Things Sure Have Changed Since I Started Comedy [FREE POST]

But it's not too late to get in on the ground floor

On stage, downtown Manhattan, circa 2002

When I started performing way back in 2000 or 2001,  it was still a little strange for a woman to be a comedian, and it was even more of a challenge to get things like regular stage time, fair (or any) pay, and not sexually harassed by coworkers. I’ve written about this before, and I got a lot of shit for it, but even other women, in general, were perceived to be the enemies of female comedians. 

That’s not to say that there weren’t plenty of female comedians who were not out to steal your stage time or your comedian/booker boyfriend, or your jokes. But there were also plenty who at least seemed to be.

I’m not going to write about all the women who did me wrong in this post, because I am not mad at them anymore. Part of me understands that the patriarchy’s fierce grip on the industry and the twisted desire to see women verbally, emotionally and yes, sometimes even physically smack each other down reigned supreme at the time, by some, who heartily influenced the scene.

It’s a shame, because I have lost time thinking of some of the really great friendships I could have had if egos and pathos hadn’t gotten in the way (I’m talking about you, Amy, among others). But it’s not all everyone else’s fault—I had my quirks and issues, too, and I probably wasn’t always terribly easy to be friends with in my 20s. I was running around singing songs about vaginas all the time which was beyond weird during that era of comedy, albeit now you can’t throw a rock without hitting a funny vagina song. But don’t throw rocks around all willy, nilly, k?

In addition to there being more women and all variety of genders in comedy, and more comedic music, and more female and human themes that are being dug into, there is more often fair pay, and the internet has changed the scope of things so much so that people can become superstars without even leaving their homes. 

Comedy has changed and grown in ways I never could have imagined. It makes me think about Amazon or bitcoin. So often, people say things like, “Oh, I wish I’d known eBay was going to blow up, I would have invested in it!” I think that about comedy sometimes.

But it’s not too late to invest now, because however big you think things already are, I promise, they will get bigger. You can invest in comedians you like by buying their specials and/or tickets to their shows or making bigger financial investments in them, joining their street teams, and telling your friends about them.

Daily musings:

• Bummer, Nick Swardson | NBC

• Kevin Hart is unstoppable | Wall Street Journal

• R.I.P. JFL | Deadline

• Please answer this very brief survey | Museletter

• Your comedy-related ad here to 9000 subscribers; $10/day, $40/wk | jess delfino at gmail dot com

• Purchase this comedy PR class for $70, get access to every Museletter for a year

Peace out, playa.