Written by Rachel Redfern.

On the subject of female comediennes, A.O. Scott, New York Times movie critic, recently wrote, “The ‘can women be funny?’ pseudo-debate of a few years ago, ridiculous at the time, has been settled so decisively it’s as if it never happened…The real issue, in any case, was never the ability of women to get a laugh but rather their right to be as honest as men.” I love A.O. Scott and his writing is brilliant, and I agree with him—the “can women be funny?” argument is a weird pseudo-debate that managed to gain traction on the big world of the web.

However, I disagree slightly. I don’t think its as if the debate never happened, because for some insane reason, women have to keep proving that they are funny. Studies have been done to discover why woman might not be perceived as humorous as men and documentaries have explored the topic with famous comedians. Why people seem to believe that there aren’t funny women out there when there seem to be a million examples of hard-working funny women producing and creating funny material everyday, remains a strangely resilient, sexist mystery.

I mean SNL has been a hot spot for female comediennes for about 30 years—have people not noticed that a staple of modern comedy has been staffed by women for a LONG time?

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler: the two incredibly popular, insanely talented funny women just sort of rule over popular comedy on TV—did you see them host the Golden Globes when they were awesome and made fun of George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, made out with Bono (who makes out with Bono?) and cross-dressed. No one could ever deny that those two women aren’t talented and ridiculously hard working. Both of them write and produce TV shows and movies all the time. Do you know how hard that is? To write a full-length feature film and multiple episodes of TV shows? Oh, and books. I’ve been working on a novel for like five years and it’s still not finished.

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Betty White

How about Betty White, who remains awesome and hilarious and could probably beat me in a 5K and she’s 83.

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Julia Louis-Dreyfuss

There’s also Julia Louis-Dreyfuss who just racks up awards for TV comedy (also an alumni of SNL) and has been producing fantastic comedy since 1987 (longer than most of our readership has been alive). She’s an all-around comedienne whose portrayal of a self-centered, out of touch, Vice President of the United States of America on VEEP is absolutely spot on and fantastic. I love that she can portray someone so unlikeable and still make us love her.

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Fran Drescher

I know that she’s probably not on many “funny women lists,” but she should be. Drescher is not only a writer, producer, and actress (The Nanny, The Simpsons, Thank God You’re Here, Living With Fran), she’s also one of the strongest, most inspiring women in Hollywood. Just Google her and understand exactly what this woman has been through in her life and how’s she not only, still funny and optimistic, but also a legit activist and US diplomat for Women’s Health Issues. Respect Fran Drescher.

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Kirsten Wiig

Did you see Bridesmaids? Have you ever watched SNL?

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Isla Fischer

Isla Fischer: First off, she’s married to Sascha Baren Cohen so you know she has a sense of humor. But more than that I love the way she completely commits to ditzy, hilarious roles (The Bachelorette, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Hot Rod). In fact, I can’t even think of any Isla Fischer role that wasn’t comedic.

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Sarah Silverman

Sarah Silverman: that woman has a mouth like a sailor and I want to be with her all the time. She says the C-word more than a drunk me and I love her. Oh, and she’s also hilarious, her standup is fantastic and she’s also not a bad actress (she was the best part of that weird movie, Take This Waltz).

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Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy is bold and incredibly brave with her comedy—she’s a master of gross physical comedy and as a woman, that takes guts. I would actually consider one of the most cutting-edge female comediennes out there right out, and definitely the bravest. I want more interviews with a woman who is incredibly versatile and not afraid to take risks—Also, her gun-loving, foul-mouthed, “sex-goddess” role in The Heat was just fantastic, more funny characters with contradictions please!

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Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock unfairly has a very “girl next door” reputation, despite the fact that 90 percent of her career has been devoted to very silly, funny, relatable comedy.

