We Killed : The Rise of Women in American Comedy

No matter how many times female comedians buck the conventional wisdom, people continue to ask: “Are women funny?” The question has been nagging at women off and on (mostly on) for the past sixty years. It’s incendiary, much discussed, and, as proven in Yael Kohen’s fascinating oral history, totally wrongheaded. In We Killed , Kohen pieces together the revolution that happened to (and by) women in American comedy, gathering the country’s most prominent comediennes and the writers, producers, nightclub owners, and colleagues who revolved around them. She starts in the 1950s, when comic success meant ridiculing and desexualizing yourself; when Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller emerged as America’s favorite frustrated ladies; when the joke was always on them. Kohen brings us into the sixties and seventies, when the appearance of smart, edgy comedians (Elaine May, Lily Tomlin) and the women’s movement brought a new wave of radicals: the women of SNL , tough-ass stand-ups, and a more independent breed on TV (Mary Tyler Moore and her sisters). There were battles to fight and preconceptions to shake before we could arrive in a world in which women like Chelsea Handler, Sarah Silverman, and Tina Fey can be smart, attractive, sexually confident—and, most of all, flat-out funny. As the more than 150 people interviewed for this riveting oral history make clear, women have always been funny. It’s just that every success has been called an exception and every failure an example of the rule. And as each generation of women has developed its own style of comedy, the coups of the previous era are washed away and a new set of challenges arises. But the result is the same: They kill. A chorus of creative voices and hilarious storytelling, We Killed is essential cultural and social history, and—as it should be!—great entertainment. More than fifty years of iconic comediennes, unmediated and unfiltered In January 2007, Vanity Fair published an essay by Christopher Hitchens called Why Women Arent Funny. It was incendiary, much-discussed, andas proven by Yael Kohens fascinating oral historytotally wrongheaded. In We Killed , Kohen assembles Americas most prominent comediennes (and the writers, producers, nightclub owners, and colleagues who revolved around them) to piece together the revolution that happened to (and by) women in American comedy. We start in the 1950s, when comic success meant ridiculing and desexualizing yourself. Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller emerged as Americas favorite frustrated ladies; the joke was always on them. The Sixties saw the appearance of smart, edgy comediennes (Elaine May, Lily Tomlin), and the womens movement brought a new wave of radicals: the women of SNL , tough-ass stand-ups, and a more independent breed on TV (Mary Tyler Moore and her sisters). There were battles to fight and preconceptions to shake before we could get to where we finally are: in a world where women (like Tina Fey, or, whether you like them or not, Sarah Silverman and Chelsea Handler) can be smart, attractive, sexually confidentand most of all, flat-out funny. Like all revolutions, its suffered false starts and backslides. But its been a remarkable trip, as the more thanone hundredpeople interviewed for this riveting oral history make clear. With a chorus of creative voices and often hilarious storytelling, We Killed is essential cultural and social history. In We Killed, Kohen pieces together the revolution that happened to (and by) women in American comedy, gathering the country s most prominent comediennes and the writers, producers, nightclub owners, and colleagues who revolved around them. She starts in the 1950s, when comic success meant ridiculing and desexualizing yourself; when Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller emerged as America s favorite frustrated ladies; when the joke was always on them. Kohen brings us into the sixties and seventies, when the appearance of smart, edgy comedians (Elaine May, Lily Tomlin) and the women s movement brought a new wave of radicals: the women of SNL, tough-ass stand-ups, and a more independent breed on TV (Mary Tyler Moore and her sisters). There were battles to fight and preconceptions to shake before we could arrive in a world in which women like Chelsea Handler, Sarah Silverman, and Tina Fey can be smart, attractive, sexually confident - and, most of all, flat-out funny From live comedy to television to the bestseller lists, women rule the comedy industry and, as this fascinating oral history shows, they have fought long and hard to make their way to the top. In this book the author assembles America's most prominent comediannes along with the writers, producers, and nightclub owners in their orbit to piece together the rise of women in American comedy. Beginning with the emergence of Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller in the fifties, and moving forward to the edgy intelligence of Elaine May and Lily Tomlin and the tough ass stand ups who would take SNL by storm, Kohen chronicles the false starts, backslides, and triumphs of female comedians As the more than 150 people interviewed for this riveting oral history make clear, women have always been funny. It s just that every success has been called an exception and every failure an example of the rule. And as each generation of women has developed its own style of comedy, the coups of the previous era are washed away and a new set of challenges arises. But the result is the same: They kill. A chorus of creative voices and hilarious storytelling, We Killed is essential cultural and social history, and - as it should be! - great entertainment. (Publisher) No matter how many times female comedians buck the conventional wisdom, people continue to ask: "Are women funny?" The question has been nagging at women off and on (mostly on) for the past sixty years. It s incendiary, much discussed, and, as proven in Yael Kohen s fascinating oral history, totally wrongheaded "Kohen assembles more than 150 interviews from America's most prominent comediennes (and the writers, producers, nightclub owners, and colleagues who revolved around them) to piece together the revolution that happened to (and by) women in American comedy"--Provided by publisher Introduction Mothers of invention Underground TKs Primetime Pullout: Carol Burnett Saturday night live I am woman Pullout: Merrill Markoe The boom years Pullout: Ellen Degeneres: the evolution Janeane Garofalo and friends Saturday night live: the girls club Comic rising.