Is there any reason that a female focused comedy show that has done 9 shows without Lindy West and 1 show where she visited has its header picture as Lindy West?

Why not one of the women who founded it? Why not the venue? Why not a picture of the show going on?

It is bad enough that after visiting the show as many times as you did that you still dedicated the start of the article to describing the ONE bad experience there.

Such lazy journalism.

Is there any reason that a female focused comedy show that has done 9 shows without Lindy West and 1 show where she visited has its header picture as Lindy West?

Why not one of the women who founded it? Why not the venue? Why not a picture of the show going on?

It is bad enough that after visiting the show as many times as you did that you still dedicated the start of the article to describing the ONE bad experience there.

Such lazy journalism.

Is there any reason that a female focused comedy show that has done 9 shows without Lindy West and 1 show where she visited has its header picture as Lindy West?

Why not one of the women who founded it? Why not the venue? Why not a picture of the show going on?

It is bad enough that after visiting the show as many times as you did that you still dedicated the start of the article to describing the ONE bad experience there.

Such lazy journalism.

Lindy West does stand up?

Also, I've always really loved the vibe at Scratch Deli. And I say that as a super passive, occasional, female attendee.

I thought heckling was the mechanism by which stand-up was vetted and refined. no?

I love the Comedy Womb!

@5 No. Heckling is the mechanism by which by which an individual defines themselves as an asshole who doesn't give a shit about ruining everybody's good time.

It's really refreshing to see Danielle's hard work pay off. I've made this a regular show to watch, whenever I'm in town. She curates a smart, dynamic open mic and actually gives a shit about her (unusually well behaved, smart, respectful and very full) audience. The few times I've been there, I've seen comics that I haven't seen anywhere else, doing really great stuff and I wonder if they've found a "safe house" to work out of, without the choking cloud of testosterone that tends to permeate other mics? They're not all aggro dude-fests, but they're also not as receptive to women as this one is. Please go check it out and support it!! Good stuff, and way to go, Danielle!
Also, seriously, instead of a fucking "Jazz" column? You guys (THE STRANGER) should pay some attention to your comedy community. With the exception of Cienna and Lindy, who both tried to keep a monthly column alive, in the very back of the paper, by the Escort Pages, to no avail. You have a pretty amazing thing happening here and it's really heartbreaking to see it get zero support from you. In fact, it's rather shameful that the only articles I seem to see anymore, tend to focus on the negatives and rarely on the creative, blossoming, scene that is trying to thrive, despite absolutely no positive attention from the local press. This article is one exception. Food for thought: If you don't give it any light, it probably won't grow.

Way to go, Danielle, Cienna, and Lindy et. al. !!!!!!
So where is The Comedy Womb?? I'd love to come
to an open mic night!!

p.s. How on earth did that one pig get in the room, though?

@7- well, it seemed to work fine when it was aimed at the jerk making rape jokes.

But seriously, I know a number of professional comedians and heckling is pretty much their version of peer review or writers' workshop. It takes some thick skin to do stand up- which is likely why so many insensitive assholes are engaged in it.

I love Comedy Womb. This isn't just a female friendly room. It's a great room. Period. I perform there almost weekly. It's supportive. It's positive. It's a great place for comedy. A good place to work on an act. If you're a fan of comedy or interested in giving it a shot you should check it out. It's wonderful. Seattle has a growing stand-up scene of smart, wonderful, creative people and Comedy Womb (along with several others) are doing a wonderful job cultivating it. Congrats to Danielle. I hope this won't be the last article about Seattle stand-up. It's out there. It's getting better and better. You would probably like it. These are comedians you will hear about in the future. I think you will find that most of the dudes or bros or guys aren't insensitive assholes. A lot of us talk about cats. Comedy Womb rocks. Go to it.

@11 - Fairly common misconception, though note you said 'professional comedians'. Heckling at actual shows is done at your own risk, heckling at open mics (which will have comics with anywhere from zero to decades of experience) is frowned upon (if not outright banned) at most venues.

