Women in Comedy (Part 1)

One of my all-time favorite comedians is Marsha Warfield. I always thought she was way funnier than most people gave her credit for. She strikes me as one of those people who is usually the smartest person in the room, and thoroughly bored with the rest of us. Most of her counterparts still haven't caught up to her IMO.

I'm taking auditing a class by the same name as this post (minus the part 1 part). The final project is to research and present on (insert title here). My focus is on black female stand-ups. That seems to be the toughest gig in comedy entertainment. I'd like to see a white man try to pull that off.

The instructor asked us to look for black female comics between 1950 and 1970. Don't say Moms Mabley! Here's what I turned up:

Shirley Hemphill
LaWanda Page
Marsha Warfield

Now before you say, "But Beck, Shirley was on 'What's Happening?' and LaWanda was on 'Sanford and Son.'" Well, you should know both ladies got their start in AND stayed with stand-up. LaWanda played clubs everywhere. Did you know she was heralded as the Black Queen of Comedy? Funny, I don't remember that being mentioned in this train wreck. She was also an exotic dancer...go 'head Aunt Esther!

I contacted several one comedian whose site I came across while surfing the net diligently conducting my research. Leighann Lord was kind enough to respond to my query, mentioning Moms, Marsha and Shirley. She also listed Roxie Roker and Marla Gibbs as comedic actresses. Now, to be honest, I wouldn't call myself a huge fan of the Jeffersons (I hated Lionel #2), or 227, but I did honor my membership as a card-carrying Black girl by watching those shows anyway. I just couldn't see Helen being attracted to Tom?! Eww. More on black comedic actresses later. My research focuses on the stand-up.

Happily, Ms. Warfield is still around. She's tweeting and FBing her butt off, in her quest for Queen of America. I hope she starts blogging, if she isn't already. Her writing is sharp, witty, correct and hilarious. Check this out here.

Note to Ms.Warfield: I'm such a fan of yours, I've gotten back together with Kofe. Albeit a FB-With-Benefits situation, so he doesn't try to overwhelm me with a bunch of poking and shoving and shitty computer games. This time, it's FB booty calls only.

If you know of any black female stand-up comics, between 1950 and 1970, please leave a comment. More to come on Women in Comedy! In the meantime, check out Marsha roasting Tommy Chong!