On screen or on stage, women are straight killing it at comedy right now. But it’s still not easy for female comedians. Amy Schumer, Tina Fey, Amy Pohler, Maria Bamford, Leslie Jones, and all those thousands of still-unknown funny women have to put up with a lot when they choose to make people laugh (remember “women aren’t funny”?).
That’s why this Friday we’re totally crushing on comedian, writer, and all-around champ Lynn Harris who, on top of being a funny, funny woman, has launched a crowdfunding campaign designed to give the next generation of female comedians a leg up.
Called “Comedy For Girls” the New York-based workshop program will teach teen girls how to polish their jokes, command a room, and basically slay it on stage. But it’s more than that said Harris to The Daily Dot. “If [students] just want to get some comedy skills and the life skills that goes with it like confidence, writing a better speech for running for class president, or sassing back to a bully, that’s great… But if they want to go further… we want to help open doors for them too.” Wonderful, and we’re not the only ones who think so (the program is already 173% fully funded!)