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Is This the Comic That Female Comics Shouldn't Make Jokes About themselves?

posted a year ago by HarveyManFredSin (4877)
3 replies | jump to latest

I remember reading a few years ago that there was a feminist comic who didn't really tell jokes, but when they did, they refused to make jokes at their own expense because they regarded it as 'anti-feminist'. *sigh*

And this is precisely why some people say 'women aren't funny'. Personally, I disagree. Many women are funny, but those are the women who have the humility and self-awareness to understand that humour is all about EMPATHY and CONNECTING with others. Smiling/bearing one's teeth, which in turn connects to humour and the ability to make others smile, has its evolutionary roots in the need for animals to demonstrate to other creatures that they are harmless/not a threat.

Comics who *only* lash out, and aren't capable/interested in mocking themselves, fundamentally misunderstand the intrinsic role of comedy, and thus shouldn't be called 'comics'.

If you can't laugh at yourself, GET THE FUCK OFF THE STAGE. 😠 Because all you're otherwise engaging in, is called 'bullying.'

[–] RockAway (1485) a year ago

I agree, you have to have some self deprecation to be a comic. At least all the funny ones I've ever heard have had that quality. She does seem to lash out a lot and that's not fun to listen to if you are expecting to laugh.

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) a year ago

I remember Ricky Gervais saying something along the lines about how someone who looked like him (not that he's *ugly* per se), makes more sense as a comic than a 6 foot three inch pretty boy hunk, because most people, whatever they look like, are going to have more empathy with a relatively 'funny-looking' individual than someone who looks like a male supermodel. And people who can self-deprecate are clearly going to create a greater bond/sense of empathy with their audience.

I can think of only one famous/successful comic who was known primarily for lashing out: Lenny Bruce, and that was partly because he was saying stuff that was extremely controversial/completely unthinkable at the time (e.g. making fun of JFK's assassination a few hours after it happened...although, I just checked the actual joke, and it's pretty tame, albeit funny; then again, it probably was less funny *at the time* for a lot of people: "Boy, is Vaughn Meader fucked." Apparently, Vaughn Meader was a famous JFK impersonator during that era).

[–] RockAway (1485) a year ago

Hey, thanks for sharing the joke, I laughed! I wasn't around then but I can imagine that a lot of people got bent over that joke.

I love Ricky and he's spot on, I remember watching a comedian who was really great looking, he had to make his entire comedy special about how much people hated him for his looks because no one would feel sorry for him and people kinda hated him because he was attractive lol