Althouse: "When I first started comedy, my male comic friends would say, 'You have to focus on making the men laugh. The women only laugh if their date laughs.'"

July 25, 2019

"When I first started comedy, my male comic friends would say, 'You have to focus on making the men laugh. The women only laugh if their date laughs.'"

Said Sarah Silverman, quoted in "For Female Comics, Peak TV Has Its Troughs" (NYT)... which is mostly about Kate Micucci, who you may know from Garfunkel and Oates. Lots of their videos at YouTube. Seems like everyone watched this one 7 years ago:

And here's one with over 13 million views (careful, it's a little disturbing):

83 comments:

Known Unknown said...: Neither one of these women is Carol Burnett, are they?; 7/25/19, 11:05 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: disturbing? Annoying. TMI, baby.

Jesus said - don't gossip.; 7/25/19, 11:05 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I'm not laughing at all. Isn't that the point? Laughter? Laughing?

What is funny? The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Thanks for that one, Ann. That is funny. Season 2 is pure genius.; 7/25/19, 11:07 AM
Known Unknown said...: I'll admit, the issue I have is more with musical comedy -- the joke is old by the second stanza. The second one is almost five minutes of basically the same joke; 7/25/19, 11:07 AM
Xmas said...: You should have put a warning on 29/31 too. I mean...it is kinda rough near the end.

Pregnant Women are Smug is good too.; 7/25/19, 11:07 AM
Lucid-Ideas said...: Most women's idea of comedy is "Bridesmaids" and involves diarrhea in a wedding dress.

I hated that movie, and continue to use it as a bargaining chip to get my way with the gf.

It's physical/body-function humor in the same vein as carrot-top but less funny. Get it? Carrot-top is funnier.; 7/25/19, 11:08 AM
Known Unknown said...: "What is funny? The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

She's a shitty mom, though. They eventually touch on that toward the end of the season.; 7/25/19, 11:08 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Actually, that second video is filled with a shit pile of standard cliche' anti-Christian preaching. Boring.; 7/25/19, 11:09 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Known Unknown - Oh tell me about it. She is a shitty mom. She left her baby in the car with the luggage.; 7/25/19, 11:10 AM
gilbar said...: of course, you know, IF a girl holds out until it's really, truly love; and Marries that one
BOTH of these videos solve themselves

29 is pretty late to be holding out; 7/25/19, 11:11 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I'd like young whitey lefty comic power-grrl to write something witty about the Koran.; 7/25/19, 11:11 AM
rcocean said...: Sarah Silverman tweeted that the sight of an American Flag or any display of patriotism disgusts her and makes her nervous. Even when she sees it on TV in her Tel Aviv Mansion.

I think she's funny in small doses. I looked forward to seeing her comic shows but soon got tired of it. She does't wear well.; 7/25/19, 11:11 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I thought the blow job was the loophole?; 7/25/19, 11:12 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: Females who laugh easily are a great turn-on.

If they make you laugh, even better.

If they are good looking, and make you laugh, wow! Fall instantly in love.; 7/25/19, 11:13 AM
rcocean said...: Most women's comedy today can be summed up in one word: Vagina.
Once they get off that, they got nothing.; 7/25/19, 11:13 AM
Known Unknown said...: Sarah Silverman used to be legit funny. Her "I love Chinks" joke is still one of my favorites.; 7/25/19, 11:13 AM
rcocean said...: BTW, I've never met a single women who only laughed when her date/husband/boyfriend/Male Relative laughed.; 7/25/19, 11:14 AM
rcocean said...: I finally understood the comment about women only laughing when their dates laughed. This is from male comics getting up there and talking about Male things and laughing about it from a man's perspective. "Hey, i got my dick caught in a grinder. har har".

So, the women wouldn't find it funny and would only laugh to please their dates. "Yeah, He's laughing, so it must be funny and I'll laugh along".; 7/25/19, 11:18 AM
dreams said...: I guess I just don't get liberal slut humor.; 7/25/19, 11:19 AM
rcocean said...: I wonder if she laughed when CK whipped out his Dick and started stroking it.; 7/25/19, 11:20 AM
TerriW said...: It may be offensive, but is it true? Sometimes stuff like that is bullshit, but sometimes there really is some sort of a correlation.

It's not so good when there's a mismatch between the data you (are allowed to?) get about the world and how the world actually works.; 7/25/19, 11:26 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Sarah Silverman is funny when she can leave the politics out of it. Both Micucci and Lindhome are funny most of the time in their old video sketches- of the two posted, the first one is very funny, the second one is just kind of uncomfortable throughout.; 7/25/19, 11:26 AM
Dave Begley said...: Not one bit funny at any level. Since I have two daughters not too far removed from their all girls Catholic high school, I found it sick.

