Phyllis Diller. Image: Jeff Tidwell
Over the weekend I attended a stand up night in Brighton. The city this took place in is important, because you would think simply being in 2012 would be enough to choose not to do homophobic material, but no.
One man got up on stage and noted his tight t-shirt might get him in trouble tonight (again with the confusion over what consent is), another told an offensive joke concerning razor blades and gay men's sex lives. A domestic violence joke had to be done because the comic had dropped his rape jokes: “people don't like those any more.” What does this discerning guy do as a day job? Policeman. Not for the first time, in an unfortunately silent bar, I turned to my friend and commented: “Well I could do that.”
Amateur stand up might not be my calling or my great talent but I am fond of thinking I could last 5 minutes on stage without offending the audience. What was interesting was the creeping suspicion these men weren't particularly funny at any time, whether on stage or with their friends. They only thing that was laughable was the insistence on their part that they had girlfriends.
One man got up on stage and noted his tight t-shirt might get him in trouble tonight (again with the confusion over what consent is), another told an offensive joke concerning razor blades and gay men's sex lives. A domestic violence joke had to be done because the comic had dropped his rape jokes: “people don't like those any more.” What does this discerning guy do as a day job? Policeman. Not for the first time, in an unfortunately silent bar, I turned to my friend and commented: “Well I could do that.”
Amateur stand up might not be my calling or my great talent but I am fond of thinking I could last 5 minutes on stage without offending the audience. What was interesting was the creeping suspicion these men weren't particularly funny at any time, whether on stage or with their friends. They only thing that was laughable was the insistence on their part that they had girlfriends.
So how come they had the confidence, the conviction in their wit to not just get up on stage, but travel miles to get up on stage and discuss their aversion to being on the receiving end of anal sex? I counted one person who performed that night, out of 5, that did not use homophobia or misogyny in his jokes. No women performed.
I have been to many stand up comedy nights and even when women do take part they are still always outnumbered. This is not because there aren't as many funny women but their aren't as many funny women setting a precedent. Or not funny women setting a precedent. Any women at all just leaping up there and cracking out a joke or hilarious anecdote.
Phyllis Diller, one of the only women I have seen to not just laugh at her own jokes, but to revel in them died last night. I would say Diller is the last of the pioneers of women who found fame being in comedy. Women who think themselves as The Funny One owe their position (imagined or no) to Diller, particularly if their schtick is to laugh at themselves.
Just as Virginia Woolf ventured that we women should lay flowers at Aphra Behn's grave, we should be placing Fancy Salted Nuts at Diller's.
Ellen Degeneres commented: "We lost a comedy legend today. Phyllis Diller was the queen of the one-liners. She was a pioneer." But it is Joan Rivers who points out what we have lost: "The only tragedy is that Phyllis Diller was the last from an era that insisted a woman had to look funny in order to be funny." Diller was candid about her face lifts and surgery, once telling Dawn French that it was only after her first face lift that she attracted men. But Diller happily went on stage in comedy wigs with a cigarette and feathered costumes to cackle and take down her fictional husband Fang with no vanity.
Another interesting and important fact about Diller's comedy career is that she did not embark upon it until her late thirties, with 5 children and a husband. "I became a stand-up comedienne because I had a sit-down husband." Starting on the comedy circuit at 37 and befriending Bob Hope, who she worked with on films and TV. In the 1950s women's lib had an example of a woman who had it ALL. Diller went on to have ALL the husbands too, fictional and non-fictional "Fang is permanent in the act, of course, don't confuse him with my real husbands. They're temporary."
Squeamish Kate
Related Links
Women, Unite! Take Back the Mic!
Just Toshing?
Watson and Oliver: A Sketchy Start
Fox News Notes New Comedy Phenomenon
I have been to many stand up comedy nights and even when women do take part they are still always outnumbered. This is not because there aren't as many funny women but their aren't as many funny women setting a precedent. Or not funny women setting a precedent. Any women at all just leaping up there and cracking out a joke or hilarious anecdote.
Phyllis Diller, one of the only women I have seen to not just laugh at her own jokes, but to revel in them died last night. I would say Diller is the last of the pioneers of women who found fame being in comedy. Women who think themselves as The Funny One owe their position (imagined or no) to Diller, particularly if their schtick is to laugh at themselves.
Just as Virginia Woolf ventured that we women should lay flowers at Aphra Behn's grave, we should be placing Fancy Salted Nuts at Diller's.
Ellen Degeneres commented: "We lost a comedy legend today. Phyllis Diller was the queen of the one-liners. She was a pioneer." But it is Joan Rivers who points out what we have lost: "The only tragedy is that Phyllis Diller was the last from an era that insisted a woman had to look funny in order to be funny." Diller was candid about her face lifts and surgery, once telling Dawn French that it was only after her first face lift that she attracted men. But Diller happily went on stage in comedy wigs with a cigarette and feathered costumes to cackle and take down her fictional husband Fang with no vanity.
Another interesting and important fact about Diller's comedy career is that she did not embark upon it until her late thirties, with 5 children and a husband. "I became a stand-up comedienne because I had a sit-down husband." Starting on the comedy circuit at 37 and befriending Bob Hope, who she worked with on films and TV. In the 1950s women's lib had an example of a woman who had it ALL. Diller went on to have ALL the husbands too, fictional and non-fictional "Fang is permanent in the act, of course, don't confuse him with my real husbands. They're temporary."
Squeamish Kate
Related Links
Women, Unite! Take Back the Mic!
Just Toshing?
Watson and Oliver: A Sketchy Start
Fox News Notes New Comedy Phenomenon
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