie would shut her huge fucking trap all of the time.
man, i am just full of the funny today-
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play hard, like it's work to be done.
It's always been the lovable fool.
also, i think you got to make a distinction from comedic actresses and stand up comediennes.
I got to go with Belushi here, in that, I don't find many female stand ups to be very funny at all. But there are plenty that are great at comedic acting. Sarah Silverman is one. Can't stand her at all when she's doing stand up but she's not too bad when she's in a movie or a sketch.
Well, we've been looking at older movies as well as modern movies, but look at the romantic comedy of the 90's. The guys were hot. I mean, I don't want this to get into a "what's hot or not" debate, because I find Seth Rogan attractive, but the difference is there. Also, I'm trying to find a way to include comediennes, comedic actresses and cross-overs, so all this info is good.
Did Tina Fey or Amy Poehler ever do stand-up? I know I keep mentioning them, but they kind of are at the fore-front of "female funny" right now.
Also, I think Rosanne basically blows your idea out of the water.
explain
Whoopi Goldberg
Roseanne was basically the antithesis of the "Pretty lady gets the lead". On top of being one of the most successful sitcoms, Rosanne was anything but the typical lead. She was heavy, not particularly attractive, harsh and abrasive. On top of all that, her character practically ran the family. She didn't have any of the typical character flaws other than the flaws "real" people have. If anything Roseanne opened the doors for women to be more "realistic" in comedy.
As wikipedia puts it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseanne_(TV_series)
For many years, Roseanne tackled taboo subjects or joked about issues that most other popular shows at the time avoided, such as poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, sex, menstruation, teenage pregnancy, masturbation, obesity, abortion, race, social class, domestic violence, and homosexuality. The show was also significant for its portrayal of feminist ideals including a female-dominated household, an overweight female lead whose likability did not rely on her appearance, relationships between female characters that were cooperative rather than competitive, and females openly expressing themselves without negative consequences.
There's no latest revolution. Your description of earlier comedic parts for males and females doesn't hold water. Even if we restrict ourselves to cinema, the variety of possible parts for both sexes is extremely wide, and never fell in a unique stereotype.
that's what I was thinking you meant. Lisa Lampinelli is doing somewhat of the same thing now, I suppose. Roseanne kind of represents the opposite of the stereotype, though. There's the meek/submissive woman and then there's the shrew, which Roseanne embodies. She'll definitely be included, as her role in the genre was huge, but I want to find (if there is actually an example out there) of a woman who is/was the happy medium instead of having to be on one side of the comedic spectrum, if that makes any sense.
This demonstrates poor understanding of how comedy works.
It doesn't, because Roseanne's character was written as a real person. She has all of the good and bad qualities that you would expect a working, blue-collar mother to have.
I think you need to watch a few episodes of Roseanne.
Well of course I'm not saying "all the roles back in the day were exactly this way and all of the roles today are exactly the opposite," but it'd be silly to say there hasn't been something of a revamping, if not at the LEAST, a revisiting of the mainstream roles in comedy.
Besides, I gotta write a huge paper on SOMETHING and since I'm a women's studies minor:
I think you need to watch a few episodes of Roseanne.
I used to watch it all the time, I loved it. But it wouldn't hurt to take a second look.
As for the her having all the good and bad qualities I'd expect - well, I'm a working, blue-collar mother and I don't see too much of Roseann in myself. 
You're also removed from the times by 20 years. "Blue Collar" work has changed a lot since the show started.
touche
touche.
I don't know, I'm trying to find something relevant to write about that no one else is going to do. This seems to be off everyone else's radar in my class, so that's a big reason why I went with it.
Although I'm including all these 'women of comedy,' the main point is still going to be how ugly/fat women are left out (except for the few aforementioned examples)... in that, they can't really be funny or get the funny roles. Think about Everybody Loves Raymond or King of Queens. Non-attractive but funny guys with beautiful women. Where's the female equivalent?
I think comedy, as a whole, is the one genre you're hard pressed to prove your point. Narrow it to Romantic Comedies, and you probably have a point. But Comedy has traditionally been the one genre of Film/TV where a "typical" woman has a shot at success.
A lot of people like this lady:
I think with the internet it helps when a woman is attractive, but they're still playing tom-boy/odd ball types.
!
People only like her because she's Asian with an Aussie accent.
Wow! I can't believe Sarah Silverman was written off so easily! I would 180 degrees disagree with the assessment that she is better in film than stand-up. Her show "Jesus is Magic" is one of the funniest pieces of stand up I've ever seen...and I watch a lot. The weakest parts were the opening "film/sketch" sequence leading up to the stand up, and the little "sketch" with Bob Odenkirk. The stand up with beautiful though. She is extremely intelligent and does an amazing job at social critic. I wish there were more strong female comedians who could make brilliant social commentary.
Then again, I'm a male feminist.....
wonder who will water all the children of the garden when they sigh about the barren lack of rain and droop so hungry 'neath the sky?
I laugh at Sarah Silverman a lot, but she really isn't that great. She basically does the same setup/punchline for every joke.
If Jesus is Magic is on of the best pieces of standup you've ever seen, I'd be interested to know what other standup you've watched.
John Belushi thought there was no such thing as a funny female comedian. There was much tension behind the scenes at SNL because of this.