R4 Woman’s Hour: women in comedy

Today Woman’s Hour asked ahead of Comic Relief: “Feminist comedy: what’s funny?” Listen Again here from 31 mins 40 secs. I would suggest this is not a wise question to ask. Feminism + comedy = disaster. Feminism = good subject for comedy. Feminism itself = not funny.

The report comes from What the Frock in Bristol at The Square (nice venue) where there was a crowd of about 80 for an evening featuring six female comedians, including me. The interviews were done in the bar before the gig and the crowd was very vociferous: “I don’t go to comedy because it’s very male-driven.” “I don’t think Miranda is a great role model.” “The guy tripping over the pavement, that’s my kind of humour.” “The male-bashing side of it is very amusing. But swearing… It becomes not amusing.” No pressure, then.

The Bridget Christie interview is lovely here. “Feminist comedy? It’s a hard sell. People are embarrassed and suspicious.” “I don’t care about fish. I’m a feminist.” I really want to meet the book shop man who made regular visits to the Women’s Section for his important business. Bridget Christie: “The Women’s Section stunk of farts. It was the least popular area of the book shop. It was symbolic to me.”