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I never find women to be funny

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Dorothy Parker, anyone?

I'd say that there's a fair here few in the UK.

Standups/presenters:
Jo Brand
Sandi Toksvig
MAYBE Sarah Millican
Sue Perkins

Sitcoms/sketches:
Miranda Hart
Olivia Colman
The Smack the Pony team
Caroline Aherne
Rebecca Front
Wood & Walters
French & Saunders

Not-a-comedian-but-I-find-them-witty-anyway:
Clare Balding
Adele (really, she gives good talkshow)

Funniest of all: The late and *very* lamented Linda Smith.


I'm sure I've missed more than a few, too.
 
MuseManMike said:
So, I get the theory of "why" men are funny and women need not be. But why do men find other men funny? To emulate them? Because if I was after a mate, why would I care about what some other guy was doing? Why would I seek it out? Why aren't women exclusively laugh-receivers? Why do I joke around with my guy friends and try to make them laugh as much as women? If not more.
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Good question. Maybe being funny leads to higher social status in general, among men and women, and so women are attracted to funny men because they're more likely to have high status, or something.
 
dejay said:
Could it also be a competitive tool for social stature among men?

Observe a typical thread here, where people are competing for the lulz.
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Laughter is a way to acknowledge that something is strange or familiar to the extremes
Its why people laugh at misfortune and obscurity
and why it feels like shit to be laughed at
 
As comedians, I am tempted to agree with the OP. Maybe that's just my limited experience with female comedians though.

But I know plenty of females that are genuinely hilarious.
 
Spiffy_1st said:
MMCR2_SarahMillican_Divorced.jpg


You know what's annoying? This thing that men do.

Why can't I ever lose weight, right ladies?
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Sarah Millican is really really funny though, her delivery is so sweet and she has a wonderfully northern turn of phrase. I like Josie Long too, she's great.
 
Put me in the camp of the OP has some deep rooted rescentment issues with women, or some other form of mental problem with them.

Maybe we can agree that between guys we can relate more in some things, or that some hot women don't bother to be raunchy or too out there.

With that said, I think it's subjectively ignorant to say one gender is funnier than the other. No surprise men wouldn't find a man-hating joke as funny.
 
Uchip said:
you found funny women
are you some kind of magician?
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I can give you a funny girl in exchange for one of your cats.


IHaveCandy said:
I think I've identified why I subconsciously respond the way I do to women being funny. I think when guys are being funny, I feel fine with cutting loose. I can comfortably kick back and be as crass as I want. I think I hold myself to a higher standard around women. Looking back on how I naturally act without thinking, I act more proper around women until I know it's cool to act less proper. I probably do it since I grew up with the typical idea that boys will be boys and girls are more prudish. I'm going to see if my attitude changes on women being funny if I stop acting more proper around women by default.
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I've absolutely no self respect or boundaries around girls
or guys
. I'm saying or doing stupid things all the time, making fun of everything. Don't know if it's because you're all proper all the time, but with me girls are always trying to come with their own jokes, telling their their own ridiculous stories, stupid things, insults, anything and we all end up laughing. There's been countless times when I'm having lunch with just girls and I have to run to the bathroom throwing up or spitting my drinks because of the massive laughter. I'm super ridiculous in real life, and most of the guys I know aren't like that. In fact, and I didn't though about it until I read your post, there are times when guys even give me mean looks as if I wasn't supposed to be like that around girls.



mclem said:
Not-a-comedian-but-I-find-them-witty-anyway:
Clare Balding
Adele (really, she gives good talkshow)
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Adele is SO FUNNY on interviews or talk shows. I don't really like her music, but when she's talking she's extremely funny and honest.
 
I have met funny women but I can categorically state that I have never found a female comic that I liked or found funny.
 
I like Amy Poehler (have a soft spot from the old Upright Citizens Brigade), Kristen Wiig, and the fat lady from Bridesmaids.

edit: and I like Sarah Silverman
 
I find the idea of 'Women aren't funny' to be so bizarre.

Obviously women are funny, or there wouldn't be women making money as comics. In fact, a lot of the most iconic comics in history are women.

How does an idea like 'Women aren't funny' even spread?

