A celebration of the most groundbreaking women in comedy who used
humor to shake up the status quo and change perceptions of gender and
comedy forever.
The League of Extraordinarily Funny Women celebrates the outstanding
contributions of fifty women in comedy past and present. From legends
like Lucille Ball, Joan Rivers, and Tina Fey to current comedy heroes
like Issa Rae, Lena Waithe, Abbi Jacobson, and Tig Notaro, this
beautifully illustrated book charts a rich lineage of women using humor
to speak truth to power, tangle with sensitive subjects, challenge the
status quo, and do anything but sit still and stay quiet when laughs are
on the line.Some of these women broke boundaries as pioneers on stage as
well as in front of and behind the camera. Others penned their way into
the history of American humor, redrawing the boundaries of writers'
rooms to include diverse voices and perspectives. Through their
collective work as stand-ups, sketch and improv comics, humor writers,
and slapstick film stars, these women formed a network forged by
creativity, guts, and a deep love of what comedy can do and be. In the
process, they continue to pass their knowledge and insights from woman
to woman, from funny generation to funny generation, offering support,
inspiration, and, above all, laughter.