Why are most female comedians deemed as unfunny?

@Vance Astro said:

@Xanni15 said:

Why do you disagree with it? I'm sure talent plays a part in a lot of the top comedians being thought of as the best. I would imagine there are more male comedians. As one poster commented, it's difficult for a regular person to name very many female comedians period.

I don't think many female comedians represent what is generally accepted as funny, I don't think it's because of an industry bias. Female comedians that have built fanbases are getting work. Just because nobody on CV can name a female comedian, they believe is funny doesn't mean that there aren't any getting some recognition.

Exactly, what is generally accepted. These days it seems like you have to get very into mature topics for you to be funny. I didn't mean just on CV, but people in general everywhere.

Probably because they, overall, don't generate as much interest ("buzz") as male comedians and, hence, not as much revenue.

Theirs some but not alot. My mother say its because men are naturally more accepting at trying to please everyone and more accepting of being laughed at or making a fool out of themselves. d-_-b

There are funny women comedians Amy Poehler, Maria Bamford (who i saw with my gf and she was amazing), ellen degeneris, sarah silverman, tina fey, ect... but comedy is a male dominated field. I think this is because guys have more of an incentive to be personable and funny as it can get a girls attention.

@Vance Astro: Well I wouldn't know anything about Carrot Top fans so I will take your word for it. 

Its a comedians material....women mostly just talk about men and their bad dates, it gets redundant.  I find Kathleen Madigan to be quite funny, she was however mentored by the legendary Lewis Black

There are funny women comedians Amy Poehler, Maria Bamford (who i saw with my gf and she was amazing), ellen degeneris, sarah silverman, tina fey, ect...

Well its not an uncommon sentiment, many males and females have discussed this gender difference and there are quite a few well reasoned theories. Depending on how complicated you want to get you could discuss this topic from evolutionary, psychological, social and or chemical reasons/perspectives. Then you have to remember what's funny is as much as the people receiving the humor as giving the humor. I don't know too many funny female comediennes but then again I don't know many funny American comedians either. Doesn't mean they there aren't any funny ones, and some people in life literally laugh when they hear other people laugh, so you know? I don't laugh often, but I appreciate wit. Most of the comedians I like as far as stand up (Lenny Bruce, Stewart Lee, Bill Hicks, George Carlin) are witty but also share other common themes that for more than a few reasons tend to occur more with males than females, but aren't objectively bound to happening to just males, nor is it even common with males, and with time such variables become less gender exclusive. There are lots of funny shows I watch with many funny females starring or writing in them though which brings up a point about humor delivered in a second hand sense as opposed to first hand. Humor is no different than anything else in that many people find humor in ways that are ego boosting. It can also to do with familiarity, empathy and anticipation. Woman are shown to laugh more at things than men generally. So do woman have lower standards than men in comedy? Its actually more to them having lower expectations in comedy. If there expectations were the same as men would as many male comedians succeed as much? I don't know its a bit like asking if as many female pornstars would succeed if males had higher expectations?  
 
When humor becomes business, it takes on objective qualities, thus many comedians try to know who there audience is and they cater for them. Which means not necessarily being funny, but being funny to the group that will end up laughing. Which is why sometimes you get themes that develop and that can get made fun of. Like what's with observation humor? What's up with that? So this one time I was at this petrol station and I saw a blah blah - yeah no that comedian wasn't at a petrol station. See I am naturally biased towards British humor and its not coincidence my favorite American comedians were as well lol because traditionally its a bit more sarcastic and a bit more dry and a bit more subtle and a bit more about making a point than trying to be funny or trying to get attention. Traditionally, the lines have been blurring for a while.              

Betty White is without doubt right up there with the Gods of comedy like George Carlin and Richard Pryor.

@CapFanboy said:

Try...

This was painful. Especially since I know lots of funny females comedians myself. Maybe since I follow British Comedy more than American comedy. That being said, while most of my favourite comedians are male, I guess that's because most comedians are male. I think bad female comedians get disproportional recognition that's all.

Betty White is untouchable. Dead pan delivery is a real art.

Amy Poehler

Tina Fey

Maya Rudolph

Kristin Wiig

and my all time fave -- Gilda Radner.

As for there being more male than female comedians, I am sure there is a study out there somewhere that tackles this. It's subjective in what people find funny as well. Outside of it being a career -- I know many, many females on a personal level that are hilarious and are self-effacing and quick on the wit. So claiming women can't be funny is short-sighted but as for success in comedy, there is by far, more men than women.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler 
 
/End thread.

This.

Society is not ready for period and vagina jokes. And I pray that we never are.

because most who deem them as unfunny are males :X

Because they are extremely rare, unfortunately. They exist... they just aren't common.

You know, I don't hate Amy Schumer. She isn't a comedic revelation or anything, but she's definitely made me laugh, and her Comedy Central show had a few skits that were really great

Watch you some Wanda Sykes standup.....

Because 99.9% of them aren't funny. I've only laughed at TWO women comedians in my entire life.

1. Wanda Skyes, both her acting and comedy is hilarious.

2. Tig Notaro (if you catch her on a good day)

I highly disagree. I think women comedians can be just as funny and funnier then some men. Gender has nothing to do with it, making people laugh does.

