The Overby Center’s wooden stage floor creaks with welcome as Laraine Newman and Jack Pendarvis make their way under the spotlight.
As the time nears 6 p.m., a silence falls over the auditorium, and Theresa Starkey, Assistant Director for The Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, introduces “A Guy And A Gal Walk Into A Panel: What’s So Funny About Gender?”
“Part of the mission for the Sarah Isom Center is interdisciplinary partnerships and how we can orchestrate events that benefit our students professionally and creatively,” said Starkey. “Laraine Newman was the perfect person to have come to Oxford to talk about gender and her career because she is such an iconic figure.”
Cosponsored by The Sarah Isom Center, the Department of English and the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program, the University Lecture Series, and the Department of Theatre Arts, this discussion, lead by former University of Mississippi English Professor Jack Pendarvis, began with background on comedian Laraine Newman.
Beginning her improv career at the young age of 15, Los Angeles native Laraine Newman soon found herself enthralled with mime, and after high school she went to Paris to study the theatrical technique for a year.
“When I was younger and I’d go to camp, they always had a talent show, and I would write stuff for myself to perform,” said Laraine Newman. “One year, we had a really exciting baseball game and I was cheering, and when I went to do my performance my voice cracked, and everybody laughed. I was like ‘Oh my God, the angels are signing. This is it!’ I realized that getting laughs was the intoxicant for me.”
In 1973, Lorne Michaels cast Newman in a Lily Tomlin special, and he later hired her for what he promised would only be a 13-week commitment: Saturday Night Live.
“My parents’ nickname for me was Sarah Heart-Burn. I was very dramatic,” said Laraine Newman. “Humor was very much encouraged in my house.”
As she developed as a comedian, Laraine Newman looked to Eve Arden as a woman role model, mainly because of her unique onstage deliveries and her audience interactions.
“On the other hand,” said Newman, “I did not like I Love Lucy. I never thought Lucille Ball was funny. I didn’t like the idea that every situation was caused by her doing something stupid. I always thought that if I were Ricky, I would be giving her a black eye.”
In reaction to that statement, “Adventure Time” writer Jack Pendarvis prompted: “Most of the sitcoms were following Lucy’s mind, in that way. Did you think of that as a problem or a challenge- that woman weren’t being funny in a way that you wanted to be funny?”
“I didn’t think it applied to me,” said Laraine Newman. “I never imagined gender roles would be an issue, and they never were. The director of the Groundlings, Gary Austin, was very nurturing and supportive of my work. I felt that the atmosphere of Saturday Night Life was very supportive of women’s humor as well. Marilyn Miller, one of our writers, came from writing The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and she had an Emmy Award by the time she was 20.”
Although Newman has never felt subjected to gender issues in her career, some individuals believe that women in comedy are looked down upon in relation to men.
“There’s a stereotype that female comedians cannot and will not ever be as funny as men,” said Joseph Stinchomb, a member of Oxford’s improv group, Laff Co. “There’s this stigma against them that’s just not true. Anyone can be funny.”
Joan Rivers, for example, was mentioned during the panel, mainly for her use of “dirty jokes,” and the public’s reaction to them.
“She was competing in a man’s world, and she did remarkably,” said Laraine Newman. “But, there’s always going to be critics. Back then, it was hard to be a woman in comedy, and even harder to be vulgar on top of it.”
Additionally, other individuals believe that gender-related issues occur in circumstances broader than comedy.
“This panel is extremely important because gender problems occur everywhere, not just in the comedy field,” said Gender Studies student Breen Nolan. “A lot of people feel that it’s a problem, and until all of the dirty laundry gets aired, people will have a lot of simmering resentment.”
Towards the end of the discussion, Laraine Newman brought up Bridesmaids, the 2011 comedy, and how actresses Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph were truly comical.
“I’ve never seen female comedians act in such a true-to-life way before,” said Newman. I first saw it at a screening, and the film’s accuracy of how girlfriends really act together took my breath away. Even my husband, who is a really tough critic, said, ‘Wow, that was better than the Hangover.’”
Currently, Laraine Newman is a contributing editor for the online food magazine OneForTheTable, and she has written for The Jewish Journal, The LA Times Magazine, Huffington Post, and several other publications.
“I love working,” said Newman. “I would always like to work. The problem with being a performer is that most of the time it’s a forced retirement.”
On top of her writing and editing, Newman also has an active animation career.
“Animation is very free. I have found that when I have to do on camera stuff I have to remember to integrate everything else about me,” Laraine Newman said.
While in Oxford, Laraine Newman attended Director of the Master of Fine Arts, Beth Ann Fennelly’s, nonfiction writing class. She also went out to lunch with the theatre students.
“If I could give you any advice in regards to getting into comedy, it would be to see everybody, whether in clubs or on YouTube. And then once you’ve seen everybody, don’t be anything like them. Create your own person and never give up.”
— Tori Olker
