I needed a drink.

Standup comedy is a tricky beast. Obviously people order drinks because they’re at a bar with the comics. That’s the economy. That’s the beauty of it.

I didn’t order a drink.

People are talking, y’know. You have to listen. There’s a short break between comics. If you get up to get a drink, you might get noticed, and that’s the problem with this formula. We’re not the show, us bystanders. We didn’t put ourselves forward as hilarious or anything other than polite witnesses. For some reason, comedians can see this as a contract. One must laugh, outrageously, or earn their displeasure.

Now, us girls know that comedy, in spite of its universal appeal, is a man’s game. There are men everywhere in comedy. Women are few and far between. We smiled politely through the first act. Obviously that guy had issues with his girlfriend. We smiled through the next act. And the next. For fucks sake! Is it too much to ask for a comedian who isn’t a relationship fuck up and can put together a sentence without fucking swearing?

Nope. It isn’t.

At this stage I realise the comedians are pitted against the audience. They’re angry. This crowd is not delivering what they require. That makes the crowd the enemy.

I can understand, and in fact enjoy, a handful of misogynistic jokes, but the problem with Snatch last night was that the people presenting all had the same sort of similar jokes, that were all misogynistic, and it just got downright uncomfortable after a while. The final nail in the coffin was some guy who had an act that was good enough for Vegas. Only problem was, he came across as a bit of a bully. I’d seen him before, this guy. He wasn’t as much of an arsehole when I last saw him, and he was much more amusing. Turns out hanging with the boys doing comedy just makes you obnoxious, I guess.

On their own merits, these guys were amusing, but here’s where I don’t know what to think- humour can often disadvantage or exploit people and situations in a way that makes the rest of us complicit in bullying, in minimalising and abusing others. I wanted to laugh, but came away wishing I could rinse my conscience clean…