It is okay for liberals, with their sick minds. to mock Catholics and Christians. Why do they think this is funny?

How about a video on FGM? Or blowing people to bits? Or is Islam protected?

Actually, this video is a good insight to the unhinged and sick minds of liberals.; 7/25/19, 11:27 AM
Sebastian said...: "It is okay for liberals, with their sick minds, to mock Catholics and Christians"

Muslims are up next. Right?; 7/25/19, 11:33 AM
Lucid-Ideas said...: Sarah Silverman's reputation is that she LOVES cut Christian dicks. Lots of videos and first-hand accounts. What is the opposite of 'shiksa' appeal? Whatever that is she's got it bad. When you understand that all the cross-baiting suddenly makes sense.

She's covering...; 7/25/19, 11:38 AM
rehajm said...: I think both videos are amusing. I didn’t know about the loophole thing until I watched the video shortly after it came out. I tried to watch more if their shtick. They grow tedious but I figured they were just gearing their comedy towards a certain audience of weed smoking white women.

I appreciate the frustration of the leftie target asymmetry when choosing who to pick on. Comedy they call it. Used to be a good comedian didn’t care who they were going after. They were going for the laugh. There’s lots of Hillary and coup attempt funny what sits waiting to be mined and processed. Comedy needs to be fresh so it will probably shrivel, die and end up on the compost pile.; 7/25/19, 11:41 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Do progressive white females who worship the STATE identify? I think some do. They loath Christians. This stuff isn't so much for a laugh, it makes their hatred grow.; 7/25/19, 11:47 AM
readering said...: Being from Tri-state area I had been told it was a PR thing.; 7/25/19, 11:51 AM
rehajm said...: ‘fifth base’ is funny.; 7/25/19, 11:54 AM
bwebster said...: I still the the "29/31" video is one of the most brilliant and ruthlessly honest pieces about single women in modern American society. I say that as a man who was singled for year (between marriages) at around that age myself, and who years later had a number of single professional women as friends at church.

The other video I haven't seen and -- based on the comments here -- probably won't.; 7/25/19, 11:55 AM
stlcdr said...: Sounds like Silverman was told a joke and didn’t get it.; 7/25/19, 11:59 AM
wendybar said...: dreams said...
I guess I just don't get liberal slut humor.
7/25/19, 11:19 AM

Me neither!; 7/25/19, 12:00 PM
Brian said...: The 2 videos together remind me of the Drudge Report in his use of juxtaposition.

The loophole video mocks the "double standard" and suggests hypocrisy of "traditional" morals. The catholic girls should just give it up that way they won't have to do anal. Regular girls are so much better off since they get to enjoy sex and don't have to do anal. Haha, catholic girls are such rubes.

But the attitudes expressed in the loophole video, lead to the 29/31 video. If everybody's giving it up without a committed relationship then what's the point of a committed relationship?

Combine this with a new mate being only a "swipe" away and the feedback loop only tightens. It's a buyers market.

I thought the blow job was the loophole?

That's so 1990's (or earlier). From my divorced friends, who are recently trying out the single dating market, anal is the new normal. And this is in the conservative Midwest.; 7/25/19, 12:00 PM
rehajm said...: 29/31 - they are making fun of young women. Nothing about the patriarchy. Maybe they have some new stuff.; 7/25/19, 12:00 PM
bagoh20 said...: Female comics need to move past the I'm a slut thing. It's all one joke, and it's been thoroughly worn out before you were born. Stop stealing material from dead female comics like Mae West and Rusty Warren. Make up some new stuff, ladies, and try not to concentrate on pussy and cock so much. That's a men's problem you don't need.; 7/25/19, 12:00 PM
bagoh20 said...: I did laugh at "thank you Jesus for making us so holey."; 7/25/19, 12:02 PM
bleh said...: Standup is a man's game. It just is. Unfortunately these days there aren't many of either gender who can do it well. And it's not just PC nonsense that's ruining standup. The idea of "comedy" itself is being challenged, as strange as it sounds. Is it really just to make people laugh, or is it to make people think and listen? Yes, it's becoming more hectoring in tone. So maybe women have a shot at closing the gap after all.; 7/25/19, 12:07 PM
Darrell said...: Progressive white females get conned into anal sex. How progressive!

What's worse is that they wear the mark of a deformed asshole for the next person to see.; 7/25/19, 12:08 PM
Paul said...: There is so much trash talk in 'modern' comics shtick that I just don't listen to them anymore.; 7/25/19, 12:11 PM
Paul said...: But then, maybe anal sex is better than aborting babies... which progressive girls just love to do nowdays.; 7/25/19, 12:12 PM
Lloyd W. Robertson said...: The geezer watch. Surely to God it is time now to establish reliable tests for senility, overall physical health, endurance, etc.; 7/25/19, 12:15 PM
Ralph L said...: "Think outside the box" is a pretty good ending.