For anyone that enjoys comedy at all (be it watching or performing), I can't recommend this room enough. Danielle and co. is killing it down there.

And I can't agree more with Derek - the Stranger really should be giving the Seattle standup scene more exposure. There are tons of great venues and shows going on every single day, and contrary to an apparent popular misconception, 99% of comedy in Seattle is not 'Hurr hurr rape'.

@1,2,3, Hi! Attending three comedy wombs and writing about what I found interesting is "lazy"? You obviously have a problem grasping the meaning of words or employing them correctly.

As for Lindy, I'm assuming my editor chose to use that photo because I reference her set to illustrate a very recent,heated, ugly debate about women in comedy, and two, because my phone--which had pictures from the three comedy wombs I attended--was recently stolen.

But by all means, continue being petty and bitter! I get the feeling it suits you well.

Thanks for telling us about this! I had no idea it existed and can't wait to check it out.

So I was kind of wondering about this one:

Q: What is the first thing a frat bro does after he gets laid?

A: Clean the pepper spray out of his eyes.

Now, the butt of the joke is the bro who can not get laid without resorting to rape, but it is hard to overlook how the joke without pause equates "getting laid" with "rape."

So..."good" rape joke or "bad" rape joke?

Thanks again Danielle for creating the Comedy Womb!
@10 go to https://www.facebook.com/TheComedyWomb for more info.
The Womb is at the Rendezvous:
2322 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
Also, please come out and check out other open mics around the city!

@16 - I chuckled. In this case, I see the joke as this: the bro in this scenario does not see the difference between rape and getting laid and probably assumes that getting pepper sprayed is just part of the mating ritual. Bros are idiots and so socially dysfunctional that affection and violence are indistinguishable to them. Jokes.

@19

Sounds like bro shaming, brah.

Wait, it's socially acceptable to make fun of sexually active men? Oh, okay. Carry on.

@14 Yes, you are being lazy.

Basing any of this around Lindy West's recent "rape joke" controversy is insulting to the hard working people who put this show on, because that is NOT what it is about.

You even referred to this show as a feminist show in the SUB HEADER, which is NOT what it is. They continually say "female focused, not exclusive".

On Facebook this is how the story was shared - "Rape jokes don't go over so well at a weekly open mic called the Comedy Womb." with a big picture of Lindy West in front.

I'm sorry that your phone was stolen. I guess that means that NO ONE at the Stranger could reach out to any of the contacts for a picture of the venue, the founders or anything?

Your organization knows what it is doing and you should be ashamed to be such a controversy shill.

@16 - Rather than automatically correlating "getting laid" with "rape," it presumes that the frat bro in question makes that correlation.

@19 - Reasonable (give or take) people may disagree, but making fun of sexually active men--particularly those belonging to fraternities--could still be looked upon as an example of "punching up," mocking those in power and/or to whom nearly all popular culture is targeted.

If we object to mockery in any and all cases, we might as well write the idea of comedy off altogether.

Awesome! I need to go here :)

@3, 9 shows all amateur vs a currently-blowing up rising female star? Why the hell would you pick the first one? maybe a second pic of them or a troop depending on length.

@21, What a total load! You are the reason amateur things fail you know, you are one of those people who are never happy being a part of something. You stress everyone out and you are admonishing someone that is giving you mad publicity. How ungrateful and petty! Do a one person show about what a diva you are and then invite Cienna, that way you get top billing in your doomed attempt to force meaning into your life.

@24 @25 - She came to ONE show after she was called out as not being a comic. So what does she do? She goes to all the open mics for one week and the drops off again.

At the end of the day, it is lazy journalism and Cienna should know that. She misquoted the founder of the show and made this yet another article about Lindy West.

I'm so over it all.

@21, 26, I have no influence over what is posted on Facebook. It might blow your mind to hear this, but I don't control all aspects of how our articles get promoted. We have teams of people in charge of that.

You have problems with every aspect of this article--date rape dude, mentioning Lindy--which is pretty interesting. Apparently, I'm supposed to write about a misogyny in comedy without actually citing or quoting local examples of misogyny in comedy?

