THEY SAY LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE...

Think back to the last time a joke hit the sweet spot – did you lose all sense of decorum? Perhaps it was a cackle in line for coffee, a fit of giggles mid-pilates or an eruption of laughter so loud it startled an entire carriage of commuters. That’s the power of good comedy.

But a comedian’s role is so much more than making people laugh. They also ask hard questions, opening the floor to topics that make us feel uncomfortable in order to hold up a mirror to society. Take John Oliver’s view on the same-sex marriage postal survey (“It’s the weirdest waste of Australian money since every Baz Luhrmann movie ever made”), or an SNL sketch on the recent allegations made against Aziz Ansari (a dinner party chat turns awkward after someone tries to broach the much-debated area of sexual assault, with cast member Kate Mckinnon tiptoeing around her words to a resounding chorus of “Carefuuuul”).

Comedy is also evolving at warp speed. From podcasts and viral videos to Twitter parody accounts and reactive memes, comedy is everywhere and it’s thriving. As our collective consciousness continues to rise, audiences are demanding more laughs, more diversity and more opinions. But in an age where it’s easier than ever for a comment to be taken out of context or trigger the fury of an online lynch mob, it’s comedians who are in the firing line, making it an often thankless and unforgiving existence that isn’t for the faint-hearted.

Being a woman in comedy? That takes balls. But their voices are louder and reaching further than ever before. Amy Schumer became the first woman to crack Forbes’ highest-paid comedians list in 2016. Closer to home, Australia’s own Hannah Gadsby had her critically acclaimed swan song Nanette picked up by Netflix (despite the fact that she’s announced her retirement).

We think Samantha Bee says it best: “Ladies, your jokes about Gilmore Girls and yeast infections and what it feels like to be angry all the fucking time are great... Because somewhere out there, there’s a woman who works at a bank who got a dick flashed at her in a meeting she wasn’t allowed to talk in. And when she gets off work tonight, she wants you to make her laugh about it.” Loss of decorum? Check.

So meet Australia’s brightest and bravest women in comedy – from actors and stand-ups, to writers and producers. Whether you’re in search of inspiration, good advice or just a moment’s relief from a shitty day, they’re serving it with a side of laughs.