In Persuasion, Jane Austen describes 29 as "approaching the years of danger."; 7/25/19, 12:18 PM
Amy said...: 29/31 had elements of truth. Simultaneously sad/amusing.
The other one was awful. Couldn't get all the way through.

People sure are comfortable openly hating Christians.; 7/25/19, 12:18 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Garfunkel & Oates are great; their TV show was good and could have gone longer. They've both very funny. I think Kate Micucci is a better actress than Riki Lindhome, but Riki seems to get more work. Did anyone else see Hell Baby? She had some memorable scenes in that one!; 7/25/19, 12:19 PM
bleh said...: The "29/31" song makes you smirk a little and you could imagine a mildly funny female friend in real life coming up with it after enduring so many gripe sessions with her single friends. In other words, it's both relatable and not that interesting. I got the joke right away and got bored after the first verse because there's only so much you can say without belaboring it or even sounding sad.

Hearing about women who get older and feel bad about it just makes me sad. But when they start complaining a lot, or act like everyone else owes them something for the unfairness of it all, my pity turns to contempt. They spent their first 30 years in the catbird seat and were totally unprepared for the big shift, and somehow it's someone else's fault, usually "society" or the "patriarchy" or men or younger, hotter women.; 7/25/19, 12:21 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Oh and I'm pretty sure these two were some of the first to speak publicly about Louis CK--I think them discussing him masturbating in front of them (possibly just exposing himself in front of them) in a hotel room was the first I read about what was apparently a pretty widely-known think in the comedy community. I don't think they named him at first, but I don't think who they meant was a secret either.; 7/25/19, 12:21 PM
Darrell said...: Always use PornHub to determine what all the other girls are doing.
Smart move.; 7/25/19, 12:21 PM
Mary Beth said...: I probably should have paid more attention to when/if the men I was with laughed. I would have wasted less time on humorless trouts.; 7/25/19, 12:24 PM
Darrell said...: Louis CK did more than choke the chicken in front of women. One comedienne said he called her into his office and asked for a BJ--telling her that he had a folder of 100 women that asked to be included on his HBO special and promising to be "very grateful." When she passed, she was visited by some HBO suit that told her she was no longer on the show. Louis was too much of a chickenshit to tell her to her face.; 7/25/19, 12:27 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: G&O: Worst Song Medley

G&O: Fuck You (Redo)

G&O: Party Took A Turn for the Douche

G&O: Handjob Blandjbo

G&O: Pregnant Women Are Smug

G&O: I Would Never (Have Sex With You); 7/25/19, 12:28 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Hoodlum,

Yes, those are all hilarious!; 7/25/19, 12:32 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: I used to like Silverman. Her main appeal was her little-girl charm combined her edgy, sometimes risqué jokes. Now she's too old for that, and she's really not much of a wit, so nobody really cares anymore.; 7/25/19, 12:34 PM
Carol said...: A date took me to see Redd Foxx and later got angry with me for not laughing enough. I honestly wasn't used to the profanity back then but hadn't gotten all offended either...

So was I guilty of not mirroring my date sufficiently?; 7/25/19, 12:37 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: "I'd like young whitey lefty comic power-grrl to write something witty about the Koran."

Silverman admitted she won't joke about Islam because she's afraid. Not just afraid of bad publicity, but physically afraid.; 7/25/19, 12:37 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Both videos were a dumb waste of time.

Most churches don’t have a single young person attending services.

Irrelevant strawman is nowhere near a strong enough term.; 7/25/19, 12:38 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: The real shame of it is that, to my knowledge, Garfunkel & Oates have never done a tour with Flight Of The Conchords. I'd buy a ticket to that show in an instant!; 7/25/19, 12:42 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: What do you call comedy that is specifically about reinforcing the taboos and the prejdices of the intended audience? A minstrel show?; 7/25/19, 12:49 PM
rehajm said...: Kate Micucci tease: If you have a kid you should name him Phil. Or Pat. Or Sharon.; 7/25/19, 12:49 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: rehajm said...Kate Micucci tease: If you have a kid you should name him Phil. Or Pat. Or Sharon.

