Are male comedians just funnier, or do they just get more exposure?

Question

That's nice, but it doesn't answer the question. Who IS Margaret Cho?

Don't apologise JD, I do too, but I just wonder if it is because there are more of them to see.

People keep posting examles of (I assume) funny women, but that doesn't explain why there are generally more male comedians.

I see Troll Shark, and now they have the chance, they really wowed us.

Good points Yamking. I could count up a good list of female comedians, but I can equal the list five times over with male comedians.

Perhaps men only find female comedians funny when they mimic men. I'll just point out that I am British, and on 'witty game shows' like e.g. QI, the women tend to give a much lower input. Apart from one or two very established comediennes.

Aphasia: Sorry I didn't get back to you. I think it is different in some respects, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is.

Answer 1

I believe there are more Male comedians, and therefore it makes sense that more males than females would get exposure.
Another thought:
If you are a Male, you will probably not think that women are as funny as men because comedians usually talk about what they know from their own perspective. Women are really into relationships and their comments often are VERY funny to other women, but not as funny to men.
I personally think that men are funnier than women, but like I said, it's probably because I understand the male sense of humor better because I relate to it more than what a female comedian might say.
If I had to list my TOP TEN comedians, I don't think a woman would be in that list, but there are some VERY funny ladies out there.
I think I will make that list:
In no order:
1. George Carlin
2. Chris Rock
3. Louis Anderson
4. Chris Farley
5. Sam Kinison
6. Andrew Dice Clay
7. Steve Martin
8. Dennis Miller
9. Richard Pryor
10. Jeff Foxworthy
11. Jim Gaffigan
12. Jerry Seinfeld
13. Richard Jeni
14. Rosie O'Donnell

That's more than 10 I know, but I could keep going.
There's a lot I left out.

PS It's possible that the atmosphere of a comedy club is 'friendlier' for males than females.
To get good at comedy, you have to practice late at night in smoke-filled bars with drunk men all around. Women have to REALLY want to be a comedian to put up with that.

Answer 2

I agree that there have been significantly more famous male comedians that female ones. I attribute the variance to societal influences, not natural lack of ability.

As for comedians on TV shows.... Very few shows of any kind have a female lead character. I think audiences are still not completely open to the idea of seeing a woman in charge. Part of being a lead character is not being submissive. The female comedians who succeed in TV (Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Tracey Ullman, Roseanne, and Ellen) must be super talented.

As for comics in the nightclubs.... Most audiences are uncomfortable listening to a woman use frequent vulgar language, degrade men (in the same way that male comics often degrade women), and discuss bodily functions and graphic sex. Also, the late night lifestyle of a traveling comic can be physically dangerous for a single woman.

Answer 3

"Funny" is a subjective word. Your question has been asked numerous times in this section, and one person pointed out that it seems whatever the flavor and mood of the moment is culturally, is what dominates in comedy. Perhaps the flavor of the moment has very little appeal or cultural acceptability when it comes to women.

I personally think Tina Fey is hilarious, but then again I'm a huge fan of dry and sarcastic humor. I also love Lucille Ball and one of her writers, Madelyn Pugh, who are some of the funniest women to have ever lived. Samantha Bee from The Daily Show is pretty funny, too.

Also, one of my favorite male comedians right now is Demetri Martin, and I know a lot of people (usually Dane Cook fans/old people) who don't find him the slightest funny. Humor is just a matter of personal taste.

Answer 4

This question came up recently here and I'll say what I said before. Comedians have target audiences and if you're in the target audience you're going to find them funnier than someone who is not. Humor is subjective. Male comedians often do humor designed to make other men laugh as do the female comedians often aim their humor at women. (Can't help it, we create around what we know.)

I'll agree with you that women comedians have not been around as long, historically, and they don't get as much exposure.

Joy Behar from (The View) is one of my favorite female comedians. For smart humor, I love what the writers did on the old sit-com Fraizer and I love Steven Colbert. How many women found the Vagina Monologues funny while men didn't want to go near the show?

EDIT to add: Oracle, British humor is way different than humor in the USA, don't you think?

Answer 5

RoVale above assumes that all male comedians only tell crude jokes. This is as false as claiming that only men are funny. as for humour being subjective, that is probably true, but it shouldn't affect who is telling the joke. Spuddy is using unsound reasoning to support an opinon.
The possible answer has already been given - by yourself - men just get more exposure. Have you seen how many men comedians appear on a show compared to women? They are drowned out.

Answer 6

Traditionally men have been more gregarious,laughing out loud, making jokes and its an accepted way of enjoying themselves.Women have been more subtle,not so loud and being more nuturing have not really socially developed the art of laughing or pointing out someones mistakes- all of which are the bread and butter of a comedians source of comedy.I think its got more to do with the forgiving nature of women,which makes it more difficult to be a good comedian which requires a certain amount of meaness

Answer 7

My daughter suggested one reason, which of course, only accounts for a slight bit of it. It has to do with what is "perceived" as funny. When a man impersonates a woman, it tends to be funnier than when a woman impersonates a woman. It is considered funnier to people, generally speaking, when a man impersonates a woman compared to a woman impersonating a man. I won't go into the details of why this may be at this time.

One more thing that she suggests is that there have been more male comedians in the past so men have had something to draw on more so than women have. I think perhaps men tend to look at males as role models and women tend to look at women. Women haven't had as many women comedians to model.

I hope that made sense. :) And, yes I realize these are generalizations, but I think she may be on to something. :)

So, to somewhat answer your question... I think they are perceived as funnier.

Edit:
I think the reason there were fewer female comedians in the past is directly related to the perceived roles of men and women and the double standard of behavior that existed.

Answer 8

Male comedians are funnier.

I would suspect guys watch more comedy shows, and I know it's alot easier to get a guy to laugh. So male comedians have a pretty easy task of knowing what guys likes and how to get a response from us.

Female comedians have a much different idea of what funny is, and how they go about setting up a joke is much different. So they have an up-hill battle at reaching a guy's funny bone.

Answer 9

They are funnier so they get more exposure. All the good comedians that I can think of - Ricky Gervais, Eddie Izzard, Jimmy Carr, Bill Hicks, Chris Rock etc - are dudes. This is reflected in society as a whole - men are just funnier (for whatever reasons).

Answer 10

In my opinion, there are very few male comedians I find to be funny. I'm sorry but I just don't like crude jokes, sexual situations, and vulgar language.