This year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival has had the highest number of female performances in the show’s history with almost a quarter of the acts featuring women.
Out of the 478 shows being performed over the course of the month, 147 of the shows feature women. This figure has escalated each year since the festival started in 1987.
This rise in female comedians has correlated with the increase in popularity of celebrity female comedians such as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, as well as the trend in women produced tv shows like Girls (Lena Dunham) and The Mindy Project (Mindy Kaling).
Comedian Erin Melville who’s performing her show Here Come the Girls at this year’s festival says the increase in females breaking into the male-dominated industry this year is because “there’s nothing stopping women. It’s 2013.
“Women are saying ‘stuff it’, if I wanna do it, I’m gonna do it.
Ms Melville said that the growing “sisterhood” in the Melbourne comedy circuit has been encouraging for women who are starting out in the industry.
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has been running an all-female performance night, Upfront, since 1995 which showcases the top female comedians from across the globe. Here Come the Girls is a similar performance that started in 2012, showcasing different female comedians each night the show runs.
“The show gives women the chance to be the main focus.
“Funny’s funny regardless of whether you’re a boy or a girl.”
Comedian Lauren Bok who’s performing in a comedy duo, Sullivan & Bok at next week’s festival said, “comedy will always be a boys club”, and “chick comics will always be on the outer.
“I can’t stop people thinking what they want to think. I’ll do [my show] anyway”
Ms Bok said that society is divided by a “gender binary”, which can “limit performances at times.
“Audiences are going to come in with preconceived notions [of male and female roles]
Ms Bok believes that the rate of female comics will continue to rise as “traditional overriding structures” change over time. She says,
“Men and women are not the same, but we are equal.”
Click here to find out more about Erin Melville’s show Here Come the Girls
Click here to find about more about Lauren Bok’s show Sullivan & Bok
