Letters to the Editor
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mmmMaya
Just thinking about that pout makes me want to rub one off.
But seriously, the old lament used to be that pretty girls could not become successful comediennes. Not that it was ever true. Now the complain is that ugly ones can't. Not true either.
Why not just go with the flow? I am sure if you parsed and analyzed male comedians over time, you too would find patterns, eras when only certain types of comedians prevailed.
But men don't go ape over such imagined limitations.
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sorry, this is not a gender issue...
This is a looks issue with comedy in general. Who was Dane Cook before he lost 100 lbs (or whatever it was)?
Your options these days, as a comedian, are:
Be a hot guy.
Be a hot woman.
Be a minority who exclusively does material about how wacky/crazy/zany/sad/poignant it is to be said minority.
Sure, Roseanne wouldn't survive on TV these days, but neither would Louie Anderson.
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Hot? Now that's funny.
Referring to Tina Fey as "hot" reminds me of the weight loss commercials where average looking women are kvelling over each other about how sexy, great, and beautiful they look. Of course, there's not a guy to be found amidst the ogle-fest.
Look, I'm a woman and even I can figure out that Tina Fey is not "hot." I think it's kind of sad to feel the need to describe her as such. She's plenty worthy without the empty flattery.
And about Rosanne Barr? I watch reruns of that old show and laugh my ass off at every one.
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Samantha
What, no love for Samantha Bee?
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Tina Fey Hot? Not!
Tina Fey is a decent-looking woman and a really great wit, but she is not "not" (at least from a hetero male POV). Neither is Lisa Lampanelli. However, Ms. Wiig and Ms. Handler are (relatively) hot. Oh, and let's not forget Julia Louis Dreyfuss, the QUEEN of attractive / funny women!
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Hot or not?
Tina Fey: Hot
the rest of them: warmish
Hot is in the eye of the beholder.
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What is hot and what is not?
For my money, Fey is one of the most desirable women on the planet.
Well, now. I have to admit that before reading this article I had never heard of Tina Fey, so I had to look at some photographs. I looked at 20 or 30 photos, and there was nothing in any of them to suggest that the woman is in any way "hot" if hot is defined as having a sexually attractive appearance.
She is average looking at best.
However, I have never seen her perform, and if the author of this piece finds Ms. Fey to be one of the most desirable women on the planet, it is clearly because of the personality she projects when she performs, and because she is funny.
When people are stars, other people say things like "Obama we love you" or "Tina Fey is so hot". We love the performance, and then we think we love the person.
Artie Shaw, brilliant bandleader and pop star of his day had a story about this. (He was married to both Lana Turner and Ava Gardner, plus several other women.) He said: "You meet this gorgeous creature, and she says she is in love with you, so how can you possibly resist? So you get married and then you find that neither of you is the person the other thought they were. Then you split"
So my guess is that any comedienne who is really funny and original will seem "hot" when you fall in love with her act.
This is a bit like that recurring riff about singers and how Ella Fitzgerald would never have made it big these days. Of course she would. She would have had dieticians, and dentistry, fashion consultants, hair stylists, personal trainers, the whole works supplied to her if she had the talent, which clearly she did. Look how a plain, awkward mousy girl like Diana Spencer became Princess Di. She had the virgin womb, everything else could be built around that.
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Funny and Sexy (or whatever)
In the late seventies, a woman friend of mine said that in her opinion Bill Murray was the sexiest man alive. I said, "Huh?" and she said, "He's really, really funny and he's really, really smart."
In the moment, I realized why I thought Lily Tomlin was so attractive.
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On women and humor
The idea that women aren't funny has always puzzled me, because it seems so at odds with my own experiences.
My theory is this (in a major generality of course): Men try to make women laugh. Women try to make women laugh. Women do not try to make men laugh. Thus, men have a perception that women aren't funny, a perception that is not generally shared by women. Men have no idea how funny women are when men aren't around.
I have also noticed (and I believe others who have studied the subject have come to similar conclusions) that men and women try to evoke laughter in different ways. Men are more inclined to the snappy one liner designed to evoke a quick surprised laugh in a group setting. Women are more inclined to tell lengthy anecdotes filled with ever-more hilarious details to the point that their friends are crying with laughter. I have been reduced to tears of laughter by women, but never by a man.
Why don't women try to make men laugh as much? I couldn't say. (I myself actually do go for the male-style one-liner in group settings.) I think it has a lot to do with the reasons that women don't tend to hold forth with lengthy anecdotes in mixed company. I personally love making men laugh but that goes back to the one-of-the-guys persona I adopted in high school.
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True Story
When Tina Fey was doing Weekend Update, me and my best friend would wait until it was over before heading out for the evening.
why?
Cause dude, she's HAWT! (yep, that's even more than "hot") and hilarious!
Even my girlfriend, who quite frankly can't understand for the life of her all my random celebrity crushes, has to concede that yes, Tina Fey is hot, and smart, and cool.