From Jerry Lewis' Chinese chef to Dan Whitney's Larry the Cable Guy, playing on stereotypes has long been an integral element in the fabric of comedy. The reason is simple: It's easier to deliver a quick punchline about a shared preconceived notion rather than explain a lengthy set-up.
No Straight White Guys, a monthly comedy show at Foam Coffee & Beer, attempts to place a mirror in front of cultural and gender assumptions promoted within humor. In the process, however, they may have unintentionally raised questions about stereotypes in the world of comedy itself.
Though hosted by local comedians Amy Milton and Milly Naeger, ironically the show was conceived by Jeremy Hellwig -- described by Milton as "a pretty straight, extremely white man." Aware that he couldn't host the show himself, Hellwig turned to Milton and Naeger, who he described as having "some of the funniest, most original voices I've seen in comedy, and I don't just mean in St Louis."
Naeger sees the show as a reaction to "comedy showcases in the Maryland Heights area [whose] lineups were heavily straight white males." Though she did not mention it specifically, the geographical area mentioned includes the Funny Bone, located in Westport Plaza.
Every Tuesday, the Funny Bone hosts its open mic night -- a showcase for new and up-and-coming comedians. Of the 43 people who signed up to perform at a recent show, club general manager Matt Behrens estimates that about 30 were white males. But what leads to this large homogenous pool from which performers are chosen?
Hellwig thinks it stems partially from historical reasons.
"It's kind of always been that way, and so that's how people think of it," he says. "Sticking around and putting in the time to get good and become part of the scene is hard enough. It has to be even harder when you are not a straight white guy but almost everyone around you is."
For Kirkwood native Nikki Glaser, however, this was never a problem. Glaser, one of the most successful comedians to emerge from the area over the last decade, says she had no problem starting out on open mics that were dominated by men.
"Male comics are a mostly docile, socially anxious group," Glaser says. "They were never mean." If anything, she explains, "It was another woman who made my few first years of comedy the hardest. Saying that I had slept with comics for stage time and material. I was a virgin at the time. It was straight out of Mean Girls."
Her new show, Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, will begin airing weekly on Comedy Central in January of 2016. The show, which she said will examine "the current state of sex, relationships and dating" joins a Comedy Central roster that includes her friend Amy Schumer and new Daily Show host Trevor Noah -- both of whom also fall in the non-white-male category.
"I acknowledge that while being a woman has, at times, probably hindered my success," Glaser says, "it has also probably helped in many ways." She adds that she has "never thought of [herself] as a female comic. I am a comic. It just so happens that I have a vagina. It's secondary. And you're damn right I'm gonna talk about it."
When booking headlining acts at the Funny Bone, Behrens says diversity is always "in the back of [his] mind," but the act who sells the most seats is always going to get the gig.
"It would still be hard to change that perception," Behrens says of the idea that comedy is dominated by straight white males. "Whether the headliner is African-American, female or homosexual, usually a straight white guy seems to get on the show somewhere."
Behrens also says he's noticed that some of the local shows outside the Funny Bone that are promoted the best are often run by non-white guys. Milton and Naeger should consider their show among that group, according to Foam owner Mic Boshans, who says their previous shows have been "well attended by a diverse group."
The show itself is mostly a stand-up showcase, with the two hosts creating characters to work with an overall theme that changes monthly. The theme of the July 24 show will be "The Future," according to Milton and Naeger and, will feature comedian Ty Lewis.
Continue to page two for more.
"We tend to pick topics that concern our generation as a whole," Naeger says, citing branding, feminism and art vs. money as previous topics. "Both of us love character work, and speaking through the mouth of another person allows for playfulness around the topics that can appear serious."
Yet as the show embraces an agenda of social progress through laughter, there are those that have taken offense to the show's exclusionary title. Mikey Manker, a Chicago comedian with St. Louis roots, was taken aback when he passed a poster for the show last month.
"I had gone on this rant about how I was tired of seeing straight white men in comedy falling into this stigma that we are nuisance and we all dress the same, and talk about the same things on stage," Manker said. "I understand the need for diversity. And I get that white men have dominated the standup scene for a long time. But that's not our fault."
While not assigning fault, it is this perceived dominance that Milton says makes the title of the show relevant.
"Man, I'd love to live in a world where a show like this was superfluous and offensive," she says. "It does get irritating when, at show after show, comics talk about race, sex, social issues, etc., and one group is heavily over-represented. If we're joking about taboo topics -- and we should be -- and especially if we're being insulting, ideally there's balance. Everyone involved says their piece and gets a dig in."
But Manker sees the title as a continuation of the same type of problems it hopes to confront.
"For whatever reason, people think it's totally OK to say that to white dudes," he says. "I know people don't want admit it, and not to come off as being overly emotional, but we have feelings too. People scream constantly about human rights and social progress or whatever, but then people go and post signs like that. You can't fight fire with the same fire."
Though the show's title is a rigid rule by which the hosts book talent, Naeger asks those offended by the title to see the show first. "I know it's easy to dislike everything that hasn't been experienced, she says, "but the show doesn't concentrate on the title."
And the most logical defense for the show and its title might come from the white male who gives it a home: Foam's owner, Boshans.
"I think comedy is a powerful means for social transformation because it hits on a different level," he says. "I think women's voices are important and need to be heard, and we need to remove the stigma that feminists can't have a sense of humor. Also, I think racial and gender stereotyping is generally weak comedy and No Straight White Guys helps make people more conscious of this fact. I think when/if we lived in a post-sexist, post-racist, world, NSWG wouldn't make any sense."
Follow @rftmusic
