Sophie Griffiths shares her fave funny women
You would be forgiven for thinking that stand-up is a male dominated scene. It does seem that way when the majority of panel shows have male hosts or predominantly white cis male comedians as the guests.
But fear not! We have put together a big ol’ list of queer women in comedy who are hilarious and relatable in their experiences and observations.
If you fancy a giggle, this one’s for you…
1. Suzi Ruffell
Suzi Ruffell is a great queer comedian celebrating her working class roots in the best way possible, stand-up comedy! She’s been performing for over ten years, performing shows at Edinburgh Fringe, and appearing on Mock The Week and 8 Out Of 10 Cats.
She co-hosts the queer podcast, Like Minded Friends, with Tom Allen (which has had me laughing out loud on public transport more than once).
You can catch her all over the UK over the next few months performing her five-star Edinburgh show Nocturnal. Check out this hilarious clip.
2. Jodie Mitchell
New kid on the block, Jodie Mitchell, is on the DIVA radar and we think she’s going to be big.
She’s already competed in the New Comedy Awards 2018, is one half of Secret Dinosaur Cult, co-founder of The LOL Word and performs as John Travulva with Pecs Drag Kings. She also once got chlamydia from a budgie, which just makes her even funnier.
You can catch live recordings of Secret Dinosaur Cult now and again and hopefully she will tour some stand-up in the near future.
Check out this clip of Jodie performing at The Funny Women Awards Final in 2018
3. Rosie Jones
Rosie Jones is a British queer comedian who first performed stand-up comedy without preparation at a friend’s comedy night. She’s since gone onto have a debut show at Edinburgh Festival and is writing her own sitcom.
Her comedic timing is flawless. Set on breaking the stigma around talking about disability, she proves that comedy is about a lot more than just being funny.
Follow her on Twitter @josierones to see what she’s up to and grab tickets if you can! Also, check out this hilarious video.
4. Catherine Bohart
Catherine Bohart is an award-winning comedian, writer and actor. She started performing stand-up in 2015 and since then has enjoyed a rapid rise in the comedy scene.
She’s been described as “a comic with both a distinctive voice and story you’d like to hear”.
Her current show, Immaculate, is all about her life as a bisexual woman with OCD and being the daughter of a Catholic deacon.
You can watch this hilarious video of her and her girlfriend (fellow comic Sarah Keyworth) to get you started. We’re sure you’ll love her.
5. Mae Martin
Mae Martin is Canada’s sweetest export and has been performing comedy since she was just 13 years old.
She has had a BBC Radio 4 podcast Mae Martin’s Guide To 21st Century Sexuality, which is now being turned into a book, Can Everyone Please Calm Down? We can’t wait to read it when it comes out in May.
You can also catch her show, Dope, on the Netflix show Comedians Of The World, which is brilliantly funny and relatable.
6. Sophie Duker
Sophie describes herself as a “sexy-cerebral comedy underdog” and we can see why. Her fanbase is quickly growing and we’re included.
You may know her for founding and hosting Manic Pixie Dream Girls, an international, intersectional feminist comedy show that appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe a few years ago.
Since last year, she’s also been hosting Wacky Racists, a comedy cabaret game-show. We’re sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of her as she’s been writing plenty of shows and comedy pilots for the likes of Channel 4 and Comedy Central UK.
Follow her on Twitter @sophiedukebox to check out what she’s up to or where you can catch her shows.
7. Chloe Petts
Chloe Petts has established herself as one of the most exciting new acts on the circuit right now. She is an alumna of the prestigious Pleasance Comedy Reserve, shortlisted for the BBC Comedy Award and came runner-up in the Funny Women Awards 2017.
She is a co-founder of The LOL Word, a queer comedy collective that hosts sell-out monthly London nights, boasting the finest female and non-binary acts on the circuit.
Follow her Twitter @ChloePetts to see what she’s up to and how you can grab tickets to any shows she’s involved in. Also, check out this hilarious video of her stand-up.
8. Florence Schecter
Florence Schecter is the woman behind the UK’s first Vagina Museum, which of course qualifies her for this list. The museum will promote LGBTQI rights as Florence stated in an interview “if I were living in one of the world’s 12 countries with death penalties for gay people, I too would have been sentenced to death” as she is a queer Jewish woman.
On top of that, she’s a brilliant stand-up comic and science communications professional in her 20s. I managed to catch her show Queer By Nature at Vault Festival, here’s a taste online that you can check out. She’s wonderful.
9. Gina Yashere
Gina has been a stand-up and TV star in the UK for a while, appearing on shows such as Live At The Apollo and Mock The Week. Gina broke her way onto the American comedy scene with her appearances on Last Comic Standing, where she made it to the final 10 and never went home!
Last year, she released her own Netflix Original Comedy Special which she wrote and performed called Skinny Bitch. You can also find her show Laughing To America on there along with her performance for The Standups.
Check out this hilarious video of Gina talking about her mum.
10. Jen Brister
Jen Brister is a critically acclaimed stand-up comedian, writer and actor and a mother of twins.
You can hear Jen being hilarious on her podcast Maureen & Jen with fellow comedian Maureen Younger here: soundcloud.com/jen-brister
She might be recognisable from her Live At The Apollo appearance in 2017 and her guest spots on the Guilty Feminist, Standard Issue podcast and Global Pillage.
11. Sofie Hagen
Sofie Hagen truly is the podcast queen right now. She is the hilarious host of Made of Human, Secret Dinosaur Cult and Comedians Telling Stuff, and previously co-hosted The Guilty Feminist.
Her new show Bubblewrap/Happy Fat is a book and stand-up comedy tour combined, and we’re positive it’s going to be hilarious. She’s also obsessed with Westlife, but we can forgive her for that.
Check out Sofie’s definition of feminism here and you’ll see why we love her.
12. Rosie Wilby
Rosie Wilby is a DIVA favourite, of course. She hosts Radio DIVA every Tuesday at half 6 at 104.4FM alongside Heather Peace, whilst also focussing on comedy, music, writing and broadcasting.
She’s performed as a comedian and as a musician all over – at Sydney Mardi Gras, Latitude Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Ronnie Scotts, and that’s just to name a few.
Make sure you tune into Radio DIVA every Tuesday if you want to find out about any of Rosie’s upcoming shows and you’ll be probably fall just as in love with her as we have.
This list really could go on forever. There’s so many brilliantly funny queer women dominating the comedy scene right now, but this is just some to get you started. Let us know who your favourites are!
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