“Why are we still talking about whether women can be funny?” wonders comedienne extraordinaire Amy Schumer. Well if there was ever a doubt she aims to put it to rest with Trainwreck
There is a truly perplexed look on Amy Schumer’s face when she is asked why she thinks there is such a large group of successful women in comedy right now. ‘As if that is such a big surprise’, her big blue eyes seem to say. “I have never noticed a shortage in funny women,” 34-year old Schumer says firmly and points out that her favorite comedies growing up were I Love Lucy, The Carol Burnett Show and Laverne and Shirley. “It’s a question that comes up a lot – but only in interviews – so it must come from somewhere, but that’s not something that I experienced at all.”
Amy Schumer is one of many talented women in comedy. And apparently their gender is important to the outside world. However, it makes many of these talented comediennes cringe when they are asked what it is like to be a female comedian today. “I kind of understand it,” she says. “It’s such a male dominated field. But if I see a police officer, and it’s a woman, I am curious how it’s different and I understand, but the need to say ‘female comedienne’, I think it’s strange. I would never say, she’s a ‘female police officer’ and people are going to know it’s a woman. Hopefully.” Having said that, there is little doubt that Schumer’s comedy is with a female point of view. Her Inside Amy Schumer, which premiered on Comedy Central in April of 2013 has become a point of reference for feminist issues embedded in hilarious skits like the “Last F**able Day” sketch with Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Patricia Arquette or her repurposing of 12 Angry Men as a jury-room debate about women’s right to self-pleasure.
These sketches have become cultural memes and with the release of the Judd Apatow-directed Trainwreck Schumer is definitely in a moment of grace, but she has also paid her comedy dues. She has been rising steadily since she was fourth on NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2007 and proved she was fearless on the stage of Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen in 2011. Trainwreck is based on her semi-autobiographical screenplay.
“I have really enjoyed being at screenings and hearing the audience laugh” she says about venturing into the movie comedy mainstream. “In standup, you are always working and so people laugh good, and then you are on to the next. But with the movie, it’s really fun to kind of sit back and see that you have made people laugh.” Schumer has not only been labeled a ‘female comedian’ but also a ‘sex comedian’. These labels are kind of related, she suggests.
“I talk about sex probably a lot less than most male comics. I think nobody labels Louie CK that way. My TV-show is called Inside Amy and my first special is titled Mostly Sex Stuff and I do use it as a marketing tool, so I am not like: ‘where is this coming from?’ But if anyone listens to the jokes I am saying, I am saying I have never had anal sex and no one has ever come on my face and I have a pretty boring sex life – almost non-existent at this point – but just a woman bringing up sex is enough for them to be like: ‘oh, she is dirty.’”
There is no doubt, however, that this is a woman on a mission – now that she has a platform to have one.
“I am a feminist! No question!” she confirms with a big nod. “I believe in equality for all people. It’s cool that it happened that way and I am looking at it as an opportunity that I have sort of been pushed to the front of the line, and I am going to take that ball and run with it.”
TC