Writer, comedian and author Catie Wilkins is directing her first documentary exploring prejudice in the comedy industry.
Finding The Funny sets out to uncover the extent of the impact sex, ethnicity and class has upon the comedy industry today, putting bookers, reviewers and audiences under the microscope.
The short film which features as Catie’s directorial debut, is setting out to analyse the prevalence of discrimination in the industry, whether there is an inherent face of comedy today, and what factors have moulded this.
Wilkins describes, “Comedy is one of the last places where audiences and non-PC comedians might feel quite comfortable saying things that are supposedly unsayable. It’s one of the last places of genuine freedom but it’s also a little insight into how we’re doing as a society.”
All along the Fringe this year, the notion of the ‘white middle class male comedian’ stereotype seemed to be a joke in every white, middle class male comedian’s set. Both Ed Gamble and Dan Sloss joke about contributing to this defining characteristic. “I’ll tell you something interesting about me, I’m a white middle-class university educated able bodied heterosexual man – I was hoping that could be my thing,” newcomer David McIver joked.
Catie’s documentary will question whether this is the case, looking at whether audiences, bookers and commissioners potentially contribute as ‘gatekeepers’ in crafting one particular voice to be the loudest. She describes her own experience of the open circuit as almost half women, “to when I started getting paid, I’d be the only woman on the bill”.
Finding the Funny features Richard Herring, Brendon Burns, Nish Kumar, Tiff Stevenson and many more sharing their personal experiences of the industry and the potential prejudice they have faced in their journey.
In an interview, Catie describes the power of comedy as a “forum to tell the dark, dirty, naked truth about humanity”. It is no surprise then, that she will set out to question what features contribute to who is being listened to, and whether, perhaps, audiences are more comfortable with a particular kind of universal comedian telling “the truth”.
Catie emphasises her open mind to the circuit in her exploration, but believes that Finding the Funny has only “scratched the surface” of the industry, hoping to secure funding to expand the project into a feature length documentary.
