However, I do have a gripe that arose yesterday which I feel I must tell you about - female comedians. They're shit. And I don't know why. My friend Pete and I ventured to The Laugh Inn here in Chester for the first time and for, about the first 45 minutes or so, were thoroughly entertained by the compere (Andrew Ryan) and the first act (Mike Wilkinson). By no means were they anything special, and I wouldn't expect to see them on McIntyre's Road Show any time soon, but they were a couple of entertaining blokes. However, after the intermission we welcomed on a young comedienne by the name of; well to be honest, she was that good I couldn't even remember her name five minutes later. Through some research (Facebook) I managed to find out her name was Katie Mulgrew. Admittedly, I am not particularly fond of female comedians, even the chosen few who have made it 'big'. Again, I don't know why this is, it just doesn't seem to work as well as the material which their male counterparts tend to come up with. Anyway, she went through her act and there was some stifled/forced laughter coming from some parts of the audience, much of it from a group of pissed women celebrating a 30th birthday (why they were doing this on a Thursday when the birthday was on the Monday I have no idea!), but even there it did not seem natural and I certainly didn't get the impression that the laughs were the authentic belly-laughs which we had heard from the table during the previous two acts. I will be the first to admit that some of the material was genuinely (or at least potentially) good, funny observational comedy. It just didn't seem to work.
This got me pondering what it was about female comedians that left them as seemingly unfunny as they are. And I don't think it's only me that has this opinion, based on previous experience of live stand-up gigs and the lack of joviality when the female comedian walks on stage. Although I have very little regard for Bernard Manning, I believe he had a good point in an interview when he said that the base material of female comedy being periods, pregnancy and men being pricks - essentially, overly feminist. Rather ironic coming from a chauvinist prick such as Mr Manning but I do feel that there is some truth to that. However, this was not the sort of material that Katie employed last night. It was much more intelligent than that for the most part. So does it perhaps come from a lack of stage presence or confidence in a very male dominated art form? I don't believe it does. Katie appeared very confident on the stage and used body language very well, and when we look at some of the most successful female comedians (Jo Brand, Sarah Millican, Joan Collins, etc.) this is definitely not true. Now these comedians I have just mentioned all have some decent material that I will openly laugh at (Millican excluded), but so they bloody should. They've been at it for years and wouldn't deserve the success if they didn't.
I think when it comes down to it, it's merely the fact that comedy is a very fickle form of entertainment, and women just tend not to fit the bill for your average audience, whether it is a subconscious stereotype kicking in or poor material or whatever you want to decide it is. By no means should they stop trying, on the contrary they should try even harder, and I don't mean to become more similar to their male counterparts, but rather to find that niche and fill it with excellent material and stage presence. They could be great. But for now I think the Big Yin can sleep safe as the King of Comedy.
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