I'm not saying that the OP thinks women aren't funny, obviously he has some mental disorder if he can identify that a woman is being funny and find the joke hilarious in another context but if told by a woman it's not funny, that is a different issue.
 
marrec said:
I find the idea of 'Women aren't funny' to be so bizarre.

Obviously women are funny, or there wouldn't be women making money as comics. In fact, a lot of the most iconic comics in history are women.

How does an idea like 'Women aren't funny' even spread?
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back in the 90's, not liking "black comedies" was a thought often tossed around. The past four or five years oor so I've noticed a lot more female comedian comments. It's certainly odd.
 
Some women are hilarious. Some of the ones I find funniest are Spanish oh and Elaine from Seinfeld.

Saying they're not funny is dumb. It'd say we're about equal. Sure, most of the comedy I watch is by men, but doesn't mean women aren't funny.
 
I heard woman comedians say the same thing, that they don't think women are as funny as men, or not nearly as many of them. Jill Talley (who is damned funny) gave her opinion on it: she thought that too many women feel the need to base their comedy around being a woman and the perspective and experiences they have specific to being a woman and it doesn't work well. I tend to agree.
 
marrec said:
Sure, and Carol Burnett is one of the greatest TV Comedians of all time, yet people still say 'I don't find women funny'.
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I always assume people mean stand up when they say they don't find women funny. I can think of one woman who I consider great at standup, Joan Rivers. In terms of acting and writing though there are many women who are comic geniuses, like Carol Burnett and my favorite Lucille Ball. I find it hard to believe there's anyone who has never had a woman make them laugh either by a joke written for a show, or as an actress.
 
marrec said:
While it probably is some deep seeded psychological issue, it might not have anything to do with latent sexism.



I've also heard people out there say 'I don't like ANY female singers'.

Something's going on here...
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Nono, the OP was supposed to deny it and then I'd say "see? If I were male you would have found my accusation of sexism to be hilarious!"
 
BobTheFork said:
I heard woman comedians say the same thing, that they don't think women are as funny as men, or not nearly as many of them. Jill Talley (who is damned funny) gave her opinion on it: she thought that too many women feel the need to base their comedy around being a woman and the perspective and experiences they have specific to being a woman and it doesn't work well. I tend to agree.
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That's not the issue though, that type of comedy may not be funnier than a normal man's stand-up comedy. (Which, by the way, is usually about how stupid men are.) But that's not saying women AREN'T funny, that's just saying that they're forced into a certain type of comedy for one reason or another.

Women clearly are funny, some are funnier than others, some of funnier than men. It's no different than the other gender.

I'd be fascinated to see where this idea of 'women aren't funny' came from.
 
IHaveCandy said:
But that doesn't mean women aren't funny. I will see a woman making a joke that I know perfectly well is a funny joke. It has a good set up, turn, and punch line. I may even think "I should use that joke on so and so tomorrow." But I do not laugh. I do not find it funny. It's something I cannot help. Humor is just as dependent on the audience as it is the comedian. And as the audience to female comedians, I feel like I am subconsciously just not playing ball with them. Does anybody else have this problem? It's something I'd like to get over.
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The fact that you realize this is actually the first step. Now just keep reminding yourself when it happens that it's a weird problem with your thought process, and it will start changing your thought process. Totally true.
 
I don't really find women funny either. Probably because I have never in my life hung out with lots of women like I do with my bros. Just my wife, and we have our own insider humor like any couple so that doesn't really count.
 
Hmm, I wouldn't say I NEVER find women to be funny but I've barely found funny women. I do find my GF funny but I think it's because I got used to her humor and she's gotten used to mine.
 
I can't say any female comedian has ever made me consistently laugh. I always kind of wondered why that was, they're just not funny.
 
I don't recall laughing at women as much, but I also don't require them trying to be funny as much. Hell, GAF reflects that.

At any rate, women don't enjoy my jokes either. Guys are more likely to laugh, so.
 
So if you're a dyke or a kike you can be a funny woman? What a stupid and prejudiced viewpoint. I feel dumber for having watched that.
 
I think 'femininity' is in and of itself not inherently funny to a lot of men. The women who can do away with this get the most laughs out of me.

I'm thinking about, for example, Bridesmaids - some of the women were pretty funny in it, but who REALLY got me was... fuck I don't know her name *googles*

Melissa McCarthy. She at times had me rolling.
 
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