Most “Famous” Female Comedians are Not Funny
This post is a slightly revised version of something I had previously posted on another blog. As many of you know, a number of women comedians have suddenly become famous and rich in the past decade. Now, this is not exactly a new trend since women comedians have been steadily gaining prominence in popular culture over the last two decades. Also, I am NOT claiming that women comedians are intrinsically inferior to their male counterparts. Nor do I claim that any field of human endeavor, including comedy, is a meritocracy. This post is about whether the majority of contemporary famous female comedians in the anglosphere are actually funny- as opposed to the larger question of whether women can ever be funny.
FYI- I do not believe that most male comedians are actually funny- but that is another entirely different issue. So, why am I focusing on famous and in my opinion mediocre and hacky female comedians as opposed to their male counterparts? Well.. as you will see, the archetypes of ‘famous’ female comedians and their material says a lot more about the people who promote them and celebrate them than the comics themselves. Let us now talk about the archetypes or categories of contemporary famous female comedians especially those who have come to prominence within the past decade.
Category 1: The ones who are actually funny.
While I might not agree with the material or views or these female comedians, it hard to deny that some of them are talented and actually funny. Curiously, they do not have much in common with each other- stylistically or otherwise. Examples include Aisha Tyler, Maria Bamford, Wanda Sykes, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. Those in this category stand apart from the other groups because their acts and characters have the ability to be introspective, less than perfect and relatable aka human.
Category 2: The ones whose acts are almost exclusively about hating men, other women and casual racism.
It is interesting to note that almost every woman comedian in this category is a thin, harsh-faced white woman. Coincidence.. I think not. These women use the fact that they are thin, white and moderately attractive to basically trash men, other women, minorities.. basically everybody other than themselves. It is often hard to say whether people actually enjoy their comedy or the controversies surrounding their acts and personalities. Examples include Iliza Shlesinger, Whitney Cummings, Jen Kirkman, Natasha Leggero and Chelsea Handler.
Category 3: The ones whose acts center around milking their disability, misfortune obesity, race or personal tragedy.
A more diverse category than the previous one, it contains female comedians whose acts are mostly driven by some combination of rage, jealousy, personal humiliation, casual racism or reaction to racism. The default persona of most performers in this category is a fat loud woman who spends too much time talking their weight or men of other races. Alternatively it is a woman with marginal talent but who has survived some personal tragedy making the audience feel sorry for her. Examples include Margaret Cho, Tig Notaro, Lisa Lampanelli and Melissa McCarthy.
Category 4: The ones whose act is to be the moderately attractive girl-next-door who talks dirty and insults everybody.
The chronologically most recent, but most prominent, category contains the most overexposed female comedians. Their default persona is they are all reasonably ok looking women whose claim to fame is entirely built around saying "shocking" things and insulting other people and minorities. They differ from those in Category 3 by not being obese or ugly. Examples include Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer and some from category 2 such as Whitney Cummings and Chelsea Handler. They are similar to those in Category 2- but far more focused on conventional success and fame.
Category 5: The ones whose acts are essentially exaggerated quirkiness.
This category includes women whose act is almost exclusively centered around their quirky looks and/or voice. In other words, their act would not be funny if it was done by somebody who did not look or sound quirky. This is the female counterpart of the retarded clown-type act among male comedians. Examples include Kristen Schaal, Jenny Slate, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer.
Category 6: The ones whose looks make up for the quality of their comedy.
Female comedians in this category are largely known for their good looks. While some exhibit flashes of actual talent, their careers are highly dependent on their looks. In other words, most people would not pay money to see their acts if they looked a bot more average. Examples include Nikki Glaser, Anjelah Johnson, Kate McKinnon and ex-lookers such as Chelsea Handler (pre-2003) and Natasha Leggero (pre-2008).
Category 7: The ones whose fame is largely due to who they are dating or related to.
Well.. these are the ones who are incredibly bad at their craft but somehow keep on getting TV gigs and specials. One of the best example in this category is Chelsea Peretti- a "comedian" whose inexplicable success becomes more understandable once you realize that her brother is Jonah Peretti (one of the founders of Buzzfeed) and is currently married to Jordan Peele (of Key and Peele fame).
What do you think?