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We asked the Vodafone Comedy Festival booker about the number of female acts on its line-up
Andrea Figueira Andrea Figueira
EARLIER THIS YEAR, the absence of women from many of the summer’s music festivals made headlines.
On several of the line-ups, female acts were significantly outnumbered by men.
But the problem isn’t just confined to music.
Ireland is home to several comedy festivals, including Kilkenny Cat Laughs and Vodafone Comedy Festival.
Both have previously come under fire for featuring too few female comics on the bill.
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Today, the line-up for this year’s Vodafone Comedy Festival was unveiled and rather notably features 18 female acts on the bill, an improvement on recent years.
The bill features Irish comedians like Deirdre O’Kane, Eleanor Tiernan, Maeve Higgins, Alison Spittle and Andrea Farrell, as well as international acts like Aparna Nancherla, Holly Walsh, Michelle Wolf and Luisa Omielan.
Striking a gender balance in comedy has become a priority of late, a recent example being the BBC’s ban on all-male line-ups for comedy panel shows, a move which many criticised as inadvertently promoting “tokenism”.
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So, was striking a balance on the agenda for the Vodafone Comedy Festival?
Bren Berry of Aiken Promotions told DailyEdge.ie, “I feel I have always made a concerted effort to book female artists and I have always championed female comedians at the festival.”
He explained that, as a booker, there are more male acts available to him than female acts, but that he still strives to book female talent where possible.
Berry told us that balance is of the utmost importance to him. “I am constantly thinking about balance. Gender balance is important, as is a balance between established ticket-selling artists and new artists, mainstream artists and alternative artists, international artists and Irish artists.”
So, what do the acts make of it all?
Comedian Eleanor Tiernan told DailyEdge.ie that she thinks balance is important if only for the fact that she’ll get fewer of these sorts of questions…
As for when the word “quota” is mentioned?
Alison Spittle Comedy / Facebook Alison Spittle Comedy / Facebook / Facebook
Similarly, Alison Spittle expressed excitement at being part of this year’s festival and described the Vodafone Comedy Festival as a “great champion of women in comedy”.
For his part, Bren Berry believes that the landscape is slowly improving for female comedians.
Hon the gals.
dailydot / Tumblr dailydot / Tumblr / Tumblr
Here’s how Ireland’s summer festivals look without the men >
Irish women are sharing their dreams for a ‘feminist’ future on Twitter >
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