Quote: Aaron @ 14th July 2021, 10:08 AMApart from Joyce Grenfell and all the others, of course.
This is an interesting and ultimately endless topic, and every time I open my big mouth on gender issues I get into pooh. Yes there were loads of female comedians / actresses before Wood, but as Ronald Wolfe points out in 'Writing Comedy' (lucky cos no one would give two shits what I think), comedy was always from a male (or at least asexual) standpoint, and Victoria was the first successful comic to deal with specifically female issues. Joyce Grenfell was awesome, but she wasn't giving any insight into what it means to be a woman: 'George, Don't Do That' might just've well been delivered by a bloke... Just as Elvis was the first 'real' rock star and the Beatles were the first pop group, Victoria Wood could be considered the first 'comedienne'. And I think that's why a lot of guys felt obliged to like her, or it'd've been 'Got a problem with women doing comedy? Think it's a man's job, right? You sexist bastard.'
The Office is awesome (don't wanna get deleted for being off-topic).