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Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling: we all know her, and obviously this lady is one hell of a comedy writer. She started writing for The Office at an insanely young age (thanks for making me feel like a failure at life—you too, Lena Dunham), and then creating her own show. The Mindy Project is, I think, actually a high-cut above your standard sitcom, the jokes are funny and pointed, and Kaling has managed to cobble together a very silly, pop-culture-obsessed, shallow woman, and mix her up with an insanely smart, outspoken gynecologist, normal-sized, woman of color. Hello complex character that more accurately reflects women in America!

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Amy Sedaris

Amy Sedaris: if you don’t know who that is, go and Google her. If I could go to any dinner party in the world, I would ask that it be at Amy Sedaris’ house. Sedaris’ straight-faced comedy is in its own category of genuine silliness, biting sarcasm, and sheer absurdism. I died when I read her Simple Times: Crafting for Poor People book and desperately wish that she would bring back her show, Strangers with Candy, on Comedy Central and go back to writing that insane advice column.

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Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson

Broad City: Have you seen this quirky new show on Comedy Central? Created by newcomers Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson (and produced by Amy Poehler) as a spin-off of their web series, there’s a scene in ep. 6 that had me in tears it was so brilliant. Again, young, talent-ridden comediennes bursting with genuine, funny girl comedy that is so “buddy-buddy” and focused on female friendship that we could just talk about it for days.

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Chelsea Handler

Chelsea Handler: I get that a lot of people find Chelsea Handler a bit in-your-face with her, “I got drunk and slept with my boss” kind of humor, however I think she’s marks a really important step for comediennes. Handler is crass, sexual, wildly inappropriate, brags about her lack of self-awareness, and most importantly, doesn’t apologize. Handler has put herself out there as an unreformed party girl and carved out a great space for funny women who also may or may not be alcoholics and sex addicts. Cool. The world needs all kinds and her unabashed account of one-night stands in My Horizontal Life is hilarious and awe-inspiring.

Oh, and she was also the only female comedy-based late-night talk show host for about eight years and told off Piers Morgan for being an idiot.

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Rachel Redfern has an MA in English literature, where she conducted research on modern American literature and film and its intersection, however she spends most of her time watching HBO shows, traveling, and blogging and reading about feminism.

The Spoils of Babylon promotional poster. — *The Spoils of Babylon* promotional poster.

Written by Erin Tatum.

I’m not going to lie, The Spoils of Babylon is a really weird show. Admittedly, I only gave it a chance because I have a childhood crush on Tobey Maguire that never died and I’ll watch Kristen Wiig do just about anything. I had only seen promotion for the show on social media, and judging by the dramatic stills, believed it was a serious period piece. Casting Maguire and Wiig as romantic interests for each other also felt bizarre. My misguided assumptions became all the more hilariously ironic as I finally realized the writers’ intentions.

The Spoils of Babylon is meant to be a gigantic parody of itself, so outlandishly ridiculous that you can’t help but laugh even if the humor is bad. Will Ferrell sets the tone by framing all the episodes as tipsy and pretentious author Eric Jonrosh, who informs us that the original 22-hour epic has been whittled down into just six half-hour episodes. To be honest, I don’t particularly understand why Will Ferrell or his character is there in the first place, but given the star-studded cast, I think the writers are on a mission to prove how many famous people they can convince to do such a silly project.

The central narrative tells the story of Jonah Morehouse (Tim Robbins), a delusional aspiring oilman. The audience gets an account of the events through the eyes of Devon Morehouse (Maguire), who was spontaneously adopted by Jonah as a boy. Jonah also has a biological daughter, Cynthia (Wiig). Cynthia is portrayed as a shallow, smart-aleck know-it-all even as a child. She convinces a reluctant Devon to give her a kiss despite their newly minted family relationship, an awkward moment that kicks off a lifetime of clumsily avoided sexual tension between the honorary siblings. It seems like everything I’m reviewing lately has an incestuous dynamic in it somewhere. Occasionally I know that going in, but this one was a total accident, I swear!