Kate Knows Exactly What Her Name Sounds Like; 7/25/19, 1:08 PM
rehajm said...: Thank you - I couldn’t find the link for some raison.; 7/25/19, 1:14 PM
William said...: Epstein would be the guy to ask, but I'm pretty sure this thing about Catholic HS girls indulging in anal sex is an urban myth. Apparently not too many kids at Kavanaugh's high school actually engaged in Devil's Triangles (if that's the term) but they liked to talk about it.; 7/25/19, 1:20 PM
rcocean said...: I found Wanda Sykes funny, for a while. She wore out her welcome fast.; 7/25/19, 1:36 PM
Quaestor said...: Dat vas de Trondheim Hammer Dance in vich de auld ladies ahr strook abut de head mit coolbs und schicks...; 7/25/19, 1:42 PM
rcocean said...: Silverman has another problem. The age problem. Its hard for comics to stay funny as they get older, especially when their forte is "young adult" humor. Making raunchy jokes about having sex and your vagina may be funny you're a cute 30, but when you get to be 40...

Its also true if you're a comic with certain style. Jerry Lewis comic persona was the funny little kid in an adults body, which didn't work when he was 40. Even Bob Hope's Cowardly Frustrated Wolf act got less funny when he got to be 50. OTOH, someone like Groucho or WC Fields or George Burns could stay funny forever.; 7/25/19, 2:01 PM
Charlie said...: These would have been great on "The Gong Show".; 7/25/19, 2:01 PM
M Jordan said...: I used to direct high school seniors in creating a school production of satire and parody and slapstick and any other device we could come up with to get the rest of the school to laugh. In 20 such productions over ten years I came to one sure conclusion: girls are NOT humor makers. A few are pretty funny when they’re with their friends but they can’t get other girls to laugh because jealousy. Also, most high school girls simply won’t allow themselves to look foolish enough to grab laughs. Boys are much, much, much more natural at this game.

I must add, however, that the best written script any of my groups ever came up with was written by an introverted young lady.; 7/25/19, 2:14 PM
Known Unknown said...: "Lena Dunham, Sarah Silverman...
So hard to tell the aging jewesses apart with their clothes on."

You must be blind. Dunham is a bowl of porridge and Silverman is stacked.; 7/25/19, 3:02 PM
Known Unknown said...: "I still the the "29/31" video is one of the most brilliant and ruthlessly honest pieces about single women in modern American society."

It's been done before. And much more efficiently.; 7/25/19, 3:05 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Darrell for the win

Always use PornHub to determine what all the other girls are doing.; 7/25/19, 3:13 PM
Joe said...: OT, Riki Lindhome, the blonde, is one of those odd people who, when posing, can be beautiful or a horror show.

(I once worked with a woman like this, though not as extreme. In person, she was very cute, but in photographs she always struck the same pose with the same oddly creepy expression.); 7/25/19, 3:58 PM
Earnest Prole said...: My takeaway is that Althouse’s elderly readers should lighten up.; 7/25/19, 4:02 PM
Jaq said...: I always had a crush on that 29 girl.; 7/25/19, 4:56 PM
Jaq said...: Silverman is a legit hottie.; 7/25/19, 4:56 PM
Jaq said...: What do you call comedy that is specifically about reinforcing the taboos and the prejdices of the intended audience? A minstrel show?

YES! Like The Colbert Report, or the Daily Show, they are minstrelshows and play to the same emotional pathologies.; 7/25/19, 4:59 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: the blonde in the above is not Sarah Silverman. Right?
Who is she?; 7/25/19, 5:23 PM
Joe said...: There are a few funny female YouTubers I enjoy along with several, mostly British, female comedians. What they seem to have in common is witty sarcasm/cynicism. Then again, I never liked The Three Stooges.; 7/25/19, 5:27 PM
Joe said...: the blonde in the above... Who is she?

Riki Lindhome; 7/25/19, 5:33 PM
stevew said...: Good looking women doing good comedy is a tried and true formula for entertainment success.; 7/25/19, 6:03 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Sarah Silverman is a beautiful woman, even now.

On Riki Lindhome- you should see her episodes of Big Bang Theory- she is in 3 of them spread 10 years apart. She was awesome. Micucci is also in a few episodes as the sort of shy agoraphobic girlfriend of one of the main characters. She was also great.; 7/25/19, 6:53 PM
David Duffy said...: Nonsense. Making a girl laugh in the third grade, or on a date, or after 30 years of marriage while you keep a straight face is how it works. If you give a smile on your mouth and love and a smile in your eyes as she is having a good time, then you know you have a piece of her heart. The benefit of a happy woman to the guy is her heart.; 7/25/19, 8:05 PM
Ralph L said...: Making raunchy jokes about having sex and your vagina may be funny you're a cute 30, but when you get to be 40...

Lisa Lampanelli pulled it out, I mean off, the few times I've seen her on TV, partly because she engages with the audience well.

Paula Poundstone was OK, IIRC, for the same reason. One of the few female pre-#MeToos.; 7/25/19, 8:23 PM
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0_0 said...: Melanie Martinez beat them to it as the Technical Virgin YEARS ago. And was fired from PBS when they found out years after.; 7/25/19, 11:37 PM