Case File 4: Are Women Funny?

Welcome back to the cosy offices of The Comedy Bureau. Staffed by comedian Laura Lexx and academic Olly Double, it’s the go to place for all the comedy discussions and analysis you could ever want. This week, in their most provocatively titled episode to date Laura and Olly explore the rage-inducing issue of women in comedy. As a stand up comedian, Laura is often forced to deal with people who, for their own personal reasons, cannot find women funny. Unfortunately, Olly isn’t a therapist and so can’t fix them. Instead, what they aim to do in this episode is bust the myth that female inclusion in comedy is somehow a new thing. Olly gives Laura a brilliant rundown of the history of women in comedy from the days of Vaudeville and Variety up to the Alternative Comedy explosion of 1979.Female involvement in comedy seems to have fluctuated over the last century and a half and Olly and Laura discuss here various explanations for how and why that happens. Olly talks Laura through the female power houses of the Variety stage including the likes of Suzette Tarry, Nelly Wallace and Marie Lloyd. When comedy moves to Working Men’s Clubs things take a bit of a dip for female representation but Olly finds examples like Marti Caine. Names you may be more familiar with include Pauline Melville, Victoria Wood and Jenny Eclair in a rich tour of all the ways women have helped shape the British history of comedy. Our Sources for the research for this episode were:• Zoe Williams (2020), 'Interview: Jenny Eclair: " Menopause gave me incandescent rage. It was like a superpower"', The Guardian, 28 June https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/jun/28/jenny-eclair-menopause-gave-me-incandescent-rage-it-was-like-a-superpower• John Fisher (1973), Funny Way to Be a Hero, London: Frederick MullerLaura mentions Harriet Dyer in this episode, and Harriet can be found on Instagram at @harrietdyercomedyPodcast cover art by Adam Richardson Artwork for The Comedy Bureau is by Matthew Grant at Tiny Worlds Workshop @tinyworldsworkshop.Our video editor and credit sequence designer is Lucas Orme.Music was devised and performed by Olly Double.Huge thanks to the whole team at Podspike for invaluable advice and help launching and marketing the show.All media enquiries via Julian Hall [email protected]