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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   14202 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026

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In the tiny pool of female standup comedians successful enough to make a living off it, there are essentially zero lookers

Iliza Shlesinger, Sarah Silverman, Nikki Glaser, Whitney Cummings, Kelsey Cook, Taylor Tomlinson, Maddy Kelly… and that’s just off the top of my head. And of course if you expand the criteria slightly to successful improv/sketch comics the field expands even more and you get people like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kaitlin Olson, Tina Fey, Veronika Slowikowska, Ashley Padilla, Jane Curtin…. I could keep going, but I think the point is made.

Iliza Shlesinger, Sarah Silverman, Nikki Glaser, Whitney Cummings, Kelsey Cook, Taylor Tomlinson, Maddy Kelly

I've only heard of half of these. Even in her prime Silverman was mid, as far as I'm concerned. Tomlinson is about as good-looking as Maggie Gyllenhaal, so not bad-looking by any means, but I wouldn't hold my breath for the start of her modelling career. Kelly I would also consider mid. I'll grant Whitney Cummings, Kelsey Cook and Iliza Shlesinger. "Three" seems numerically equivalent to "essentially zero".

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kaitlin Olson

Granted, but I'd consider them both more comic actresses than comedians, and I addressed the point about standup vs. comedic acting in the upper post.

Tina Fey

Mid even in her prime.

Veronika Slowikowska

Mid.

Ashley Padilla

Mid.

Jane Curtin

Mid, even in her prime.

You are already moving the goalposts. (And revealing that you just don’t follow stand-up very closely, making the value of your takes on the industry pretty questionable.)

What goalposts am I moving?

And just because these comedians aren't famous outside of the US doesn't mean I don't follow standup closely.

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