I just watched 3 hours of stand-up comedy. I mean, male stand-up comedy.
10:31 pm, 2nd Jun 2009
I went through and taped a whole bunch of Comey Central stand-up specials, as I do from time to time. De temps en temps. I JUST realized that they were all dudes. EVERY single one of ‘em. This is going back about ten years work of shows: Kevin Nealon, Hugh Fink, Jamie Kennedy, Pete Correale, Daniel Tosh, Mike Birbiglia, Leo Allen. The only female stand-up special I’ve watched in months is Wanda Sykes (who, btw, is getting her own late night talk show this fall).
Dear Jesus, I am not really one to complain and I’m definitely not a feminist, but this is really wack!!! (Should I also now mention that they were all WHITE guys too?) Do I come off kind of angry? Maybe it’s just because I’m surprised – surprised that I’m so used to it that I didn’t even realize it was a sausage-fest until three hours later!
If I had to guess – TOTALLY guess, I’d say that of comedy shown on Comedy Central, the breakdown is this: 90% guys, 10% women
Ethnically? 95% white, 3% black, 1% hispanic and 1% “everyone else” (asian, native american, etc.)
When I’m around the New York stand-up comedy scene, this is what I thiiiink – TOTAL guess – I see: 70% guys, 30% girls
Ethnically: 85% white, 7% black, 5% hispanic, 3% “everyone else” (asian, native american, etc.)
I’m sure this is huuuuge progress compared to the past, when I’m sure the distribution was even more fucked up. But sadly, the gender numbers are still only slightly little better than they are in, say, jazz. Or landscaping.
No doubt that others and myself are going against the grain simply by doing comedy while being who we happened to be born. A close friend in comedy once told me – somewhat annoyed – that I have it easier being an Asian girl and NOT “just another” white guy. Well, maybe in some ways, like getting on an all-Asian show or an all-female show (there’s yet to be an all-Asian girl show, although it could happen if literally all five of us decided to do it).
Yeah, I stick out, but as far as making it easier? This is far from an affirmative action industry. Or maybe it is, judging by the time I was UNbooked from a show because there was another Asian female comic on it, and we were “too similar”. WOW, I totally get that because having a bunch of similar comedians together has NEVER been a success. Please see: this, this and this. And I’d like to meet a male comedian who has been unbooked from a show because there was another Jewish comic who was “too similar” to him.
And if you look at the end product – if you flip on the television as I did, it’s very evident that the glass ceiling still remains. Let’s see how long it takes to smash through.
Maybe in 10 years I will watch Comedy Central and be happy if I see:
60% men, 40% women
80% white, 10% black, 5% hispanic and 5% “everyone else” (asian, native american, etc.)
Or maybe I’ll still be disappointed.
One Response to “I just watched 3 hours of stand-up comedy. I mean, male stand-up comedy.”
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I went through and taped a whole bunch of Comey Central stand-up specials, as I do from time to time. De temps en temps. I JUST realized that they were all dudes. EVERY single one of ‘em. This is going back about ten years work of shows: Kevin Nealon, Hugh Fink, Jamie Kennedy, Pete Correale, Daniel Tosh, Mike Birbiglia, Leo Allen. The only female stand-up special I’ve watched in months is Wanda Sykes (who, btw, is getting her own late night talk show this fall).
Dear Jesus, I am not really one to complain and I’m definitely not a feminist, but this is really wack!!! (Should I also now mention that they were all WHITE guys too?) Do I come off kind of angry? Maybe it’s just because I’m surprised – surprised that I’m so used to it that I didn’t even realize it was a sausage-fest until three hours later!
If I had to guess – TOTALLY guess, I’d say that of comedy shown on Comedy Central, the breakdown is this: 90% guys, 10% women
Ethnically? 95% white, 3% black, 1% hispanic and 1% “everyone else” (asian, native american, etc.)
When I’m around the New York stand-up comedy scene, this is what I thiiiink – TOTAL guess – I see: 70% guys, 30% girls
Ethnically: 85% white, 7% black, 5% hispanic, 3% “everyone else” (asian, native american, etc.)
I’m sure this is huuuuge progress compared to the past, when I’m sure the distribution was even more fucked up. But sadly, the gender numbers are still only slightly little better than they are in, say, jazz. Or landscaping.
No doubt that others and myself are going against the grain simply by doing comedy while being who we happened to be born. A close friend in comedy once told me – somewhat annoyed – that I have it easier being an Asian girl and NOT “just another” white guy. Well, maybe in some ways, like getting on an all-Asian show or an all-female show (there’s yet to be an all-Asian girl show, although it could happen if literally all five of us decided to do it).
Yeah, I stick out, but as far as making it easier? This is far from an affirmative action industry. Or maybe it is, judging by the time I was UNbooked from a show because there was another Asian female comic on it, and we were “too similar”. WOW, I totally get that because having a bunch of similar comedians together has NEVER been a success. Please see: this, this and this. And I’d like to meet a male comedian who has been unbooked from a show because there was another Jewish comic who was “too similar” to him.
And if you look at the end product – if you flip on the television as I did, it’s very evident that the glass ceiling still remains. Let’s see how long it takes to smash through.
Maybe in 10 years I will watch Comedy Central and be happy if I see:
60% men, 40% women
80% white, 10% black, 5% hispanic and 5% “everyone else” (asian, native american, etc.)
Or maybe I’ll still be disappointed.
Don’t forget the awkward kings of comedy!
http://www.awkwardkings.com
I have seen some ladies on comedy central, such as tig, sarah silverman show, reno 911, ellen degeneres, laura kightlinger, natasha leggero, amy schumer.. I dunno some others lol but yeah you’re right it’s mostly dudes.
I think it’s easier to get certain minority-based gigs when you’re a minority, such as getting booked on shows specifically for females or asians, or at schools for their female or asian society, but in terms of getting on general shows and media, it’s much easier being a white male.
There are times I wish I was a christian straight black rapper who talked about the streets instead of being a dorky gay jewish white rapper who plays violin and shoots strange comedy videos, but hey we work with the cards we’re dealt with.
I think I would be sad if you ended up being a dude and just doing comedy about fart jokes, your girlfriend, having sex and doing drugs etc