3 Responses

1. Nikki says:

   September 19, 2007 at 9:39 am

   Revolting? Wow. Really? Because I don’t see this “180-degree turn.” Yes, Schumer admits that as a female comic she gets twice the opportunities to perform, but in no way do “opportunities” amount to the “credit” of which she speaks in the article.

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2. johnroy3742 says:

   September 21, 2007 at 1:04 am

   I found your taking Ms. Schumer to task was bizarre. You castigated her for telling the crowd of LCS to give female comics a chance. Your reasoning seems to be that previous generations of female comics had proved this to the world, and because of the Joan Riverses and Phyllis Dillers of the world, such comments were unnecessary and in fact, insulting to their trail blazing careers.So…um… she shouldn’t have told the LCS audience to give women comics a chance? the LCS audience is made up of ordinary Americans, not people who just got done reading three histories of comedy that they then tucked on the shelve next to their exhaustive vinyl collection of classic standup. Telling the non-comey connesseur to give women a chance is always good advice. The fact that Schumer felt the need to do it , proves that, Joan Rivers or no Joan Rivers, they still haven’t gotten the message.

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3. Brian McKim & Traci Skene says:

   September 21, 2007 at 2:41 am

   Telling the non-comedy connoisseur to “give women a chance” is insulting and condescending. Plain and simple.If you insist that America hasn’t gotten the message, you insult them as well. They don’t need to be experts on comedy to know about Roseanne, Sarah Silverman or Kathleen Madigan. And most of them either heard or read about the Women’s Rights movement somewhere along the line– it was in all the papers.No one really needs that message. By saying that on LCS, she implies that female comics are somehow different… that they need help or need a break. The Female Half says, “When I hear, ‘Give a female comic a chance,’ I hear, ‘Cut the female comic a break.’ And we really don’t need a break. All comics should be given a chance when they hit that stage. Male, female, all comics.”The gender message unnecessarily divides comics into groups. We’re all fighting the same fight. We should not be divided.There are only two groups of audience members who often have trouble adjusting to a female comic. They are most likely over the age of 75 or under the age of 25. The “give female comics a chance” message is wasted on them– the only way they’ll overcome their resistance is by growing up or by dying.The overwhelming majority of people in between those two groups LOVE LOVE LOVE female standup comics. If there is any true resistance to female comics, it is from within the industry– from other comics or from club owners, not from audiences, by and large.Talk to any audience members who have just seen a female comic and their reaction will consistenly be the same: We would like to see MORE female comics! It is quite possible that any resistance that Schumer may be experiencing may not in fact be from her gender, but from her inexperience. Let’s talk to her in 10 years and see if she has the same feelings.

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