Dara O'Briain got our attention today when quotes from his Radio Times interview implied he was not in favour of the BBC director of television, Danny Cohen's announcement that it was “unacceptable” not to have any women on any comedy panel shows and that from now on the BBC would endeavour to feature women on all comedy panel shows.
The Guardian reported that Dara had “criticised the BBC's ban on all-male line-ups for panel shows, saying the move will make female guests appear as the "token woman".
Dara told the Radio Times that: "I wish a tenth of the energy that was put into the women-on-panel-shows debate was put into women in computer coding, in which there are hundreds of thousands of jobs in Europe, and 11% of them are done by women…It seems a more sensible challenge than these 300 people [in stand-up comedy] and how they are represented."
While we agree with Dara that computer coding is a worthy cause, the number of women who have enrolled in our workshops and entered our Awards over the past 12 years (lots) suggests that he doesn't have a full grasp of just how many women want to get into comedy. He goes on to say, "A certain number of women want to go into comedy and they should be cherished and nurtured, but you're not going to shift the fact that loads more men want to do it."
Funny Women founder Lynne Parker, would like to correct Dara on this point. "I don't accept that loads more men want to do comedy than women. Since we launched the Funny Women Awards in 2003 we've increased the number of entries five times over and now offer a range of different Awards across performance, writing, best shows and (coming soon) video 'shorts'. This is in direct response to demand – if anything I think women have a far broader view of comedy than men.
"Many of our performers want to learn new skills, such as script writing and improv, and they take the business of comedy pretty seriously. This reflects the success that women have had over the years in television – French & Saunders, Jo Brand, Victoria Wood, Miranda Hart, Sarah Millican and many more. Why women are not properly represented on panel shows is a mystery because I know for a fact that male comics like working with their female comtemporaries on the live circuit. The real question is – who is actually booking the panel shows?"
Dara expressed a common concern that since the BBC announcement any women appearing on a panel would be thought of purely as a 'token' instead of a talented performer: "I wouldn't have announced it, is what I'd say, because it means [comedians] Katherine Ryan or Holly Walsh, who've been on millions of times, will suddenly look like the token woman.
"It would have been better if it had evolved without showing your workings, if you know what I mean. Legislating for token women isn't much help.”
Dara believes he has been misquoted and took to Twitter to tell his followers that “I have no problem with a policy of no all-male panel shows. I just wouldn’t have announced it. The same very funny women will be on all these shows and don’t deserve anyone to regard that booking as being because of an edict.”
Your comments are welcomed!
Pictured: Dara O'Briain & Funny Women founder, Lynne Parker.
