Tuesday, March 19Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Funny Girls

In recent years there has been a visible surge in the popularity of female comedians, seemingly in correlation with a rise in the awareness of feminism. Their presence on prime-time comedy shows is increasingly noticeable, and rightly so; there is some serious talent which needs to be televised. Dated attitudes such as “she’s funny… for a woman” are thankfully fading, as is the distinction between male and female comics. More and more, comedians are appreciated for their wit and creativity, regardless of gender.
Despite the excellent progression of women in the comedy business, they are still greatly outnumbered in their field. Upon reflection, I have assembled a list of those who I consider to most greatly embody female success in the industry. So without further ado; here are three of my comédiennes préférées, whom I would highly recommend seeing live…

1. Miranda Hart
First on the list (perhaps an obvious choice?) is Ms Hart. Having seen her live at the 02 in April, I would DEFINITELY buy tickets to another stand-up show. Her ability to turn the 02 into one giant party was admirable; she quickly got everyone on board by passing After-Eight’s around the audience “take one pass it on” , firing Haribos out of a sweet gun, and having THE MOST AMAZING playlist of all time. Oh, and the jokes were hilarious too. What’s not to love? Her style of comedy is ‘what-I-call’ charming – she has the endearing ability to make herself the butt of her own jokes; her dramatization of the thirty-something, directionless-singleton made the audience repeatedly groan in horrified recognition. For this reason, everyone can relate to Miranda’s awkwardness. We are all have our ‘Miranda Moments’.

2. Katherine Ryan
The slightly lesser-known Canadian comic, Katherine Ryan is another fave of mine . Having watched her appearances on Mock the Week, 8 out of 10 cats and numerous other panel shows, I am certainly anticipating her ‘Glam Role Model’ tour, which received raving reviews at its Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut earlier in the year. You can see her live in London at Bloomsbury Theatre, 9th April 2015. And if anyone wants to buy me tickets, feel free.
Oh, and her twitter account @Kathbum is also verrrr funny, check it out!

3. Sarah Millican
Her status as a comedy legend was firmly cemented when she won the ‘British Comedy Award People’s Choice Award for the King or Queen of Comedy 2011’, so it’s no wonder Sarah Millican features on my ‘oh-so-coveted’ list. Her old-school humour is similar in some ways to Hart’s, albeit much cruder and blatant (well someone has to tell it like it is). The outrageous nature of her topics combines with her hilarious storytelling style to create an incredibly cheeky show. But her twee Geordie accent makes her comments somewhat forgivable, and all the more amusing.

So, if you’re in the mood for a laugh, take a look on Youtube for some sketches from these funny ladies!