Comedians: The Subtle Acts of Change
By Sophie Zucker
It was February 2020, and the snow was coming down outside. The air was chilly, but the basement was warm and inviting. There we sat, 120 comedy-loving individuals of all ages at the local comedy bar in Alphabet City. For the next 90 minutes, we belly laughed until tears came from our eyes and our cheeks hurt from smiling. Unbeknownst to me, it would be the last time that I went to a comedy show or sat knee-to-knee with 119 other strangers in a crowded basement for a very long time.
Since that evening, the role of comedy in my life has been as equally profound, although it’s has taken on a new form. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary purpose of comedy shows was to entertain. The novel coronavirus has transformed the ways that we access entertainment, and our ability to interact with the entertainers up close. For this reason, comedy has assumed an additional purpose: education. While it’s true that comedy was used as a vehicle for political and ethical discussions prior to the pandemic, these conversations are even more important now.
At the forefront of this conversation is Julie Nolke, a Canadian comedian, actress and writer who champions change by promoting feminism and the Black Lives Matter movement through her short skits on YouTube. Nolke is a passionate advocate for equal rights for all and is a generous contributor to the George Floyd Memorial Fund. She is best known for her skit titled “Are We Bad Feminists?”, and her ongoing five-part series called “Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self,” but continues to upload hilarious shorts across a broad range of topics weekly.
[1] In an interview with Maclean’s, a Canadian news magazine, Nolke spoke about the inspiration for her YouTube channel .
“I want to debunk this idea that women aren’t funny. I think you can not only be a funny woman, but you can talk about things from a woman’s perspective and have it be funny. That’s the main mantra of the channel.”
In a niche, male-dominated profession like comedy, there is an ongoing need for women to make their presence known, if we are to ever receive the same respect and equally large audiences as our male counterparts. Within the last decade, there have been numerous articles, publications, and even a BBC study on why “women aren’t funny,” “men are funnier than women,” and “why men don’t like funny women.” Since its origin, comedy has proved to be a gendered form of entertainment and has maintained parts of these inherently masculine roots.
[2] The first evidence of comedy dates back to the mid-19th century in England, when the most popular comedians were white heterosexual males. The term “stand-up comedy” did not emerge until the early 20th century, when it was coined to describe solo performances by a single artist who spoke directly to an audience in an unconstrained manner.
In the United States, Vaudeville was a type of theatrical entertainment that included a mixture of comedy combined with burlesque singing and dancing and was popular during the roaring twenties. A Vaudeville star named Frank Fay was labeled the likely first “stand-up” comedian for his ability to quickly improvise jokes and skits on the spot in between shows [3]. When comedy gained momentum during the late twenties and into the thirties with the introduction of black and white short films, these performances were, again, populated with white men.
It wasn’t until the 1951 release of the renowned TV show I Love Lucy, that women were recognized for having tasteful humor. Although TV show star Lucille Ball wasn’t a stand-up comedian or improviser, she was the genius of physical comedy and expressions, which made her character irresistible. Since then, comedy has evolved to be more inclusive of genders, races and sexualities, but is still overwhelmingly dominated by the same familiar faces such as Dave Chappelle and Eric Andre, and late-night talk show hosts like James Cordon, Jimmy Fallon, and Steven Colbert.
In this masculine-saturated industry, female comedians are confronted with the challenge of making themselves heard and proving themselves as credible entertainers. Stand-up comedy is also a form of entertainment that labels women as inferior performers before they even step out on stage (or in front of the camera). Against all odds, YouTube famous comedian Julie Nolke is altering the way that Western society looks at women in comedy and is using her platform to conquer the negative stereotypes surrounding female comedians.
In her 2019 entry to the Buffer Film Festival in Ontario, Canada, Nolke and a good friend are sitting on a couch over charcuterie and wine, trying to open a pickle jar. We see the women muster all their strength, but still, the jar remains unopened. Feeling defeated, the women sit back on the couch, and start pondering what to do about it. Nolke sighs and says, “I’m not going to let this phase us. This is just another class ceiling to break through.” It then becomes apparent that the pickle jar is a metaphor for the all barriers that women face in modern day society. Her friend replies, “a man totally designed it to keep us down…so that men could feel useful!” The women then become angry and contemplate destroying the pickle industry in its entirety.
