Why I won’t be seeing any pale, stale, straight males at the Adelaide Fringe | Emily Olle

Comedy is subjective – but it’s my subjective opinion that the bulk of straight white male comedians aren’t all that funny, writes Emily Olle.

As a regular Fringe-goer and failed high school drama performer, I have decided to take a leaf out of a man’s book and consider myself well-placed to broadly share my personal, subjective opinion about an issue.

That issue is comedy.

For years, I have braved the sweaty seats of the Adelaide Fringe Spiegeltent in the quest for a chuckle.

When I first began my Fringe journey, I was a sucker for headline comedy acts. It took a little while before I learned the art of critical thinking and realised: “Hang on, why do most of these posters look like a stock image of whiteman.jpg?”

It’s the year 2024 and comedy, although finally expanding and revolving, remains firmly in the hands of straight, white, male comedians – and don’t they know it.

Female, queer and non-white performers are still regularly pushed to the sidelines when it comes to headline lights.

The issue of misogyny both on and off the stage has been called out time and time again, but most male performers remain unscathed while female artists are punished for speaking out.

This writer is NOT naming names, but the whole “you can’t say anything anymore” shtick is getting pretty old, pretty fast. Picture: Getty Images

So, after years of expecting belly laughs from big-name male comedians and receiving only disappointment, I’ve decided I’ve had enough.

I’m not saying all straight white male comedians are bad. In fact, there are plenty who are very, very funny – many of which I call my friends.

But as a general rule of thumb, the lazy male comedy schtick lies somewhere between “my mates tell me I’m a funny guy, so you should think I am too” and “you can’t say anything anymore!!!”.

Some of the key parts of really good comedy are self-deprecation and astute observations of the world around you.

The problem with the bulk of said male comedians tends to be that they aren’t particularly good at either.

As some of our better Fringe-performing male comedy thespians have proven, there are actually many topics that you, a man, could punch up at with searing success.

Political satire about our clown show cavalry we call a cabinet? Funny! A tale of how you have recognised the inherent privilege of your manhood, or anecdotes about said manhood, woven into a chuckle-filled set? A classic gag!

“I was going to make a joke about trans people, but now I can’t because of the woke brigade!” – boring, unoriginal and severely lacking a punchline.

Cabaret performer and comedian Millicent Sarre’s Bisexual Intellectuals show at the Fringe is a welcome change from the regular roster of straight, white male comedians.

For this column, I won’t name names. Mostly because last time a young female reporter suggested anything other than uproarious support for a fully grown man in this publication, he unleashed a foul-mouthed spray calling her “deaf or an idiot”.

But hey, it’s the “woke left” who are sensitive, am I right?

Instead this Fringe season thus far, I’ve filled my comedy bucket with a spectrum of performers.

To date, the crass-but-clever stylings of Nina Oyama are some of the funniest “bits” I can recite by memory, and I still think about an impeccable set about birdwatching by Geraldine Hickey.

Last week, I watched Triple J presenter Dave Woodhead’s intimate show Blak and White – which featured a joke about Mark Wahlberg and 9/11 that was so sharp I’ll be passing off as my own to friends for the foreseeable future.

Of course, comedy is subjective. But it’s my subjective opinion that, for the most part, watching performers with interesting perspectives, lived experience and a lack of straight white male ego is far more enjoyable than yet another yawn-inducing cancel culture bit.

Tonight, I’m off to see Adelaide’s own international cabaret superstar Hans dripping in glitter and camp hilarity.

I’ll also try and pick up tickets to ‘Legally Brown’ star Nazeem Hussain’s gig, pop in to see the rollicking Bisexual Intellectuals and add some Brown Women Comedy for good measure.

Call me “woke” all you like – but I won’t be able to hear you. I’ll be too busy actually laughing.