Standup women
Female comics on the rise in Vancouver area, yet it remains a male-dominated industry
There has never been a time when laughter seemed more important to mental health, and these local comics are more than happy to oblige
Anyone familiar with Shirley Gnome knows that the singing comedian can be crude, rude and really funny. Her latest album, Decoxification, even has a tune titled Nickelback’s Not So Bad. Hilarious!
Gnome is signed to 604 Records. The label happens to be co-owned by Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger. Maybe the song was a contractual obligation?
Gnome is just one of an ever-increasing group of female comics that call the label home and have new records out. At a time when the world needs a good laugh or more, Gnome, Andrea Jin and Randee Neumeyer are happy to deliver.
Along with Yumi Nagashima, Fatima Dhowre and Brittany Lyseng, these women are on top of their game and represent a new wave of Canadian comedy. Their work is a breath of fresh air in a male-dominated industry.
But even the best material can’t stop boorish men from being sexist. One story Jin has incorporated into her act involves a punter telling her she needed to change the way she dressed because her body was distracting.
“He actually thought he was being helpful, it was crazy,” Jin said. “Women get that all the time. But I think the reason there are so many female comics here in B.C. is that we don’t have such a big industry like Toronto, so you can really work without distractions and be your very best.”
Neumeyer attended the Vancouver Film School, studying writing for film and TV. She put her learning to work in 2013 by crafting the offbeat, sometimes-dark comedy she showcases on her upcoming debut album.
She also has a goofy podcast titled So You Ruined the Party Again that she started to “atone for all the times that I’ve done that.” You can get a feel for her material from the show and some insight into how she builds her jokes from experiences. At the time of her interview, she was trying to write a joke about how her uncle groomed her to like Star Wars, which is true, but wasn’t funny yet.
“I originally wanted to be a sitcom writer,” Neumeyer said. “Then in film school I won an interview with Saturday Night Live comedy writer Anne Beatts, who told me that if I wanted to be a comedy writer I would have to put my face out there. I wasn’t terrible when I first started, but I did a lot of shock humour, which a lot of people do when they start.”
A seasoned veteran by comparison, Gnome has been working steadily in comedy. With each album, she says, the earnings improve. But the truth of being a woman in comedy is that it’s still seen as something unusual.
“When I put out my last album, it was 2017 and smack dab in the resurgence of the #MeToo movement, which had started a decade before,” Gnome said. "I was out to promote the work that I’d done and more people wanted to talk about how many times I’d been sexually assaulted as a woman in comedy. Clearly, that’s extremely important, but it wasn’t about the work I do or where it lands in terms of me being, you know, a human being.
“The truth is that we won’t have to do articles like this or talk about our struggles as a marginalized gender in terms of this industry once the scene is an even playing field where we’re equal and considered newsworthy for our work alone.”
The more exposure these comics and their peers get, the more that playing field gets equalled.
Comedy is best when it’s fresh and different. That’s what these three performers are making.
I think the reason there are so many female comics here in B.C. is that we don’t have such a big industry like Toronto, so you can really work without distractions and be your very best.”
Andrea Jin