It is a truth universally acknowledged that lesbians love funny women. So when this week's Rolling Stone showed up at Scientistics headquarters, we were beside ourselves with merriment, because Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman and Amy Poehler all made the cover (front, back and pullout) of the golden age of comedy issue.

Inside the magazine were loads more of our favorites: Mindy Kaling, Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes, Phyllis Diller and Julia Louis-Dreyfus — an all-star comedy list!

We couldn't help but notice that the funny guys got lots more coverage that the funny gals. How much more, you ask?

We didn't dwell on that, though, because there was research to be done. Below we've condensed the content to help us determine which woman is funniest. … continue reading

At last week's Dinah Shore Weekend, out comedians Jackie Jones, Liz Feldman, and Bridget McManus made us laugh us with stories about Dinah, personal revelations, and a very sweet and funny (and unusually profanity-free) lesbian sorority song Bridget sprung on me surprised me with at the event.

Naturally, we filmed the stand-up so all of you at home could join in the fun, and because we needed more video to edit between the hours of 2am and 6am. (Sleep? Who needs sleep?!)

Unfortunately, due to technical issues during Jackie's opening set (the mic didn't work), we weren't able to include her footage here, but we have most of Liz and Bridget's for your comedic enjoyment.

Liz Feldman

Bridget McManus

Bridget being Bridget, we couldn't include her last song in our video because, well, my arm got tired from bleeping out all the f-words only a few seconds in. But you can mosey on over to Bridget's MySpace profile if you want to see the song in all its profanity-laden glory. And check out Liz's MySpace page and Jackie's MySpace page for more lesbian hilarity.

Look for the improv portion of the AfterEllen.com AfterNoon in the next day or two, and more stand-up through-out the week from the Logo Comedy Cocktail Hour at Dinah. (We can sleep when we're dead!)

We recently told you about Ellen DeGeneres' schooling of Oklahoma state representative Sally Kern on her show. But that wasn't the half of it. Ellen's guests that day included Wanda Sykes and Danny Noriega (American Idol), so it felt like the gayest show ever. (No, Wanda is not necessarily gay. Or at least not out. No comment.)

Anyway, here's a clip of Wanda on that episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She talks about everything from Sally Kern to Obama vs. Hillary to how you know you're getting old:

And if that's not enough to make your day, here's a snippet of one of Wanda's stand-up acts (thanks for the tip, Beth!) — the audio is out of sync, but it's still funny: … continue reading

Who you calling unfunny? Vanity Fair took its sweet time, but after more than a year of letting the anvil of an essay “Why Women Aren’t Funny” weigh down the discourse, the magazine finally issued its own rebuttal with its April cover story, “Who Says Women Aren't Funny?” And to prove that point, it assembled some of the most sparkling female wits for a photoshoot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Yes, Amy Poehler appears to be grabbing Tina Fey’s boob. You really can’t argue with comedy genius like that. Answering the call to funny alongside them were Sandra Bernhard, Susie Essman, Jenna Fischer, Chelsea Handler, Leslie Mann, Maya Rudolph, Amy Sedaris, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes and Kristen Wiig. I’m going to need a moment to soak in all this concentrated hilarious. Seriously, my sides are starting to hurt from phantom laughter just looking at them.

In response to (resisting the urge to use a profane adjective) columnist Christopher Hitchens’ decidedly unfunny article about why women are the unfunnier sex, New York Times TV critic Alessandra Stanley has penned a footnote-worthy essay that touches on everything from English novelist George Meredith to Virginia Woolf to tribes in Papua New Guinea. To which I say, sure, but where do the rubber chickens fit in? … continue reading

I don't watch the State of the Union address anymore because I don't like the speaker so much. But on March 30, I'll gleefully watch the new and improved State of the Union, when Showtime debuts Tracey Ullman's new sketch comedy show “in which she plays a number of different characters … presenting a day in the life of America.”

I could tell you all about the show, but I think Tracey Ullman can do a much better job of it. Watch her flash her new blue U.S. passport as she describes the series: … continue reading

You know how sometimes you can love something even though you don't always understand it? That's how I felt about the PBS show Alive From Off Center in the '80s, and that's how I feel about The Catherine Tate Show now. The half-hour comedy sketch show recently started airing on BBC America, and so far, I like it.

My favorite thus far is Lauren, the cheerleader who is "not bovvered." The rapid-fire "Yeah, but no" exchanges make me gape and giggle.

I also like Derek Faye, the effeminate heterosexual who takes umbrage when people think he's gay. His catchphrases are "How very dare you!" and "Who, dear? Me, dear? Gay, dear? No, dear!" (I referenced him in the L Word recap, so if you were wondering WTF I was talking about, watch this!) … continue reading

The recent Don Imus imbroglio, in which the radio host called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," has raised a slew of issues about racism and sexism in comedy, and it reminded me of an experience I had last month when I went to a comedy club to see a friend of mine perform in an amateur stand-up contest.

The Rutgers women in action.

I wasn't surprised to find out that of the 13 contestants that night, only four were women (among them, my friend). What did surprise me was that among the nine men who performed, six or seven of them used gay jokes in their routine. And by "gay jokes," I mostly mean "homophobic" jokes. The one man who told gay jokes that were not homophobic was also the only gay man performing. … continue reading