According to an old biblical (or Shakespearean - who can tell these days?) quote, “there is nothing new under the sun.” Whether from the Bard or the Bible, this phrase is often forgotten in terms of contemporary culture. Take, for instance, female comedians. Women like Tina Fey and Amy Schumer, along with their contemporaries (Amy Poehler, Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler) are often heralded as feminists who use their comedy to call attention to society's double standards, and while they are undeniably talented, their foremothers are often forgotten. Women who, during a time when comedy was known solely as a “man’s game”, used their wit to achieve success and prove that women could be just as funny, if not funnier, than men.
1. Sophie Tucker - This list couldn't begin without "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas". Tucker, born Sonya Kalesh, was one of the country's most popular entertainers during the first few decades of the 20th century. From her bawdy jokes to her risqué songs ("Nobody Loves a Fat Girl But Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love" - it was pretty scandalous a century ago), Tucker proved that a woman can be as sexual as any man.
“From birth to age 18 a girl needs good parents. From 18 to 35 she needs good looks. From 35 to 55 she needs a good personality. From 55 on she needs good cash.” - Sophie Tucker
2. Joan Rivers - In September of 2014, I was devastated when one of my role models, Joan Rivers, passed away. In the days that followed, I noticed on Twitter (where every opinion is welcome but only mine is right) that many, if not most were unfamiliar with her entire legacy. Our generation only knew Joan as some shrieking, hyper-critical shrew with a face pulled tighter than Saran Wrap, but in addition to making A-list celebrities cry, she pioneered what would eventually become modern stand-up comedy. During the mid 1960s, a time when comedy was limited to men in tuxedos standing onstage and making the same tired jokes about their mothers-in-law, Joan did something unheard of: she talked about her own life. From being 30 and single to being considered homely, Joan nearly singlehandedly shaped an entire generation of comedians, male and female, through her original, self-deprecating style of comedy.
"It's been so long since I've had sex that I forgot who ties up who." - Joan Rivers
3. Belle Barth - Belle Barth was a Jewish-American comedienne who hit her stride in the 50s and early 60s. Barth, behind the veneer of a kindly, middle-aged woman, was unendingly vulgar (even by today’s standards) and the source of enough controversy for three careers. During her period of fame, censorship among entertainers was strictly enforced, and due to her material, she was arrested, fined, and multiple charges were brought against her (including a lawsuit for over a million dollars filed by two schoolteachers who claimed that Barth’s comedy permanently damaged their mental and sexual health). Record stores across the country often refused to sell her comedy albums, and when stores did carry them, they were kept in brown paper bags and sold behind the counter like an audible Playboy magazine. Yet despite all of this, she never made a single attempt to clean up her act. She talked openly about sex, how much she enjoyed it, how much other women enjoy it, and she refused to change her stand-up routine to please her critics, giving reserved and frustrated women a voice in post-WWII America.
“Like the girl who swallowed a razor blade. On herself she performed a tonsillectomy, an appendectomy, and a hysterectomy, circumcised her boyfriend and cut the finger of a casual friend.” - Belle Barth
4. Moms Mabley - Moms Mabley was a highly successful comedian for nearly four decades in the early to mid 20th century, despite being an open lesbian and an African-American woman. Her wide popularity stemmed from the combination of her onstage persona (an old, wise, toothless woman) and her material, which was considered shockingly edgy, covering such topics as racial prejudice and an insatiable sexual appetite for younger men (despite her real-life sexual orientation). Mabley’s longevity, longer than many other comedians, regardless of gender or race, is especially inspiring considering the racial climate of the early 20th century, but the fact that her legacy is all but forgotten in today’s cultural lexicon is disappointing.
“A woman’s a woman until the day she dies, but a man’s only a man as long as he CAN.” - Moms Mabley
5. Carol Burnett - AKA the Queen Mother of Comedy. In the late 60s and early 70s, variety shows reigned supreme on every channel (think SNL, only with worse jokes, more celebrities, and a nauseating amount of musical numbers) and from 1967 to 1978, The Carol Burnett Show buried them all. Carol, the first woman to host her own variety show, mopped the floor with the competition with a never-ending parade of guest stars, high-budget musical numbers, and Carol's unbelievably perfect comedic timing (she was basically Kristen Wiig before Kristen was even born).
"Comedy is tragedy plus time." - Carol Burnett
Comedy is all about pushing the envelope (as far as I can tell, but what do I know? I’m in sweatpants writing from bed, not on TV) and comedians constantly find themselves in an exhausting effort to stay ahead of the curve. These women, from Sophie Tucker to Moms Mabley, were all on the front lines of the American social conscience. Women like Belle Barth and Joan Rivers gave a voice to women everywhere, from discussing female sexuality, to a distaste for domesticity, to contempt for the hypocrisy of middle-America in an aggressive manner that was - is - emasculating, demeaning, offensive, and timelessly hilarious. And while all of their stories about sex and housework are expressed through comedy, their underlying message was purely political and dead serious.
