To be a successful woman in comedy, you have to be F (for female) and you have to also be F (for funny). It’s also important not to give too much of a F (pronounced ‘eff’, self-explanatory).
Marie Claire has published a piece on the inverse relativity between how many effs you give and how funny you can be. The less you care how many laughs you get, the more laughs you get. That’s the kicker.
The article gives the example of Amy Poehler making an ‘unladylike’ joke backstage at Saturday Night Live, and then biting Jimmy Fallon’s head off when he complained it wasn’t cute. For some funny women, particularly if they do character comedy, cute works. For others it’s a badge they’re struggling to shake off. And what better way to blast a stereotype than with some rude humour?
We should already be used to women not giving a monkey’s doodah what anyone else thinks. Joan Rivers was the queen in that respect. Representing UK comedy we’ve go Jo Brand, Miriam Margolyes, Sarah Millican, Miranda Hart… the list goes on.
In time, nobody will give a flying F whether you’re physically a F or not. Right now, you don’t need to give an F whether anyone cares if you’re F or F. Does that make sense? F if I know…
Build up your comedy confidence at one of our Time Of The Month (TOTM) workshops. They’re held in London on the third Tuesday of every month at Drink, Shop & Do near King’s Cross Apart from September’s, which will be on the 29th instead and in Brighton the second Tuesday of every month at the Marlborough theatre. Check for the next TOTM and find out more on our Events page.
