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BACK ISSUES INTERVIEWS Stand-Up Comedians Jim Norton Robert Kelly Donnell Rawlings Brad Stine Tammy Pescatelli Leighann Lord George Sarris Nick DiPaolo Russ Meneve Shang and more By Tasha Harris, NYC Comedy Journalist STAGE TIME The Magazine That Stands Up For Comedy |
How difficult is it for women to find work in the business?
It’s hard and it’s easy at the same time. It’s hard in the sense that there are way more women
doing comedy now than ever. When I started, there weren’t a lot of women in the city who I could
watch. It was a weird time. There were women but at that point, a lot had gone to L.A., a lot were on
TV shows, but they weren’t in the clubs for me to see like Joy Behar, a big city comic and Angela Fry.
She was the warm-up for The Cosby Show and Caroline’s Comedy Hour. I saw her and then shortly after
that, she went to L.A.
There are way more women now who are actually around. So we’re not discouraged; unfortunately,
we still suffer from the perception and we will not admit this, but they say that women aren’t funny.
When I go into a club and still have people walk up to me and say, “I’ve never seen a female
comic,” I have to wonder how they’re living but they’re sharing their experiences or “Wow, you were
funny for a woman.” I used to get angry but I had to realize that they don’t mean any harm.
They are being as sincere as they can in what they are saying and it’s not their fault. I take the
compliment and try not to get deep.
What fuels that perception unfortunately, is that if you have a show and say there’s one woman or
two women on the show, if one of them is not funny, then suddenly women are not funny. Men do
not suffer from that same perception. In that sense, that makes it harder for us to get past that
perception. God forbid if someone who has dated a female comic and it didn’t end well, then
suddenly all female comics are sluts.
Where it gets easy is the spirit of persistence, the fact that you keep doing it and you keep getting
better. The number of women who are perceived as good is small.
It’s hard and it’s easy at the same time. It’s hard in the sense that there are way more women
doing comedy now than ever. When I started, there weren’t a lot of women in the city who I could
watch. It was a weird time. There were women but at that point, a lot had gone to L.A., a lot were on
TV shows, but they weren’t in the clubs for me to see like Joy Behar, a big city comic and Angela Fry.
She was the warm-up for The Cosby Show and Caroline’s Comedy Hour. I saw her and then shortly after
that, she went to L.A.
There are way more women now who are actually around. So we’re not discouraged; unfortunately,
we still suffer from the perception and we will not admit this, but they say that women aren’t funny.
When I go into a club and still have people walk up to me and say, “I’ve never seen a female
comic,” I have to wonder how they’re living but they’re sharing their experiences or “Wow, you were
funny for a woman.” I used to get angry but I had to realize that they don’t mean any harm.
They are being as sincere as they can in what they are saying and it’s not their fault. I take the
compliment and try not to get deep.
What fuels that perception unfortunately, is that if you have a show and say there’s one woman or
two women on the show, if one of them is not funny, then suddenly women are not funny. Men do
not suffer from that same perception. In that sense, that makes it harder for us to get past that
perception. God forbid if someone who has dated a female comic and it didn’t end well, then
suddenly all female comics are sluts.
Where it gets easy is the spirit of persistence, the fact that you keep doing it and you keep getting
better. The number of women who are perceived as good is small.
What was it like working with George Lucas on
Radioland Murders?
That was amazing. I walked into The Comic Strip one
day and Angel, who used to work there, says, “Hey
Leighann, we just got a call and we’re looking for
funny black women to go audition for this movie.”
I’m like, “okay.” I wasn’t thinking about it.
Here’s where my mind was: I was so focused on
stand up; it was really what I wanted to do. I didn’t
want to be distracted by anything else and I had a
gig after the audition that had a long drive. So all I’m
thinking about is, “I gotta get the hell out of here.”
I walk in and there are lines. I didn’t realize that I
had to have them memorized. The casting director
was Rosalie Joseph....I went into the bathroom and
memorized like crazy. It wasn’t a long scene but I at
least wanted to have it down and I came in, she
turned the camera on and I do it. She shuts the
camera off and she goes, “Wow.”
Radioland Murders?
That was amazing. I walked into The Comic Strip one
day and Angel, who used to work there, says, “Hey
Leighann, we just got a call and we’re looking for
funny black women to go audition for this movie.”
I’m like, “okay.” I wasn’t thinking about it.
Here’s where my mind was: I was so focused on
stand up; it was really what I wanted to do. I didn’t
want to be distracted by anything else and I had a
gig after the audition that had a long drive. So all I’m
thinking about is, “I gotta get the hell out of here.”
I walk in and there are lines. I didn’t realize that I
had to have them memorized. The casting director
was Rosalie Joseph....I went into the bathroom and
memorized like crazy. It wasn’t a long scene but I at
least wanted to have it down and I came in, she
turned the camera on and I do it. She shuts the
camera off and she goes, “Wow.”
And I’m like, “I can go now?” I wasn’t thinking about it. I got the call two days later.
I was so shocked. They flew me there first class, US Air to Wilmington, North Carolina. I was there
for a week. It’s funny, I got there; I walked in to see the wardrobe lady and she goes, “Oh, I didn’t
know you were black. Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were so young.” The role was for a cleaning
lady. I guess she expected Hattie McDaniel to walk in. I’m like, “Well, she’s dead. You got me.”
She’s like running around, trying to find a costume for me. At the time, I had braids. I walked into
hair and makeup and she’s like, “Oh God, can you take those out?” I’m like, “It’s going to take a
while.” So every morning, she’d put the wig on. It was set in 1939 and women didn’t have braids
back then but I was so happy to be there.
I did it; flew home and got the call a couple of months later to come back because George was not
happy with some of the scenes…George re-did some of the scenes personally. There were even
scenes I had originally done. They put me in some other stuff. And he is very persistent, very
demanding – he knows what he wants it; how he wants it and why didn’t it happen already.
But I can only imagine if they’re re-doing scenes, we’re talking about a budget issue and this
movie shouldn’t cost as much as it was. It came out the same week as Pulp Fiction. So, there you
go. Fabulous experience but no one has ever heard of the movie.
I was so shocked. They flew me there first class, US Air to Wilmington, North Carolina. I was there
for a week. It’s funny, I got there; I walked in to see the wardrobe lady and she goes, “Oh, I didn’t
know you were black. Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were so young.” The role was for a cleaning
lady. I guess she expected Hattie McDaniel to walk in. I’m like, “Well, she’s dead. You got me.”
She’s like running around, trying to find a costume for me. At the time, I had braids. I walked into
hair and makeup and she’s like, “Oh God, can you take those out?” I’m like, “It’s going to take a
while.” So every morning, she’d put the wig on. It was set in 1939 and women didn’t have braids
back then but I was so happy to be there.
I did it; flew home and got the call a couple of months later to come back because George was not
happy with some of the scenes…George re-did some of the scenes personally. There were even
scenes I had originally done. They put me in some other stuff. And he is very persistent, very
demanding – he knows what he wants it; how he wants it and why didn’t it happen already.
But I can only imagine if they’re re-doing scenes, we’re talking about a budget issue and this
movie shouldn’t cost as much as it was. It came out the same week as Pulp Fiction. So, there you
go. Fabulous experience but no one has ever heard of the movie.