While taking acting classes in LA, I told my teacher that I wanted to work in comedy and asked how to go about it. She looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Niki you have to prove you’re funny – you don’t bring funny into the room’. Asking her what parts could I play she bluntly said, ‘prostitute or slut’. I was let down, and down right pissed off!
My teacher had a long list of comedy roles in her past, and I couldn't see what the difference was between me and her. What was her definition of 'funny'. Then it dawned on me – she was short, over weight, old and with all due respect ‘funny looking’. I was a tall, slim, supposedly attractive 20-something so it came down to the age old question: can pretty women be funny?
It’s strange how looks can get you in the door of the entertainment industry if you’re a woman but it has the opposite effect if you’re pursuing comedy. Most of the time, attractive women are pegged as either ‘eye candy’ or plot devices for male leads to lust after without getting the chance to be funny or develop complex characters in their own right.
I often wonder if Ellen DeGeneres would have had her great level of success if she was conventionally pretty, or if Roseanne Barr hadn't played the stereotypical dumpy American house mom. I generally believe men don’t find pretty women funny and even worse, women don’t find pretty women funny, possibly because we see attractive women as a threat. Perhaps that's why women relate so well to Ellen and Roseanne.
Maybe men have a hard time seeing a woman as ‘datable’ and funny. I remember going on date with a guy and thought I'd throw in a joke or two. Let's just say 'do you think getting wanked off by a clown would count has comic relief' didn't go down so well. The date was short.
Either way it’s about time the stereotypical view of women in comedy changed. You don’t have to look funny to be funny. Funny should come from within. Being ugly shouldn’t give you the key into the comedy world nor should being pretty. It is your talent that should be noted no matter what you look like. Meanwhile, until that day comes I guess I’ll carry on playing a slut!
Niki Durham
