Skirting Stereotypes
Women in Comedy
By Joanna E. Rapf | Winter 2014 | Vol. 7, Issue No. 1
For Discussion
1. Do men and women have equal opportunities in comedy careers today? Why or why not?
2. Defend or challenge Christopher Hitchens’s claim that women aren’t funny [see link to article below]. Which
popular stand-up comics, humor writers, or television shows demonstrate your views?
3. Do some research: Which female entertainers have used comedy to advance the cause of women’s rights and
civil rights? How were their efforts effective?
4. Discuss the ways comedians use gender to make people laugh.
EXTRA! Reading

“Jerry Lewis: Not Funny,” People.com, Oct. 29, 1998. A short report on Lewis’s infamous comments that he
doesn’t enjoy female comedians. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,617336,00.html

Christopher Hitchens, “Why Women Aren’t Funny,” Vanity Fair, Jan. 2007. Hitchens’s commentary on the
humor gap between men and women. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/01/hitchens200701

Alessandra Stanley, “Who Says Women Aren’t Funny?” Vanity Fair, April 2008. Stanley counters Christopher
Hitchens’s commentary on female comediennes, noting that TV’s funny women not only dish up the jokes but
also write and direct comedy. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/04/funnygirls200804

Alyssa Rosenberg, “All the Funny Ladies: What the Emmy Nominations Tell Us About a Year of Women in
Comedy,” Slate.com, July 19, 2012. Rosenberg uses the 2012 Emmy nominations to point out that “women
are funnier than ever.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/07/19/all_the_funny_ladies_what_the_emmy_nominations_tell
_us_about_a_year_of_women_in_comedy.html
EXTRA! Links

The Archive of American Television website has a short video of TV Emmy winners discussing the career and
influence of Lucille Ball (http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/lucille-ball). You’ll also find a clip
of Lucille Ball and Harpo Marx doing their famous mirror routine on the I Love Lucy Show. Link to video
commentary on Lucille Ball’s various television shows and biography information from the Museum of
Broadcast Communications.

Read an extended bio and filmography on Jerry Lewis’s career, view photos, and browse letters from Lewis to
notables such as Groucho Marx and Stan Laurel. http://www.jerrylewiscomedy.com/index.htm
http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/marktwain/#prize

“Vaudeville Comedians,” America’s Story website from the Library of Congress. Online exhibit of posters and
audio clips of Vaudeville-era comedy routines.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/sh/humor/sh_humor_vaud_1.html
[continued]


See photos and read biographies of American Jewish women who made careers in comedy—from Fannie
Brice to Gilda Radner. Includes an essay by Joyce Antler, “The Gift of Jewish Women’s Comedy,” and a video
trailer from the film “Making Trouble,” a documentary about six Jewish women whose comedy made an
indelible impact on their world. http://jwa.org/discover/infocus/comedy
Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, The Kennedy Center. Read bios on Prize winners, link to articles, and
watch video clips from the red carpet. http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/marktwain/
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