Recipe for Comedic Success (and its many added notes)

For my multimodal project, I created a “Recipe for Comedic Success”, which you can see at the bottom of this reflection. My “Recipe for Comedic Success” reflects a reality in the comedy world: what can work for straight white men is not the same as what works for women and other marginalized groups.

I did some background research on the differences between sets done by male and female comedians, as well as who is most ridiculed by male comedians. I read the works by Ali Wong, Fanny Fern, and Phoebe Robinson in order to come up with examples for three main parts to my conclusion.

First, marginalized groups have to be able to tell jokes about the opposite gender differently. In Ali Wong’s book Dear Girls, when she talks about giving birth to her oldest daughter, Mari, all her husband can say to her when she says anything is, “Okay.” It’s a twist on the “she’s just complaining” trope; instead of her complaining about something and him just agreeing to stay out of trouble, he wants her to be happy because it makes him happy. Fanny Fern made her own husband seem disconnected and almost absent from their family. She wanted to make the point that while women are often criticized for “not doing enough”, the husbands are the ones that needed to put in more effort.

Second, marginalized groups have to be aware of preconceived notions the audience already has about them.  Phoebe Robinson struggled with staying true to herself while performing in front of a judging panel. They wanted to piss her off for better ratings. She not only had to maneuver through questions about her appearance, but she had to keep calm in order to avoid making a scene, which would have “proven them right”.

Third, physical appearance matters. Robinson’s performance would be an easy example here, but so would Wong’s Netflix specials. When she performed in both of her comedy specials, she wore a tight dress to show off her stomach. Normally, women in comedy shy away from showing off their bodies in ways that they think are “unflattering” because they want the audience to take them seriously. However, Wong makes the implicit point that if people are going to stare at her, she might as well give them something to look at.

So why is any of this important? Being a part of the dominant group in comedy allows for more freedom in expression, especially in jokes and appearances. When a comedian comes from a marginalized background, the topics and expressions are more limited, but in recent times, these same comedians are defying what is expected of them in order to succeed. This is incredibly important when it comes to diversifying comedy and making the audience feel more accepted. The recipe is supposed to show the expectations of the industry, versus what we as a class already know to be true.

I learned that while being funny in comedy is important, without a purpose, a comedian from a marginalized group isn’t going to get very far. Comparing this to a straight, white man, who only needs to look like he’s alive in order to get on stage (that’s an exaggeration—even they have to go through a lot of trial and error, but in comparison to the journey of a black woman in comedy, it seems a heck of a lot easier. My apologies if this was offensive), it seems that most successful comedians from outside the dominant group have to be driven by something, whether it is a cause or someone in their life.

I was surprised by how hard it was to actually write down some of the notes on the recipe. After taking this class, I didn’t want to even think about what other people in comedy might say to marginalized groups about how to perform. The more I wrote, the angrier I got, which I guess was the point.

My favorite part of this project was the research. As someone who despises research, the sources I read were actually really interesting. 

Works Cited

Balirano, Gisueppe, and Delia C. Chiaro. “Queering Laughter? It Was Just a Joke!” De Genere: Journal of Literary, Postcolonial and Gender Studies, no. 2, 2016, pp. 1–9., www.degenere-journal.it/?journal=degenere&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=45.

Boym, Nina. “Aunt Hetty on Matrimony.” The Norton Anthology of American Culture, by Fanny Fern, 1820th-1865th ed., B, W.W. Norton, 2012, pp. 907–908.

Robinson, Phoebe. You Can't Touch My Hair: and Other Things I Still Have to Explain. Plume Book, 2016.

Wong, Ali. DEAR GIRLS: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets and Advice for Living Your Best Life. Random House, New York, 2019.