In 2015, the Houston No matter Pageant lineup restricted the variety of feminine comedians to only three in a sea of male stand-ups, falling again on an antiquated excuse — there merely weren’t sufficient girls comics on the market.
Valerie Tosi was angered by the competition’s response. The incident occurred a yr into her profession as a comic, and he or she seen that exhibits round Los Angeles additionally used that very same flimsy excuse. So she got down to show the gatekeepers of the comedy scene flawed.
Tosi, initially from Boston, knew there had been loads of girls comedians all over the place searching for stage time. Enter the Mermaid Comedy Hour, a month-to-month present on the Hollywood Improv that books solely girls and nonbinary comics.
“The primary yr that I ran it, we booked 75 girls with out repeating a single comedian simply in L.A.,” Tosi mentioned. “It kinda grew after that, and it sort of stored rising.”
On Monday, the present born out of a clap-back will have a good time its tenth anniversary. Their celebration will probably be stacked, with Chelsea Handler, Okatsuka, Brig Giger, and Kilmartin performing within the Hollywood Improv Predominant Room.
“In a stunning state of karma, the [Houston] competition is now defunct. Our present lasted years longer than their fest,” Tosi mentioned.
Through the years, the Mermaid Comedy Hour has grown right into a staple of L.A. comedy, providing a stage the place girls and nonbinary comedians can thrive. By spotlighting underrepresented voices, the present has reshaped L.A.’s comedy panorama, whereas making a neighborhood the place everybody feels protected.
For co-host Kari Assad, that sense of household started as a direct counter to the hostility she felt early on.
“Once I first began comedy, I felt like males had been very aggressive to me after I would present as much as open mics they usually’d get in my face,” Assad mentioned. “I felt like they had been attempting to intimidate me, personally.”
Dani Otter, from left, Kari Assad and Valerie Tosi are the movers and shakers of the Mermaid Comedy Hour. “We’re not gonna gatekeep individuals,” Tosi says. “We wish extra girls to have extra alternatives.”
Assad attributes her work with different girls comedians as the explanation she caught across the comedy world.
“That’s the delivery of Mermaid, a response to that vitality,” she added.
The manufacturing has change into a sounding board for lots of girls within the native scene. Everybody in attendance is there to assist one another. Whether or not a comic needs to drop by to punch up their set for a late-night look, or an individual is searching for skilled recommendation on methods to navigate the world of stand-up, the Mermaid Comedy crew is there to assist in any approach, Tosi mentioned.
Its repute for reserving nice expertise has made it a stepping stone for comics. Different present producers now strategy the crew to attach with their acts.
“We’re not gonna gatekeep individuals. We wish extra girls to have extra alternatives,” Tosi mentioned. “That advantages you, that advantages them, that advantages all people.”
Tosi and firm have created a “slumber get together” vibe to the present that features a “Future Besties Desk.” The desk, stuffed with friendship bracelets, is for anybody attending solo. This manner, they’ll stroll away with new pals.
“A few latest exhibits, we had been strolling away after them like ‘Oh, yeah we actually wanted this evening,’ ” Dani Otter, producer of the present, mentioned after every present ended. “It’s what retains bringing us again, on all sides of it.”
The Mermaid Comedy Hour is an all-female/non-binary comedy present on the Lab at Hollywood Improv.
The tone of the present has rubbed off on the performers, who, as comedians, really feel they’ll experiment with their acts, in accordance with Laurie Kilmartin, who was one of many Mermaid Comedy Hour’s first headliners.
“I feel you’re naturally defensive for those who’re the one lady on a lineup,” Kilmartin mentioned in an electronic mail. “You get so used to it, as a result of that’s the get up world — it appears regular. Then you definately’re on a present like Mermaid and the vibe is so enjoyable and pure.”
In a nurturing room like that of Mermaid Comedy Hour, the guardrails come down, comic Stevona Delgado mentioned. Being surrounded by a bunch of supportive girls and nonbinary comedians made her really feel protected to stroll to her automobile by herself after the present. In her expertise, she additionally seen that not one of the comedians on the invoice had been chilling backstage.
“Usually after I go to exhibits, all people is simply kicking it within the inexperienced room ready for his or her flip,” Delgado mentioned. “On the Mermaid Comedy Hour, all people was outdoors watching all people.”
Delgado participated of their profit present to lift cash for Centro CSO, a corporation that helps undocumented individuals. This was the primary time she bought behind the mic of such a storied stage just like the Hollywood Improv.
The present has lifted the careers of comics from outdoors of the town limits who most likely wouldn’t get an opportunity to carry out on such an enormous platform, Delgado mentioned.
“I seen by the Mermaid Comedy Hour that they positively be sure to have individuals from throughout, not simply from L.A.,” Delgado mentioned. “They’re positively giving common individuals an opportunity.”
Throughout its decade-long historical past, the present has helped launch the careers of comics like Taylor Tomlinson, Atsuko Okatsuka and Steph Tolev. The Mermaid Comedy Hour deliberately makes certain to maintain its lineups numerous, the considering being that nobody needs to look at a present with one perspective.
Paul Benton, middle, and Sara Jackson, far proper, each of Los Angeles, on the Mermaid Comedy Hour.
Or, as Kilmartin places it: “It’s a present the place you’ll be able to see a ton of nice, skilled feminine and nonbinary comics, one after the opposite. Not a single lazy, sexist dud within the bunch.”
Nonetheless, males constantly ship their audition tapes hoping to get booked. They’re clearly not studying the room, however the door stays open.
“Come assist the present. You might be welcome right here,” Otter mentioned. That’s not a clap-back, that’s an invite.
