Girl in the Show

For fans of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer—and every other “funny woman”—comes a candid feminist comedy manifesto exploring the sisterhood between women’s comedy and women’s liberation.“I’m not funny at all. What I am is brave.” —Lucille BallFrom female pop culture powerhouses dominating the entertainment landscape to memoirs from today’s most vocal feminist comediennes shooting up the bestseller lists, women in comedy have never been more influential.Marking this cultural shift, The Girl in the Show provides an in-depth exploration of how comedy and feminism have grown hand in hand to give women a stronger voice in the ongoing fight for equality. From I Love Lucy to SNL to today’s rising cable and web-series stars, Anna Fields’ entertaining retrospective combines amusing and honest personal narratives with the historical, political, and cultural contexts of the feminist movement.With interview subjects like Abbi Jacobson, Molly Shannon, Mo Collins, and Lizz Winstead among others—as well as actresses, stand-up comics, writers, producers, and female comedy troupes—Fields shares true stories of wit and heroism from some of our most treasured (and under-represented) artists. At its heart, The Girl in the Show captures the urgency of our continued struggle towards equality, allowing the reader to both revel in—and rebel against—our collective ideas of “women’s comedy.”

Praise for Anna Fields' The Girl in the Show "As a woman in comedy, I'm excited someone finally wrote this. The Girl in the Show taps into the deeper heart of comedy and what it's really like to be a woman on the stage. Anna Fields gets it." --actress Molly Shannon "A piercing, smart, and essential read for students and fans of comedy."--Booklist "Fascinating, provocative, wonderful, and weird . . . Buy it for all the comedy fans in your life so they can learn about the incredible and sometimes-hidden history of women in comedy." --Sara Benincasa, comedian and author of Real Artists Have Day Jobs "For women, comedy has always been a Trojan Horse. 'Aren't I funny? Surprise, here's some truth!' In that case, Anna Fields is like Homer: a smartypants who approaches the subject matter with insight and passion. But this time with boobs--Surprise!" --Jane Borden, comedian and author of I Totally Meant to Do That "Scrappy, brilliant, and funny, The Girl in the Show delivers the story of women comedians as the story of feminism, lighting up the connections among vaudeville's grande dames, television's sitcom queens, and the wild women of stand-up, talk-shows, and web series. This book will fire you up for the next protest march and will also send you looking for clips of Gilda Radner, Lily Tomlin, and Moms Mabley." --Linda Mizejewski, author of Pretty/Funny: Women Comedians and Body Politics "A nuanced, thoughtful exploration of funny women past and present. Fields offers deft insight and a wakeup call for how much work is still necessary to dismantle the Patriarchy--both in comedy and in the broader cultural landscape. An excellent addition to feminist bookshelves everywhere." --Kelly Jensen, editor of Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World "Comedy is a form of rebellion, and in the hands of women, it's always been an especially subversive act. Tracing the modern history of the ways women make us laugh, Anna Fields connects the dots from Mae West to Amy Schumer, from Sophie Tucker to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Fascinating, funny, and unapologetically feminist, The Girl In the Show is required reading for an era in which all of us--men and women, comedians and fans alike--are discovering how powerful we are when we stand up." --Mary Elizabeth Williams, author of A Series of Catastrophes & Miracles

Anna Fields is an established author, screenwriter, television writer, producer, and award-winning documentarian whose work has been published and produced by Penguin, the Daily Beast, Newsweek, Forbes, Marie Claire, CBS, ABC, Turner Network, Mandalay Entertainment, and the Austin, LA, and Toronto Film Festivals. She resides in New York City.