I'm so excited to return to Boston for the Women in Comedy festival. Last year it was a wonderful experience. It gave rise to the feminist inside of me with a fiery phoenix-like birth. I love seeing hilarious women supporting each other personally and artistically.
Straddling March 21-25, the festival showcases authentically funny women and men in stand up, sketch, improv, and storytelling comedy. My favorite thing about the festival last year was seeing so many strong, intelligent women on stage who didn't need to turn themselves into a sexual object or dumb themselves down to get a laugh. The WICF does something amazing for promoting and empowering funny women.
A lot of people have discussed diversity in comedy this year and there's been drama and controversy surrounding booking on television and otherwise. The issue of whether women are funny or some subgenre of comedy now seems pedestrian. Whenever someone says, "You're funny for a girl," I'm like, "You're embarrassing yourself." (Except I don't say it out loud: I say it in my head to myself and then blog about it later.) There have been many funny break-out artists this year spanning gender and sexuality in every genre of comedy. Subsequently, it follows that WICF doesn't have a lineup of comics who are "funny for a girl," but simply an amazing, strong lineup of hilarious, acclaimed comics from all over the country.
I especially can't wait to see Wendy Liebman, who is one of the comedians that inspired me to try stand up. I love how clever and witty her one liners are. She is known for garden path sentences that twist and surprise the audience. Last time I saw her I laughed out loud at practically every punchline. (And since she has a punchline every 10 seconds my stomach hurts by the end of the show.) She inspires me to be a tighter joke writer and I love how sweet her stage presence seems. She's definitely one of the most established and funniest headliners I've ever seen.
I'm also excited to see Erin Judge, Carol Leifer, Hillary Buckholtz, Alice Wetterlund, Maggie Maye, Janine Brito and so many more. In its fourth consecutive year of awesomeness, WICF is a wonderful comedic event that highlights some of the most unique women in performance art.