Seeing a lot of good threads latley lol, I think it comes down to perception and background cliche i know but being funny is subjective as what people find funny depends on the person, it also comes down to delivery some women though witty can't just deliver a damn joke due to their attitude of wanting too look feminine men would say the joke mockingly and goofingly making it sound more funny even though both are the same. Also back on my point on background it's kinda interesting well for me at list cause I can pull off an English accent and a Nigerian one when I use my English hence my inner voice and chain of thought switches aswell and my tone changes slightly my jokes become more sarcastic and Witt oriented when I switch to my Nigerian one in nigeria my jokes become more overblown and crazy I actually find my Nigerian jokes a hell of a lot funnier than my English ones I find it much easyer to crack a joke around Nigerians than i do English due to a change in my inner voice and terms I use in my language. Also it comes down to personality aswell if you're always in a jokey tonne you'll adapt to that tonne like all things you're brain is capable of adapting and orienting in things if you put you're mind to it people who are usually more funny spend most of their time assimilating the jokes in their head due to theri eccentric nature their brain gets use to that tonne and it becomes part of their fibre. Also How happy you are would play a huge part on you're sense of humour interesting but according to science happiness increases you're brain functions by 10 percent.summ it up being funny like all things in life comes down to who you are not what gender you're in.

The only female comedian that's ever made me legitimately laugh is probably Natasha Leggero.

I have a hunch this has to do with how men and women generally perceive each other and its more than likely down to both men and women don't see women as being as idiotic and goofy as men are. Or that when they are, it's not funny because it's just seen as a kind of 'guy thing'.

Chelsea Handler is pretty funny and i like Kristin Wiig as well.

Maybe because guys make a lot of sexual jokes and stuff, and girls aren't into it as much?

That's a terrible reason, but it's really all I have for how someone thinks lady coms suck.

I mean, you can't just be, ''unfunny". So why?

When they wont shut up about being a women instead of telling jokes i find them unfunny.

True

Same with music, you have the Iggy Zaelas rubbing their Vaginas instead of singing good music and getting famous for it ruining it for the Lordes

KEK.

I think it's just a coincidence that I haven't seen a single funny female comedian. I mean, they are "funny," but none of them can consistently make me laugh. I seriously doubt it has anything to do with gender. I mean, honestly, most male comedians can't consistently make me laugh either. In fact, I really only enjoy three or so comedians. It just so happens that they're all guys. There are some hilarious female actresses, though.

The idea that women are less funny than men is a cultural construction. It's not like women are less capable of it than men.

Yeah, I still gotta say this.

Cause they are

Amy Schumer is pretty funny. She nearly left Ellen DeGeneres speechless with how funny she was in this clip:

Well to be fair… Iggy Azalea is an Australian and Lorde is from New Zealand. I mean not to be racist or anything… it could just be that Iggy, as an Australian is reminding herself she is a woman, and needs that constant reminder, she is after all descended from convicts, and also kills koala bears and kangaroos.

I didn't find any female comedian funny til Amy Schumer came along

I can only name 3 female comedians I like.

Jen Kirkman is funny. Kristen Wiig is one of the funniest people alive. "Jesus is magic" by Sarah Silverman is one of my favorite stand up specials ever made. Kristen Schaal is hilarious. I think the premise of this thread is flawed. The question should be "why do some people refuse to acknowledge that women are funny"

The only funny are anjelah Johnson (bon qui qui), sarah silverman and Lonnie love , amy schumer gives a bad name to female comedians,her acting skills are terrible , I saw one of her stand-ups and you could tell the crowd was bored out their minds (an all white crowd, no racist stuff) , she started to result to crack black jokes , that were just straight up racist , and they weren't even funny

@cgoodness: Indeed, very true, Australians V-Trigger involves spilling small wildlife blood. Its a good thing they gave us AC/DC.

Because most are unfunny.

In most forms of entertainment you hear "write what you know" or "write who you are" as a common mantra. Most female comedians don't tailor their acts to be particularly funny for an all male audience. As a result, many men do not find female comedians funny because they don't get why the joke is funny to the comedian. Not every joke has to match your specific sense of humor for it to be considered funny. Most comedians just aren't for everyone, and that's okay because comedy is largely subjective.

Great comedians have a way of explaining humor in a situation regardless of whether such a situation is supposed to make sense. So when someone says "I don't like any female comedians except for blank" the female comedians are probably doing an average job, and "Blank" is actually great at her job.

Sara Pascoe is pretty funny

@x_29: Because all jokes that female comics make can be put in one broad category and split into three lesser categories.

The lesser categories are.

1. How much sex sucks

2. How much men suck

3. How much periods suck

And they always fit into one broader category.

Bitching and complaining. They tell the jokes you'd hear in a group of women complaining about shit, which is why nobody finds it actually funny, even if some women find it relatable.

"Comedian's" like Iliza Shlesinger personify why people don't find a lot of female comics funny.

It has nothing to do with gender, but most just aren't funny. Just like a lot of male comedians just aren't funny either.

Sexism. Idiotic sexism, I might add. Amy Schumer, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, all the SNL girls are downright hilarious.

Sexism my a$$. I'm a female, and I find male comedians funnier than female comedians. There are some funny as heck girls out there, but they don't even come close to the funniest guys I can think of.

Because most female comedians aren't very funny. Not all, but most.

Because most female comedians aren't funny