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[HStallion]

yeah, women are getting there.

How many high profile female comedic actors were there 20 years ago? During the 80s and 90s ...
every big comedy was male led, from the ghost busters, to Eddie Murphy, to Steve Martin films, Billy Crystal, Leslie Nielsen, Steve Guttenberg, Mel Brooks, ...
the list goes on and on and on.

the only person i could come up with from the top of my head would be Whoopie Goldberg.

And look where we are now? female comedy is getting bigger and bigger, but it still has plenty of catching up to do. not in quality, but mostly in quantity and thereby also variety.

Well there was a decent amount of female comedy back in the day it just wasn't stand up style stuff. Shows like I Love Lucy, Bewitched, etc.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

yeah, women are getting there.

How many high profile female comedic actors were there 20 years ago? During the 80s and 90s ...
every big comedy was male led, from the ghost busters, to Eddie Murphy, to Steve Martin films, Billy Crystal, Leslie Nielsen, Steve Guttenberg, Mel Brooks, ...
the list goes on and on and on.

the only person i could come up with from the top of my head would be Whoopie Goldberg.

And look where we are now? female comedy is getting bigger and bigger, but it still has plenty of catching up to do. not in quality, but mostly in quantity and thereby also variety.

I mean there's Lucille Ball obviously, but these are long term trends we're talking about and considering women weren't even allowed to perform in theatre a couple centuries ago it makes perfect sense that this is something that'll take some time to even out.

 

[MMaRsu]

Mostly they arent as funny

 

[airjoca]

So comedy is a highly competitive physical sport now?

I gave an example of two greats of their respective fields, that none of their peers can easily match. In both cases, a woman will have an even harder time trying to do so.

 

[Kid Ying]

The funniest person i know is a women.

But usually, most stand up comedians are quite awful, being women or men. There are a couple that i like and they are men, but there's more men in this field than women, i guess. I don't think it's because of gender or anything.

 

[nkarafo]

I'll go with they are not that funny. In my whole life there was only one female comedian actually being able to genuinely make me laugh, an actress who was somewhat popular in the 90's (in my country) and she played in a few comedy shows that i really liked. Other than that, i just don't find female comedians funny in general.

 

[Stinkles]

I don't know if the assertion in the OP is true or not, but Dane Cook alone has probably severely weighted the outcome.

 

[HStallion]

I don't know if the assertion in the OP is true or not, but Dane Cook alone has probably severely weighted the outcome.

With how terrible he is bringing down other male comedians?

 

[Stinkles]

With how terrible he is bringing down other male comedians?

With how much comedian hate the gravity of his being has attracted. He's the supermassive black hole of hate at the center of the comedy galaxy, around which all other hate orbits.

 

[God Dayumm]

What accounts for that difference, then? Do women have "worse brains" for comedy? How is this an inherent trait of women and men that a woman could never be funnier than George Carlin?
I'm not claiming any woman has (even though that assessment is subjective, ofc), I just cannot see how you could claim that a woman couldn't be funnier than the funniest men.

It has to do with how men and women socialize. Not the brain or genetics. Someone brought up Superbad as an example, which is hilarious, but high-school girls do not deal with those kinds of situations. If there is one out there that does, then she should write a comedy script

 

[Platy]

Saying that no woman can "compete" with George Carlin and others like him is like saying no woman can't/couldn't compete with Michael Jordan in his prime. It's not sexism, it's just true.

It is like saying that no man with long hair can compete with George Carlin or Michael Jordan =P

NOBODY can compete with those people, man or woman =P

 

[Sheroking]

I think, historically, it's been much harder for them to break-in - particularly twenty-thirty years ago. The ones who did were tough women, like Roseanne Barr and Joan Rivers, who could take any amount of shit that was thrown at them.

I want to say I'm equal opportunity. I have a collection of stand-up and there are a lot of women in there. But if I listed the top-25 albums of all time, I don't think a single woman would appear. I dunno.

 

[Bleepey]

I'm claiming this from the experience of watching just about every known comedian out there. If a female comedian comes along that is as brilliant and funny as the best men, I won't have any problems acknowledging her as one of or the best. Until that day comes, I maintain my opinion.

As to reasons why men are generally funnier, this is a good video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S692f1tnuQ

I think there's a lot of truth to this.

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

I can't believe people are just being casually sexist in this thread. Amazing.

 

[Chabbles]

That pregnant chicks standup on netflix, Ali Wong. Funny shit.

 

[faridmon]

I hate all comedians. They think they are funny and tend to force jokes out of everything.

 

[wbsmcs]

That pregnant chicks standup on netflix, Ali Wong. Funny shit.

I have to bump this and agree. If you haven't already, go watch this act. It was one of the funniest I've seen in a while man or woman. She's able to come off as raunchy without making it seem forced which is one of the first things I noticed, and is self depreciating in a good way. Maybe this will tip the scale a bit, because originally I agreed. I disliked comics like Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer and was hesitant when my friend recommended this to me. Kind of refreshing too compared to someone like Louis C.K.

 

[JDB]

I hate all comedians. They think they are funny and tend to force jokes out of everything.

:gaf:

 

[neurosisxeno]

Iliza Schlesinger is the best female comedian I've seen in years.