Six Americans and one Brit talked funny business at the Women in Comedy Festival (WICF) Writer’s Panel in Boston on Saturday, 23rd March. The panel featured Funny Women’s own executive producer, Lynne Parker, in addition to ‘Late Night Show with David Letterman’ writer Jill Goodwin, Marie Claire contributing editor and author Yael Kohen, and comics/writers Selena Coppock, ilana Glazer, Aparna Nacherla and Mindy Raf, who have had their work featured on VH1, Collegehumor.com, Comedy Central and more.
Moderated by Dr. Sheila Moeschen, PhD, Boston-based writer and regular contributor to the Huffington Post, the inspiring panel began by exploring each woman’s creative process and the importance that the Internet has in terms of propelling a female writer’s career. The conversation evolved into a discussion about the issues that women encounter in the publishing industry and how to overcome them.
Selena Coppock advised that when writing, the most important thing is to please yourself over others. “I used to be like, will this get a laugh in the writer’s room? Now I’m like, screw this, I need to think it’s funny!”
Lynne Parker suggested developing a stage persona and “writing material for the person you want to be.” Many of the other women giggled and agreed, including Mindy Raf who admitted to performing as her alter ego ‘Labia Rogers’ for almost four years before taking to the stage as herself.
The conversation then moved toward technology, asking the panel about the pros and cons of writing for web based media. Llana Glazer noted that the Internet is ‘fertile ground’ for creativity, which was enthusiastically endorsed by the whole panel. Many cited the use of Twitter and other social media platforms as integral elements of their success. Selena Coppock and Mindy Raf divulged that they received their book deals (for New Rules for Blondes and The Symptoms of My Insanity, respectively) as a direct result of maintaining personal blogs.
The panel was then asked what tips they had for navigating the publishing industry. All agreed that the first step toward success is getting a literary agent, and stressed the importance of choosing the right person to represent your work. Relationships between writers and editors were compared to romantic relationships, “You wouldn’t want to date a cold dick…” said Llana Glazer, playing it for laughs. “You don’t want a dicky agent.”
The most eyebrow-raising segment of the panel ensued when host Sheila asked the panel about their take on the 'frat house mentality' within modern day writers’ rooms. For living in such a technologically advanced time, the picture painted of the modern day comedic work environment seems to be stuck in a timewarp where women are seen and not heard!
The panelists described a time not so long ago when women weren’t allowed to even step foot in the writers’ rooms of programmes such as 'Saturday Night Live' and the 'Tonight Show' starring Johnny Carson because of the uncouth jokes and banterabout farts, drugs, booze and rape. The masculine camaraderie and zaniness of writers’ rooms past has changed now that women have joined the club.
Yael Kohen blamed the division between men and women in the writers’ room on the fact that men are “disinterested in things that women like to talk about.” Seeing that writers’ rooms to this day are still dominated primarily by men, and that comedy has traditionally been geared toward the male perception of what’s funny, it’s no wonder that jokes centered around men are considered to be universally laugh-inducing while female-centric jokes are left to languish on the slush pile.
“Why are jokes about men peeing in urinals considered to be so universally funny?” asked Yael, stating that what women have to say is equally important and funny. It was then pointed out and argued that men are not equipped to write about things that are uniquely female, such as childbirth and periods and a woman's voice is very much needed in the new age of the writers' room. Yael explores this in her book We Killed: the Rise of Women in American Comedy.
The main message from all of the panelists about how women can succeed in the world of comedy writing is to remain true to oneself, be original and not take failure to heart. The whole discussion was universally upbeat and is sure to have stimulated a few more of us to follow in their footsteps and pick up our (virtual) pens to play the men at their own game.
Mara Berg (pictured above) is a student at Boston University.
Pictured below – Funny Women's Lynne Parker (centre) with panel attendees and taking part in the panel at Improv Asylum, Boston.
