Wendy was pretty, smart, popular, upbeat, and had cute sense of humor. We sat next to each other in orchestra (the flute section) for three years. Wendy and I were friendly but not friends – no reason beyond the fact that we socialized in vastly different circles. Hers being the football player/cheerleader/prom queen/popular kids parties circle. Mine was the home alone watching M*A*S*H and Mary Tyler Moore circle.
So, after high school we didn’t keep in touch. Through the reunion booklets, which came out every five years, I read that she’d married some hot, up and coming comedian and was moving out to Los Angeles. Next reunion – no mention of the comedian or the marriage but now Wendy was working as a comic out in LA. WOW!A couple things here:
One – I didn’t know Wendy had it in her! I mean, in high school she had a cute, safe, Hallmark greeting card kind of sense of humor. Who knew that, lurking below this sweet, safe, all-American-girl exterior was a woman who could get up in front of an audience and make people laugh out loud? AWESOME – talk about a post-high school bloom!
Two – Comedy is a HARD business, especially for women. Watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but maybe more, I’m Dying Up Here, really brought that into crystal clear focus.Comedian Alison Stevenson writes:
Women in comedy have to work 10 times harder to gain not only the respect of our audience, but our peers as well. We have to have way thicker skin, and put up with a lot more bullshit. Each and every one of us has to face the inevitable, unwanted sexual advances, as well as comments on our appearance – not to mention that so many people truly do believe that women are not funny. When we perform, we have to deal with knowing that our comedy is going to be considered “niche”, simply because it’s from our point of view. Men don’t have to fear that, because when they preach about their dicks, or rant about their relationships, or their family, it isn’t considered “male humor”. It is regarded simply as humor. (source)
Wendy was out there trying to break into the stand-up big leagues 20 years after Joan Rivers started and not even a full 10 years after Elayne Boosler dared to defy the traditional female comedian self-dissing stylings (for which she was banned from The Tonight Show).Despite frequently being hailed as the next big success, Boosler could not achieve the same feats as her male peers. She booked her first spot on The Tonight Show only when Helen Reddy guest-hosted in 1977. Later that year, she performed on the show when Johnny Carson was hosting, but she was assigned hacky, self-deprecating material she refused to use. Afterward, Carson reportedly told his comedy booker, “I don’t ever want to see that waitress on my show again.” (source)WHAT a hamster-dicked asshole
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Rivers was heavily self-deprecating and that’s the thing I remember most about her. It’s, ultimately, what turned me off too. I mean, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Jonathan Winters didn’t have to do that shit. Oh wait…that’s right…they had penises. Somehow that means you don’t have to make yourself smaller or lesser. You don’t need to make excuses for yourself, no matter how funny you may be. Not if you have a dick.
When Whoopi Goldberg came out doing stand-up, she was more of an actress doing character-driven longer bits. She was funny but hitting hard too. 
Gilda Radner and Lily Tomlin were also character-driven but much more in the Carol Burnett/situational comedy vein.
Early on, Bette Midler did stand-up. Actually, I guess it’d be more accurate to term them cabaret performances. She joked, told stories, and sang.
Who – what women – are doing arch, tart, insightful, observational stand-up now? Not Saturday Night Live sketch comedy but stand-up. I wanna know – I wanna see who’s out there now.
And whatever happened to Wendy? What kind of comedy did she do and is she still doing it? Frankly, I’d be muy surprised. Struggling through the comedy scene’s a young person’s game and we’re a few decades or so distant from that young shit.
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