It's fine to disagree with my writing but it's pretty serious to accuse me of misquoting Danielle. Where is the misquote? I've emailed with Danielle since this article was printed and she didn't mention it. Since you're writing all of your baseless critiques under a pseudonym, I've gone ahead and emailed Danielle to ask her about the misquote.

What I'm guessing is you're a lady comedian and you're upset that I didn't mention *you* in relation to this article, specifically.

:(

Good luck with your comedy! I hope you're half as funny as you are bitchy. If so, I'm sure you'll be a smashing success.

@28 - Misquoting is the wrong term. I don't know WHAT was said, so for that I will backpedal and apologize due to the misuse.

A better term is MISREPRESENTING. I have no way of knowing what was said, but I know she has repeatedly NOT referred to it as a feminist show, and yet it is being represented by you as that...in your sub header.

"I hope you're half as funny as you are bitchy" Wow, you are sure representing women well with that quote. Really pushing us forward. I have only ever critiqued you on what I feel is LAZY JOURNALISM...and now I'm a bitch? If you put something out into the world, expect it to be critiqued. You just turn to name calling? You are acting no better than the misogynists you rally against.

I was mostly annoyed that instead of doing a piece on the art scene in this community, you skewed it into a piece about this whole controversy that is going on right now to the point where apparently your editor found it appropriate to toss a picture of someone who works with your organization (who has only been to one show) as the main picture of the piece. With all the issues going on, that will turn people off to the room.

You know what you are doing and you should hold yourself to a higher standard.

@29, I don't appreciate being anonymously attacked for editorial decisions that I have no control over, and I still find your allegations of lazy journalism totally laughable.

And I didn't call you a bitch (a noun, as in an inherent state of being), I said you were being bitchy (an adjective describing someone's comments of behavior). I find your inability to process the meaning of words troubling--one could even call it lazy. Take the word "feminist." You know that promoting a show as anti-misogynist is an inherently feminist act, right?

Anyway, I'm sorry I called you bitchy. I don't know you (you're anonymous!) and I don't normally resort to internet fights. So I'm done. If you care to continue this discussion, you can email me and I'd be more than willing to meet with you in person, over drinks, and have a friendly conversation. Seriously. You can email me at: cmadrid@thestranger.com.

"I didn't call you a bitch (a noun, as in an inherent state of being), I said you were being bitchy (an adjective describing someone's comments of behavior)." - Something A Defensive Misogyist Would Say

@29, one more point I'd like to make, since you don't seem to understand many of the mechanisms of journalism: It is literally (literally!) my job to write about current social and political controversy. That is the function of a newspaper.

But again! Email me. I drink whiskey. We'll talk.

@31, you lost my email address already? Here it is again: cmadrid@thestranger.com.

I'd love to discuss misogyny with you, in person. Like adults!

@17 & @18: Thanks for the helpful contact info!!

I just came to Seattle last week and knew of The Stranger as a credible altweekly. I had high hops.

And then I read this.

Cienna Madrid, your petulant responses to EstrogenComedy43 has singlehandedly dissuaded me from wanting to read your paper ever again. I want you to know because I think it's important that you recognize how shitty and childish you sound.

I agree with #35. I thought she had completely valid points. I'd be upset (and confused), too, if an event of mine was written about and you used a photo of someone not even involved with the organization. And as a reader, I was interested in learning more about the women who organized the show, not about Lindy. I already know and love Lindy.

Your response was dismissive and ridiculous. #31 was pretty fucking accurate, too. That line of yours made me gag, as did your questioning her reading comprehension. I'd expect that sort of condescending bullshit from the commenters, not from paid writers.

I agree with 37. 35 and 36, plus that snatchblock comedian who didn't get her picture printed and can't stop snuffling about the woman who did-- can kiss my window seated ass. I'm flying out immediately to buy Cienna some whiskey and discuss shit like adults. DRUNK ADULTS.

I pinch your claws, Madrid. See you soon.

@30 - FTW!