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If you weren’t aware, it’s still Women’s History Month, a month dedicated to remembering the endeavors of women, past and present. Or, as some call it, “the butt of every male misogynist’s jokes during the month of March.” It’s not easy being a woman. You know that. I know that. Women in almost every industry face challenges that men often don’t. The gender pay gap, workplace sexual harassment, hiring bias, the pink tax, insufficient child care, reproductive rights violations, domestic abuse. You name it, we’ve faced it. Comedy is no exception to the pattern.

When I first started doing comedy millennia ago, I found it difficult to speak up in a writers’ room. As a freshman, I joined “Live From Studio B,” a late-night, student-run sketch comedy show on Syracuse University’s campus. I learned quickly that writers’ rooms are obnoxiously loud, packed with a majority of men who all want their ideas heard at the same exact time. It’s the most terrible, wonderful place filled with the funniest people you’ll ever meet and the worst jokes you’ll ever hear. A writers’ room is a lot of things, but one thing it’s not is a welcoming place for a freshman girl who just learned she could have a career making people laugh.

I remember the first time I ever got a joke picked, another writer came up to me and told me he didn’t think my joke deserved to be in the show. I was absolutely crushed. If this random man didn’t find me funny, who would? Well, it turns out a lot of people. After that, I got jokes on the show every week, and he got pep talks filled with words of “encouragement.” If I had listened to the opinions of that prematurely balding misogynist, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

When you’re a female writer in comedy, you have to fight for your place at the joke table. There’s not an empty chair waiting for you. In fact, you may have to drag a heavy ass metal chair all the way to the table, just for someone to tell you to put it back in the corner. I fought for that seat at the joke table, and I got it. In my junior year of college I was promoted to head writer, the ultimate seat at the table, but that didn’t mean the fight was over.

Being a woman in charge of an overzealous writers’ room isn’t easy. Go too easy on them, you’re not doing your job correctly. Go too hard on them, well then, you must be on your period. Plus, to make things worse, you’re actually on your period. It’s a hard balance between likability and getting the job done. You want to bring out the best in your writers, even if they bring out the worst, most stressed version of you. Liz Lemon almost makes it look easy.

What I’ve appreciated most about my time at the Newhouse School of Public Communications is the guidance I’ve received from my female professors. It’s easy to fall into the baseless mindset of, “This is only happening to me. I’m the only person in the world who faces sexism in the television and film industry.” Then I’m reminded I have a community of women who have spent years working in the industry at my disposal. Female professors who have kicked ass and taken names in this crazy business and have lived to tell the story. Professors Susan-Sojourna Collier, Chase Clifford and Tula Goenka. Successful women who are here to remind me, “Yes, sexism sucks, but it should never stop you from pursuing your passion.”

My advice for women pursuing comedy writing is keep your head up, girlboss. And never let anyone tell you you’re not funny enough.

Published on March 28, 2022 at 8:56 pm