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Tracy Morgan, Ricky Gervais – But No Women in NY's Comedy Festival

By DNAinfo Staff on November 3, 2009 7:16am  | Updated on November 3, 2009 1:45pm

By Nicole Breskin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Expect lots of laughs at this year’s New York Comedy Festival with funny guys Dane Cook, Ricky Gervais and Tracy Morgan taking stage.

But, the joke is on the women when the festival starts on Nov. 4. Not a single female is headlining the festival, the largest comedy event in New York.

“It didn’t work out,” Caroline Hirsch, festival organizer and the owner of landmark comedy club Caroline's told DNAinfo. "We approached several women, but they weren’t interested in doing it.

“For every 10 male comics, there’s only two women.”

New York Comedy Festival organizers approached Sarah Silverman, Lisa Lampanelli, Chelsea Handler, Kathy Griffin and more, according to Hirsch.

Sarah Silverman is one of several women organizers say they approached to headline this year's New York Comedy Festival. None were available, leaving all 10 marquee spots to men.
Sarah Silverman is one of several women organizers say they approached to headline this year's New York Comedy Festival. None were available, leaving all 10 marquee spots to men.
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NoHoDamon / Flickr

But none were available — leaving all of the 10 headlining spots at blockbuster venues, such as Madison Square Garden, to men.

“This creates lots of feelings, but none of humor,” said Katie Goan, a comedic performer and managing director of the People’s Improv Theater in Chelsea. “It’s a sad feeling overall.”

Judy Gold, an Upper West Side comedian who won two Daytime Emmy Awards as a writer for “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” said comedy isn’t female friendly by nature.

“It’s the most unfeminine profession in the world besides boxing,” Gold said. “You have a microphone and you are in complete and utter control.

"You can’t dress sexy cause the guys will want to [expletive deleted] you and the women will hate you.”

Gold said Caroline’s is typically a great promoter of female acts, so she was shocked there wasn’t a single woman among the headliners this year.

“It’s depressing that they couldn’t find a single woman,” she said. “You wouldn’t have a show without a man.”

Male domination in comedy isn’t new. In an infamous 2007 Vanity Fair article “Why Women Aren’t Funny,”  for example, Christopher Hitchens wrote women have no need to be funny because it’s a man’s job to make women laugh.

Catie Lazurus, a comedian who lives off Union Square, quipped back: “Men tend to overestimate their abilities. Men often think they are funnier — and better in bed — than they actually are.”

From left: Comedians Patton Oswalt, Artie Lange and Dane Cook ... will be in this year's New York Comedy Festival.
From left: Comedians Patton Oswalt, Artie Lange and Dane Cook ... will be in this year's New York Comedy Festival.
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Despite the lack of headliners, several women will have smaller roles in the festival that includes more than 150 acts on 10 stages.

Grammy-nominated Liza Lampanelli will guest host a show to honor Iraq war veterans at Town Hall in Midtown on Wednesday.

Bronx native Adrienne Iapalucci, 31, will open for one of the headliners.

"Growing up in New York City was so inspiring,” said Iapalucci, whose mother taught her to fight at a young age because of local bullies. "I learned to stand up for myself, and develop a sense of humor."