Devon tries to comfort Cynthia during another halfhearted rejection.

Although they start off as fairly average children, Devon and Cynthia grew up to be complete bumbling idiot as adults. Devon is naïvely committed to his father’s business and Cynthia is a stereotypical ditz hellbent on becoming her brother’s trophy wife. I obviously expected sheer comedic gold from Wiig, especially since she excels at playing airheads. I had reservations about Tobey Maguire because I’ve never seen him in anything funny and he kind of has that long faced expression of perpetual wistfulness. Those big sad baby blue eyes! I’m delighted to report that I underestimated him. Devon’s happy-go-lucky optimism and eagerness to please perfectly contrast Jonah’s gruffness. People have made criticisms that he lacks comedic timing, but his flaws are mostly masked by the social ineptitude of his character.

Humor in The Spoils of Babylon is simplistic and cleverly unexpected. The material never hesitates to mock the stuffiness of historical authenticity. (Scene transitions are carried out using plastic cars and cardboard scenery.) Some of the gags drag on a little too long, but by the middle of them I was giggling too much to notice my eventual boredom. For example, Jonah asks Devon to read the sentimental inscription on a pocket watch he gave him. Devon dutifully recites about ten paragraphs, with each sentence having more ludicrously complex vocabulary than the last. Many of the jokes that run out of steam become funny again precisely because they go on forever.

Jonah implausibly finds one bountiful oil well, thrusting the Morehouses into the lap of luxury. It’s now 1941. Devon proves woefully unable to fend off the obsessive sexual aggressions of his sister. Their decision to kiss at last is cringe worthy to say the least. There’s a lot of…licking and sloppy Eskimo kissing. I suppose it’s just as repulsive as you would hope a passionate romantic encounter between two adoptive siblings would be. Adding to the discomfort, their dad has a habit of walking in on them, but he’s gullible and selectively oblivious. Facing pressure from both Jonah and Cynthia, Devon seizes onto the convenient announcement of Pearl Harbor over the radio and decides to go fight for his country. Is that a thing? What about the draft? I know if you were rich you might have been able to buy yourself out of it, but could you voluntarily opt into it as well? Look at me, trying to apply 70-year-old socio-political dynamics to a sketch comedy. This is what I do in my spare time.

In an effort to avoid acknowledging his torrid affair with Cynthia, Devon decides to stay in London after the war. He marries Lady Anne York, a mannequin voiced by Carey Mulligan, and brings her back to the States to introduce her to his family. A mannequin is an actual character. This is why this show is great. Anne notices Cynthia’s jealousy and confronts Devon in despair, but Devon seduces her back into bed. The “sex scene” that follows is a hilariously cheesy, uncomfortable montage of facial closeups and moaning. I like that Tobey Maguire isn’t afraid to make fun of himself. The next morning, Anne and Cynthia have a passive aggressive conversation over breakfast in which Anne basically tells Cynthia that she knows about her creepy incest crush and she needs to back the hell off. Cynthia copes with her anger by frantically cutting up almost all the food on the table into tiny pieces on her plate. I laughed out loud. You don’t need elaborate or super-smart jokes as long as you capture quirky mannerisms of everyday life.

Again, I can’t underscore enough how awesome Wiig is as Cynthia. She is a grotesque caricature of a debutante gone wrong and I love it. Her melodrama makes her quite the scene stealer. Her failing in the background makes slow scenes much more entertaining. Plus Devon is kind of dopey, so we need Cynthia’s emotional instability to spice things up a bit.

Sure, The Spoils of Babylon might not have the most universal appeal. Things can get confusing. It’s one of those intentional train wrecks that hooks you in just because you’re in awe of its ridiculousness. Even if you’re a little lost, Maguire and Wiig’s performances alone make it worth the watch. Sit back and enjoy the wine with Eric Jonrosh.

Tag: Kirsten Wiig

15 Funny Women for 2014