Women & Comedy

“Women and Comedy” focuses on the intersection between comedy and gender, race, class and sexuality. Aware that as Judith Butler says, “the process of securing greater freedom for women requires an ongoing rethinking of this category,” we use the term “woman” not as a fixed position but an entry point into discussing history – specifically to interrogate and challenge comedy’s all-too-long and enduring history of making a punchline out of marginalized groups. We will explore laughter as a subversive act and how the identity of a “funny woman” can be both dangerous and liberating. As Margo Jefferson writes, “Given the history of social restriction and sexual regulation, how many women have been in a position to -- or been willing to -- take these risks?” We will explore how the tools of comedy can be used to make mischief, to transgress the bounds of genre and form and to contest popular ideas about difference and power. How can humor be illuminating? How can humor be feminist? How can humor be intersectional? How can humor help us tell the hard truths? Can we laugh at oppression without laughing it off? This course does exclusively focus on humorists and welcomes writers of all genres who want to get playful. Rather than “funny,” we focus on “fun,” explore playfulness as it occurs in myriad ways across a diverse variety of texts. As we do, we will find models, key writerly moves, to adapt into our own writing whatever shape or form it takes. As we shift to sharing our own thoughts and work, we will do so from a place of generosity. As Charna Halpern, Del Close and Kim “Howard” Johnson put it: “A truly funny scene is not the result of someone trying to steal laughs at the expense of his partner, but of generosity – of trying to make the other person (and his ideas) look as good as possible.” Let’s share and discuss from this place of generosity. Rather than prescriptive critiques, let’s ask one another “what’s the fun of this story?” Let’s urge each other to see how can that fun remain, adhere, and grow through our time together.