Comedian Iliza Shlesinger went after female comics, gets hell for it

Iliza Shlesinger is a very successful comedian with several TV specials, big theater tours under her belt, and now a new show on Freeform but she kicked a hornet’s nest this week during an interview with Deadline where she talked down every other female comedian working today. Here is the main quote that caused the stir here.

As a comedian, I have a set of morals. I have a specific point of view. I think a lot of what I see out there, out in comedy clubs, watching contests, watching TV, watching movies—gathering data from these different matrixes…

When you’re a woman in comedy and you get a break, people get so excited about it, but while we have to work hard to get that attention, I do think many women think, “Oh if I just act like a guy, if I go for that low hanging fruit…” Everything’s about sex, or how weird I am. It all just kind of runs together.

I could walk into The Improv, close my eyes, and I can’t tell one girl’s act apart from another. That’s not saying that 30-something white guys don’t all sound the same sometimes, but I’m banging my head against the wall because women want to be treated as equals, and we want feminism to be a thing, but it’s really difficult when every woman makes the same point about her vagina, over and over. I think I’m the only woman out there that has a joke about World War II in my set.

I think shock value works well for women, but beyond that, there’s no substance. I want to see what else there is with such complex, smart creatures.

That’s why women like Tina Fey do well. It’s smart, and men can laugh at it, too. I consider myself one of those comics, and quite frankly, I’m appalled by what is expected of women, and what women offer in response in that.

As someone who does comedy and works with many great smart female comics, this feels just out-of-touch. I would not call it an insult but just lacking a connection to what’s really going on. For example, Emily Galati whose been featured on ‘Conan’ has an outstanding World War II joke. So Shlesinger just appears to be over zealous while also being esoteric and dismissive to other female comics who share her same challenges both on stage and off. That’t just my objective take. For the record, Iliza Shlesinger is very funny and entertaining from my seat in the crowd but this is a bummer to read.

Are we enemies? Alright. Dibs on being the Allied Powers. 😁 https://t.co/TaxRiyrEJy

— Emily Galati (@emilygalati) June 16, 2017

To no one’s surprise the Twitter community of other working comedians (both female and male) responded with straight fire on the misguided take on women in comedy. In a Tweet, I can’t re-post here Liza Treyger (who got her start in Chicago) gunned this off: “I’m a better stand up comedian than you will ever be. Save your money cause you a hack.”

Suggesting that female comics should limit what subjects, words, or attitudes they use is just a way of trying to limit female comics.

— Eliza Skinner (@elizaskinner) June 15, 2017

"I think I’m the only woman out there that has a joke about World War II in my set." Have to hawk my CD here- closes on a WW2 callback.

— Laurie Kilmartin (@anylaurie16) June 15, 2017

I, for one, love comics giving wild, shit-talking interviews that throw half the industry under the bus. Why else even give an interview?

— Anthony Jeselnik (@anthonyjeselnik) June 16, 2017