The Tipsy Muse Cafe held an in-person Women In Comedy night to a sold-out crowd on Sept. 25. The show featured stand-up comedians Courtney Steeves and Line Woods.
Woods was the first female winner of the Hubcap Comedy Festival in 2020. She talked about why she got into comedy and comedians like Ali Wong who meant a lot to her.
“Wong is a classic one to touch on, only because she came out of the gate so bold and so pregnant,” said Woods. “I’m really obsessed about the feminine voices.”
Woods, 37, is a single mother of two kids aged eight and 10. She joked that she wouldn’t tell any jokes about wanting to punch her kids in the face. Woods joked about dating as a single mother. Before the show, she talked about why women have the stereotype of being less funny than men.
“Maybe we would be funnier if you just left us the fuck alone,” said Woods. “That’s a lot of extra work we have to do staying safe [at night] … and good for them, they have the extra headspace, but now I’m making jokes about it, so do I win?”
As her set progressed, she talked about how dogs are better than kids.
“It’s not the love that’s the same, it’s that hate that’s different,” said Woods.
Woods also talked about her divorce and during the process, she recalled an argument where he asked who’s maintaining the firewall. She said she realized she had an IT department, not a husband.
Courtney Steeves began the night with how happy she was getting back into stand-up after the pandemic. She said she loves to challenge herself by doing things that make her uncomfortable. Once she overcomes the challenge, she said she feels better.
“Comedy you do by yourself, and you never know what it’s gonna be like until you’re in front of an audience.”
She talked about how her dick jokes at a 420-friendly event didn’t land because the audience was mostly men. Steeves also talked about her experience being a woman on the internet with an opinion. She said one man came up to her after one of her shows and told her that women aren’t funny.
“We just aren’t proportionately represented,” Steeves said. “This is the first industry where I’ve genuinely felt … different being a woman.”
Still, Steeves encouraged women not to let barriers stop them and closed her set with a word of advice to the audience.
“Don’t be mad at imaginary lines that don’t exist from people you don’t know,” Steeves said.
