Women Who Kill

I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical about this comedy special, which features short sets by four young female comedians. I love stand-up comedy, but, honestly, aside from Sarah Silverman, Joan Rivers, and sometimes Maria Bamford, I've never found females stand- ups to be very funny. And, I thought, if these women were actually good, why did they need to appear in a special boasting about how much they "kill"? It sounded pretty desperate to me. Also, after watching the nasty, embittered, gender-based comedy of Jen Kirkman recently on Netflix, I was expecting the worst.

But, I was pleasantly surprised. After years of watching almost exclusively middle-age male comics, whom I love--Louis C.K., Bill Burr, Mark Maron, etc.--this was a breath of fresh air. First, and sorry if this seems sexist, but it's nice watching some attractive ladies on stage instead of these fat, balding, middle- aged schleps like Louis C.K. These four women--Amy Schumer, Rachel Feinstein, Nikki Glaser, Marina Franklin--were all beautiful and sexy, and that was a nice change (what can I say, I'm a heterosexual male--sue me).

Second, the content was generally strong. Each set was about 15 minutes and gave a good sense of their respective comedic styles. Amy Schumer led the show. She's sharp, quick, and fairly biting in her sarcasm. She does lots of mistaken meaning jokes, where you think she means something at first, but then she means something else, which is usually sardonic and sometimes shocking ("In Miami, they have these cute little things--Cubans"). Lots of jokes about dating, boyfriends. Some fairly crude jokes (for instance, one about "bleaching" her asshole). And some funny banter with the crowd. Overall, Schumer's a polished performer. She got the show off to a solid start.

Rachel Feinstein was second, and she was terrific. She's razor-sharp and, like Schumer, moves fast. She did the obligatory jokes about men and dating, but it was funny. For instance, she did a bit about how she fears settling down with a pudgy, pussified man, someone with shapely hips, who considers himself a "male feminist" and thinks erections are "aggressive" and whispers reassuring words during sex. She also had some fairly edgy material on race and religion (she's Jewish). But the best part of Feinstein's act was her range of funny voices, which included her mother, who she portrays as a middle-class white woman that wants to be black; an African-American "thug"; and--the funniest--a 1930s child actor, sort of like Shirley Temple, who does mock moralistic rants. Feinstein was the best of the four, I thought.

Nikki Glaser was solid. She's tall, blonde, beautiful, and charming. I didn't think her routine was as fast-paced and energetic as the first two comics. She veered off into rape jokes, which were sort of funny, although I could see how some critics--especially people who demand political rectitude on feminist matters--might accuse her of playing loose and callous with a serious issue. She had a routine about a douchey, drunk, "rapey" guy she met in Las Vegas. She was good, not great, and I thought she lost the crowd a bit.

Finally, Marina Franklin had a pretty good performance. She's black, but grew up in a white neighborhood, which gives her an interesting angle. Although she also talked about men and dating, she generally did it from her perspective as a black female. For instance, she had one funny bit about how she's dating a younger, white man--which makes her not only a "cougar," but a "black panther." She had a terrific closing sequence where she played the part of an inept African-American mother from the ghetto, in which she cleverly mimed the ending. Overall, Franklin was good, although perhaps not as polished as Schumer and Feinstein.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this special. As a fan of stand-up comedy, It was refreshing to see a talented group of young female comics. The humor was edgy, but not politically obnoxious. For once, I wasn't compelled to stare at the likes of Jim Gaffigan's sweaty face and beer gut in exchange for a laugh.