After a moment, Nolke says that she feels guilty, as if she’s letting everyone down. “Our grandmothers got us the vote and our mothers fought for equal pay. This is my equal pay and you think I can’t open it?” This line embodies the frustration and defeat that women have felt for centuries when trying to assert themselves in the face of adversity. Once the two women finally agree that it is not their place to open the jar, and that they would resort to being housewives, the lid of the jar pops off.
This skit is a very accurate and powerful analogy of the women’s struggle for equal rights. The display of emotion in the video leads us through a chronological timeline of the women’s movement, first starting with determination and passion, then followed by feelings of exhaustion and defeat, and finally ending with a victory at a moment when victory was least expected. The skit perfectly cultivated humor and cleverness while simultaneously delivering thoughtful commentary on the role of women in society and debunking the stereotype that women cannot be funny. It is clear from this skit that Nolke is redefining the standard for women as comedians, a powerful lead that is greatly contributing to social change.
Julie Nolke is also delivering news coverage on the controversial topic of Black Lives Matter. She does so in a way that is sensitive to her viewer’s opinions and backgrounds, but also articulates the need for change in a society that embodies institutionalized racism. In part two of her five-part series titled “Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self,” Julie from June of 2020 is sitting across the table with a version of her own self from the past, Julie from April 2020. At the time that this video was uploaded, the mass protests around the world in honor of George Floyd had grown so violent that many cities in the United States called for city-wide curfews.
In the video, Julie from April begs to hear some good news. In response, Julie from June tells her that “people have been protesting…with assault rifles.” April Julie appears shocked, and asks why the police aren’t involved, as it’s their duty to protect the health and well-being of every citizen (since in April of 2020, the protests had not yet commenced.) June Julie cuts her off mid-sentence with an upturned frown, and tells April Julie not to go there, as “…shit hits the fan.” An innocent Julie from April asks her future self what to do, and June Julie replies “it gets pretty grim, and overwhelming… if I’m here to give you advice, it would be to say that [we] are a person of privilege, and it’s our job to use our voice. That’s a responsibility we have. You don’t have to wait for a crisis to step up. We can’t change the past, but we can help to make the future better.”
This is another example of how Nolke uses her YouTube channel as a vehicle for news coverage, while simultaneously showing that she is a passionate ally for Black Lives Matter. Instead of ignoring the issue because it is “too taboo” or “too sensitive a subject matter,” she confronts the topic that is incredibly relevant in our nation and uses her platform to educate others on how they, too, can be an ally for black lives.
Although the subjects of black rights and women’s rights in a white, patriarchal society have long since been acknowledged, there is an increasing need to have these conversations in our Western culture. Arguably, this need has been bolstered due to the pandemic, and due to the fact that we have not been able to surround ourselves with our friends and family. Even in protest, there was caution against hugging one another in victory, or consoling each other in loss.
In a pandemic-ridden world that is now almost completely digital, we cannot peacefully protest without being scrutinized for taking down our masks or wanting to walk with our neighbors. We cannot attend support groups or look each other in the eye and discuss what it means to hold one another accountable for our words and actions. At best, we can meet virtually from the safety of our homes and send our friends and family links to educational resources or black and female-owned businesses.
The lack of human interaction over the last 14 months has been crippling, regardless of one’s age, gender, race, ability, sexual orientation, etc. In a time when we are unable to laugh side-by-side with our loved ones, and discuss important issues with our opposers, there exists a need for comedy. As I’ve explored in this post, comedy is a mechanism that we may use to spread awareness, educate ourselves and our loved ones, and of course, to laugh. Comedy is a call to action, as it is subtly asking us “what can you do to make a difference?” In this sense, comedy is enabling the necessary discussion of controversial topics like racism and feminism, or a lack thereof, and is asking each and every viewer to ignite their own voice and to contribute to social change.
It is more than a pure form of entertainment, but a subtle way of delivering tough news and current events and making them a bit easier to swallow. It is revolutionary, in that it destroys the idea of “taboo,” or “risqué.” Above all, comedy still exists for us to gather side by side, and belly laugh until tears run down our faces.
Additional Sources:
Note: Julie Nolke’s YouTube channel, and all videos referenced are hot linked in the post. All other sources are cited below.
[1] https://www.macleans.ca/culture/julie-nolke-explained-pandemic-past-self/
[2] https://www.britannica.com/art/stand-up-comedy
[3] https://cleancomedians.com/the-history-of-comedy-1920-to-2020/
