That Time of The Month is Guelph’s newest stand-up comedy show. The show premiered on Mon. Dec. 14, 2015 at 8:30 p.m., and is slotted for the second Monday of every month at The Cornerstone (that cool vegetarian/vegan restaurant at 1 Wyndham Street N.). Produced by Erinn White, Natalie Norman, and The Making-Box, the show features performers who identify as women and is promoted as feminist and LGBTQ+; the only rule being “no rape jokes.”
Feminist. Feminism. Talk about an F-word. When Erinn asked me to do an opening spot on this show I asked her a lot of questions because I think that feminism can have multiple meanings for different people and I didn’t want to sign up to do something, totally miss the mark, and disappoint these funny women. The last women’s show I did, I got so nervous about what kind of statement I was supposed to be making that I just stood on stage staring blankly at the audience for a minute that felt like an hour. Time really slows down when you’re imagining the ground opening up and swallowing you whole.
The topic of women in stand-up comedy is insightfully discussed in Joanne R. Gilbert’s Performing Marginality: Humor, Gender, and Cultural Critique. In her book, Gilbert explains, “To some, the very fact that women got up onstage alone and took up time and space makes this a ‘feminist’ act. To others, only humor in which patriarchal norms are overtly attacked qualifies as ‘feminist.’” When I asked Erinn about feminist stand-up comedy she responded with, “I think comedy is a space women can use to challenge inequity. We can push against gender assumptions and norms in our creative work. We can show different views of the world and advocate for a better society.”
Since I’m a worrier, I am also worried about exclusion—calling this a feminist show and then only having performers who identify as women seems to imply that only women can be feminists. If equality is to be attained, then the marginalized group alone can’t seek it out. I asked Erinn if we need a women’s show in Guelph. If it’s a feminist show then maybe the constraints should be about the material and not about the performers’ gender identification? She responded, “There is a different mood and space that you create when you book a women’s show.” And, she’s right. Maybe I worry too much because Erinn also tells me that, “the idea of an all-woman comedy space was warmly welcomed here in Guelph. Comics are eager to do the show. And the audience loves it—we sold out the first show in about a week.”
From what I observed myself, the audience did love it and it was a great evening, filled with laughter, rap skills, singing skills, more laughter, and positivity. The Cornerstone, rigged out like a comedy club, was cozy and warm. The audience was engaged and supportive. Our host for the evening was Natalie Norman, the openers were Aisha Brown, Celeste Yim, Erinn White, and myself, and our headliner was the very funny Chantel Marostica, who has headlined the The Winnipeg Comedy Festival and opened for Russell Peters.
The more I think about the concept of a women’s show, the more it makes sense because women are so underrepresented in stand-up. According to an article found in the Anthropological Quarterly written by Susan Seizer, “on the club circuit, women account for only between two to five percent of working comics.” This means that on any day of the week, I can go to a comedy club—or more accurately, a random coffee shop or bar rigged out with a microphone stand and a stool—and watch a men’s stand-up comedy show. No one thinks that a statement is being made by men’s shows because traditionally, stand-up comedy is the domain of men. Perhaps the simplest answer to all my worries over a feminist, all-women stand-up comedy show is that when a women’s show sounds as preposterous as a men’s show, then maybe we won’t need a special space for ourselves anymore. In the meantime, Guelph has That Time of The Month.