The last few weeks has seen a spate of shows dominated by female comedians as well as their increased appearances on panel shows. It has been long overdue. What’s more it hasn’t been entirely the ‘usual suspects’. Sara Pascoe and Katherine Ryan are brilliant but it’s great to see new talent rising to the top as well.
Three weeks in and Comedy Central’s, Yesterday, Today and the Day Before #YTATDB has exposed the talents of Maise Adam, Jayde Adams, Catherine Bohart, Sophie Duker, Ria Lina and Suzi Ruffell. They are very funny ladies and #YTATDB is giving them the chance to prove it to an audience that may not have seen them on #MTW (one day Jayde, one day) or their stand-up sets.
Sisters are certainly doing it for themselves. Rose Matafeo’s ‘Starstruck’ is a terrific example of taking the initiative following on from Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s hugely successful, Fleabag. Not to mention We Are Lady Parts, well actually I will mention it because it is outstanding and sure to sweep up loads of awards.
There’s plenty more to look forward to with a second series of Starstruck in production; Sophie Willan’s BAFTA award winning Alma’s Not Normal having wrapped: a second series of Daisy Haggard’s Back To Life as well as Aisling Bea’s, This Way Up.
All the major TV channels and streamers have pledged their commitment to developing and promoting female led productions with BBC Scotland recently announcing a series of new productions featuring female talent (see post 26/5). What’s more it’s happening on both sides of the pond. We can look forward to seeing a raft of new US and Canadian produced sitcoms and dramedies hitting out screens in the not too distant future.
This may be the age of Ultron but it is equally the age of the female comedian, writer and director.