thisisnotreallyablogforreal
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Male Comics are the Best
I’m extremely tired. I have been waking up at 4am to help write and lend my voice to comedy bits on the Curtis and Kuby show on WABC thanks to my friend and fellow comic Jason Zumwalt who works regularly writing and doing voiceovers for the show.
Not only do I have to wake up early, but I have to read the news and then interpret it in a witty and original fashion. As I was sitting at the computer at 5AM one morning, reading the news and trying to write about and understand politics, I was reminded of a conversation I had with another comic, who shall remain nameless, a little while ago.
Anonymous Male Comic: Mindy, you should talk about the news more.
Mindy: I don’t enjoy talking about the news on stage.
AMC: Yeah, but you can’t just do what you like, I mean the audience doesn’t care about your stories they want to hear about themselves.
Mindy: Well, when they laugh I’m assuming it’s because they somehow can relate themselves to my life.
AMC: I’m just saying you always talk about yourself and things that happened to you, but you see that’s what all female comics do.
Mindy:umm . . .ok.
AMC: Girls don’t pay attention to news and politics but they should cause then they wouldn’t seem all hack talking about girl things.(Note: Hack comes form the word hackneyed which means unoriginal, trite, banal. It is a term used in comedy to describe jokes that are old, unoriginal, overdone, lame etc)
Mindy: (blank stare)
AMC: You shouldn’t talk about female things like dating, guys, boobs, you know cause then you’ll be labeled as a “female comic”
Mindy: Yes but, I am a female comic. And “labeled as a female comic” doesn’t make any sense. A label is something you use to contain something, to make it singular and easy to define. I could stand on stage and pick my nose for 10 minutes and I would still be labeled as a female comic because it’s not subjective; it’s a factual description.
AMC:Stop trying to be all smart and logical. I’m just saying all females talk about female things, so you should talk about more important things like your feelings on the war and the president etc.
Mindy: All females talk about “female” things because they are female. It’s not hack, it’s personal. I have breasts, and a vagina, and I menstruate and use tampons, and date men. Guys talk about women on stage all the time, but if a female talks about a guy suddenly she’s in a hack category of talking about dating and womanly things?
AMC: ah, um, well . .ah, I talk about women but I make it original. You know, I interpret my life. Men just somehow find more original ways to talk about dating and stuff. That’s all I’m saying. Make it original.
Mindy: Right. Sure. Ok. Thanks.
So as I sat at that computer reading the news and tying to come up with a clever bit about the New Hampshire primaries, I couldn’t help but think to myself,“How can I include ovaries, tampons, shaving cream, and my breasts into this sketch? Maybe Howard Dean screams and then he whines about being a single female in Vermont. Or, maybe John Edwards is so happy because he finally realizes that Always panty liners really protect him.”Obviously those were not my thoughts for the sketch.I guess my point is that it is unfair and ridiculously irrational for a female to be considered unoriginal because she identifies herself with femininity and womanliness.Female comics should be able to talk about femininity. They shouldn’t have to try and morph into an androgynous mold simply because they fear they are being too female. I’ve never heard a male comic be told he was ‘too masculine’ and to tone it down and not let his ‘manhood’ affect his point of view so much. It’s just annoying that because the majority of stand-up comics are male, anything “non-feminine” has taken on the guise of being right and normal.
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Not only do I have to wake up early, but I have to read the news and then interpret it in a witty and original fashion. As I was sitting at the computer at 5AM one morning, reading the news and trying to write about and understand politics, I was reminded of a conversation I had with another comic, who shall remain nameless, a little while ago.
Anonymous Male Comic: Mindy, you should talk about the news more.
Mindy: I don’t enjoy talking about the news on stage.
AMC: Yeah, but you can’t just do what you like, I mean the audience doesn’t care about your stories they want to hear about themselves.
Mindy: Well, when they laugh I’m assuming it’s because they somehow can relate themselves to my life.
AMC: I’m just saying you always talk about yourself and things that happened to you, but you see that’s what all female comics do.
Mindy:umm . . .ok.
AMC: Girls don’t pay attention to news and politics but they should cause then they wouldn’t seem all hack talking about girl things.(Note: Hack comes form the word hackneyed which means unoriginal, trite, banal. It is a term used in comedy to describe jokes that are old, unoriginal, overdone, lame etc)
Mindy: (blank stare)
AMC: You shouldn’t talk about female things like dating, guys, boobs, you know cause then you’ll be labeled as a “female comic”
Mindy: Yes but, I am a female comic. And “labeled as a female comic” doesn’t make any sense. A label is something you use to contain something, to make it singular and easy to define. I could stand on stage and pick my nose for 10 minutes and I would still be labeled as a female comic because it’s not subjective; it’s a factual description.
AMC:Stop trying to be all smart and logical. I’m just saying all females talk about female things, so you should talk about more important things like your feelings on the war and the president etc.
Mindy: All females talk about “female” things because they are female. It’s not hack, it’s personal. I have breasts, and a vagina, and I menstruate and use tampons, and date men. Guys talk about women on stage all the time, but if a female talks about a guy suddenly she’s in a hack category of talking about dating and womanly things?
AMC: ah, um, well . .ah, I talk about women but I make it original. You know, I interpret my life. Men just somehow find more original ways to talk about dating and stuff. That’s all I’m saying. Make it original.
Mindy: Right. Sure. Ok. Thanks.
So as I sat at that computer reading the news and tying to come up with a clever bit about the New Hampshire primaries, I couldn’t help but think to myself,“How can I include ovaries, tampons, shaving cream, and my breasts into this sketch? Maybe Howard Dean screams and then he whines about being a single female in Vermont. Or, maybe John Edwards is so happy because he finally realizes that Always panty liners really protect him.”Obviously those were not my thoughts for the sketch.I guess my point is that it is unfair and ridiculously irrational for a female to be considered unoriginal because she identifies herself with femininity and womanliness.Female comics should be able to talk about femininity. They shouldn’t have to try and morph into an androgynous mold simply because they fear they are being too female. I’ve never heard a male comic be told he was ‘too masculine’ and to tone it down and not let his ‘manhood’ affect his point of view so much. It’s just annoying that because the majority of stand-up comics are male, anything “non-feminine” has taken on the guise of being right and normal.
