The funny women who made comedy history

It’s hardly a radical concept that women can be funny, but for many years, men dominated the comedy circuit. ‘We could name every single other woman in comedy when we started out, which was about three others,’ Dawn French said of her early career with Jennifer Saunders.

Fast forward 30 years and witty women are having the last laugh. They’re snapping up awards for their side-splitting shows – Sharon Horgan’s much-loved sitcom Motherland scooped this year’s BAFTA for Best Scripted Comedy – and showing off their stand-up sets on global platforms such as Netflix. They’ve even brought humour to blockbuster movies, with Phoebe Waller-bridge adding her golden touch to the script of 2021’s No Time To Die.

It’s thanks to the tireless talent and funny bones of these trailblazers that the comedy game has changed for good.

COMEDY PIONEER

VICTORIA WOOD It’s hardly surprising that the likes of Sarah Millican, Jenny Eclair and Caitlin Moran have all credited the late comedian with kicking off their careers. Victoria’s talent for mocking the mundane and finding humour in everywoman characters shone through in her self-penned shows, from Wood And Walters to the Bafta-laden Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV and Dinnerladies.

PARODY MAGIC

FRENCH AND SAUNDERS When Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders launched their eponymous sketch show in 1987, they didn’t just prove that women could do comedy double acts à la Morecambe and Wise – they created a whole new genre with their side-splitting spoofs and satires of popular culture. Seventeen years on from the final episode, we’re still holding out hope for a reunion.

ROYALLY FUNNY

MEERA SYAL Making fun of the stereotypes placed on British Asians might not sound like an obvious way to make people laugh, but Meera had the nation chucking with her outlandish characters on Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At No 42. Her talents even carry the royal seal of approval, with The Queen reportedly citing the latter as her favourite TV show.

PUNTASTIC PAIR

MEL AND SUE Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins kept a nation entertained on their lunch breaks when they landed their big break on Channel 4’s Light Lunch. But it wasn’t until 2010, when they debuted as hosts of The Great British Bake Off, that they proved their lasting impact on a generation of innuendo-loving comedians.

QUEEN OF UNCOOL

MIRANDA HART Miranda was 26 and working as a PA before plucking up the courage to tell her parents she wanted to be a comedian. Her much-loved title character in Miranda – the awkward, 6ft 1in woman who has blown her inheritance on a joke shop – was as lovable as she was funny. Hollywood then came knocking, with the 2015 comedy film Spy.