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By Michelle Slonim, WICF Guest Blog Contributor
[Michelle Slonim is a NYC based comic and member of the Friars Club www.michelleslonim.net]
There are less than 20 female comedians that perform regularly in 'A' room comedy clubs in New York City. That’s not a lot, but considering the small amount of female comedians there are in general, that is a pretty good percentage. I felt like, wait a minute, maybe if I get really good at this, I could have a shot at becoming a headliner. When I was acting, white females were a dime a dozen. Now with the proper skills, as a standup comedian I could be a hot commodity.
But, there is a reason that there aren’t that many female comedians. One of the issues is having children and a family. Many of the female comedians who are headliners don’t have kids. I could see myself performing while pregnant, I already have my opening line. I look at a guy in the audience and say “no, it’s not yours”. Is getting pregnant worth one joke? Practically speaking, I could still perform and get a part-time nanny (grandma) to babysit in the evenings. But I wouldn’t be raising my kids hands on.
Do I even want kids? If I keep working as hard as I have been then to “throw” it all away to raise children seems wasteful. I could just not have kids. That seems like a very viable option, but then everyone who has kids loves it more than anything.
These are complicated life questions. Standup comedy can be quite serious. If my one day potential future kids read this, I hope they're not pissed.
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