Page 16 - Lamplight Magazine (1)

&K

DO YOU THINK THAT BEING A WO MAN IN COMEDY
AFFECTS HOW YOU ARE PERCEIVED? IS IT G ENERALLY
MORE CHALLENGING BEING A F EMALE COMIC?

C erta inly. I thi nk p e op le have p rec onc e ived no tions
about ea ch o the r all the time ; c omedy is no t im mune t o
thi s. I w ouldn’t say it’s ha rder t o be f unny bec ause
you’re a w oman; tha t a ttitude does us a di sse rvi c e , and
I don’t thi nk p e ople w ould hold bac k la ugh t er on a
g ood joke simp ly be cause you’re a w om an. If som e thing
i s f unny, p e op le la ugh . T ha t sai d, there i s a level of
j udg e me n t, doub t, c re e p ine ss, an d dis re sp e ct t o w ards
w om en in the c om edy w orld (a n d en t e rtai nme n t w orld
m ore g e ner ally) tha t needs t o be addressed. At one
p oi n t, w om e n w e ren’t a llo w ed t o perform a t c ome dy
clubs a nd even whe n they w ere , they f ac e d
unsupp ortive cro w ds and eve n c reepie r booke r s.
No w a day s, things a re shifti ng and I g e nuine ly thi nk the
fem ale voi c e i n c om edy is in high dem and, which is

sp e ctac ular. I m us t s ay, though, I a bsolut e ly ha t e it
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH TRANSLATING whe n I’m t old I’m nee de d a t a gig ‘be ca use w e need a
COMEDY AC ROSS CULTURAL CONTEXTS?
w om an on the bill’, or tha t I’m ‘the be st fe male c omi c
Well, I rish p eople use w ords a s e xc e ssi vely as they use w e’ve had on for w e ek s ’. Sure, i t w a sn’t mea n t t o be
dri nk . W he n I w a s wri ting ma t e ria l i n I re la nd, I had t o back handed, but I neve r w a n t t o be the best fe male
thi nk in t e rms of wha t an I ris h p er son w ould find funny. c om ic i n the room; I w an t t o be the best c om ic I ca n
I ha d t o bea r i n m ind tha t a ny j oke s involvi ng Kool A i d, be, f ull st op . I am a w om an obvi ously (as f ar as I’ve
G eor g e B ush, a nd A meric an liber a l arts schools che cked… the va gina is a f unny thing); the p oi n t i s tha t

w ouldn’t w ork i n my routine s because those a ren’t i t’s no t some thi ng I think a bout whe n I’m w riting or
relevan t t opic s the re. Wordplay s looked diffe re n t a s p erform ing, and I don’t w a n t p eop le taki ng tha t in t o
w ell. For e xam p le, I di d a bi t a bout the movie P.S. I ac c oun t when they’re w a t c hing or book ing m e . T h e n of
Love You , talki ng about ho w i t w ould have ma de m ore c our se the re i s the e xc essive focus on your ap p e ar anc e
sense i f it w a s called P.S. I T hink You’re G rand , and tha t as a w om an i n e n t e rtai nme n t. People are g oi ng t o
i f a n A m eri c an w oman c ame t o I re land wi th the c om me n t on your looks, clo thes, ski n c olour, e t c. much
e xpe cta tions of tha t movie , she’d end up cry ing in the m ore har shly wi th w ome n than they w ould wi th m en.
c orner of some pub g oing, ‘w ha t’s a n eej it?!’. O bviously None of thi s s hould be re leva n t, and it is e n tire ly
tha t makes n o s e ns e in A m eric a, or anywhere else , so unre la t e d t o your talen t or s e ns e of humour. It’s t oo
the re are c e rtai n parts of my se t tha t I ta ilor t o the bad. I re f use t o le t my self be t oo up se t about it
p la c e I’m perform in g in . It’s a gre a t w riting e xe rc ise t o though, esp e ci ally when I kn o w no w tha t it’s p ossi ble
cr a ft c oun try-ba sed hum our and one tha t highligh ts the t o run your o wn thi ng. T he re are more fem a le -focused
beauty of c ome dy: c onn ectin g wi th p eople by t ouching and fem ale-e xc lusi ve ni gh ts these day s a nd those gi ve
on sp eci fic hum a n t op i cs they m igh t no t kno w ho w t o w om en the po w e r t o cre a t e a sp ac e for them selve s
e xpla in or aren’t c om forta ble di scussing. You can find without a c ree py old boy s club vi be .
ne w and ori gina l w ay s t o do this w orldwi de .

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