Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Okay, first off, this was just a little thought rattling around in the back of my head. I don't want to offend anyone. I am deeply respectful of cis-women in comedy. Amy Poehler, Carrie Brownstein, Sarah Silverman, Mindy Kaling- off the top of my head, these are just a few of the cis-women in comedy that I really admire.

However, the thought occurred to me: in day-to-day life, are trans-women funnier? Not trying to sound sexist or cisist or whatever. It's just that guys, especially less macho ones, tend to develop a strong sense of humor almost as a defense mechanism. After transition, do old habits die hard, and do these women bring the wisecracks with them? Or does the instinct to be funny decrease when you feel more at home in your form?

Share your thoughts.

Me personally? I think I'm always going to be a goofball.

Cheers,
Tegan

Quote from: Sincerely Tegan on May 19, 2014, 12:00:18 AM
Okay, first off, this was just a little thought rattling around in the back of my head. I don't want to offend anyone. I am deeply respectful of cis-women in comedy. Amy Poehler, Carrie Brownstein, Sarah Silverman, Mindy Kaling- off the top of my head, these are just a few of the cis-women in comedy that I really admire.

However, the thought occurred to me: in day-to-day life, are trans-women funnier? Not trying to sound sexist or cisist or whatever. It's just that guys, especially less macho ones, tend to develop a strong sense of humor almost as a defense mechanism. After transition, do old habits die hard, and do these women bring the wisecracks with them? Or does the instinct to be funny decrease when you feel more at home in your form?

Share your thoughts.

Me personally? I think I'm always going to be a goofball.

Cheers,
Tegan

Yes, yes we are.  Eat your heart out, Tina Fey.  Hell, eat yourself out...

Quote from: Jill F on May 19, 2014, 12:02:39 AM
Yes, yes we are.  Eat your heart out, Tina Fey.  Hell, eat yourself out...

hahaha! funny. my sense of humor though is pretty dry unless i make of fool outta myself o.o no fair!

Humor has been a vital tool in my socialization. It really breaks the ice.

Quote from: Jill F on May 19, 2014, 12:02:39 AM
Yes, yes we are.  Eat your heart out, Tina Fey.  Hell, eat yourself out...

How flexible do you think she is, Jill? This isn't the Cirque de Soleil.

-Teg

Quote from: Tori on May 19, 2014, 12:17:40 AM
Humor has been a vital tool in my socialization. It really breaks the ice.

Were you funny before HRT, or is that new?  I'm just better at it now.  Should I try a stand up act?

Quote from: Sincerely Tegan on May 19, 2014, 12:20:03 AM
How flexible do you think she is, Jill? This isn't the Cirque de Soleil.

-Teg

If she was that flexible...  <fill in the blank>

I always hid my depression with humor. Comic acting was my forte.

I may express my humor in writing more now and I use it as a way to disarm people I have just met, humor helps them feel more at ease around the trans person they just met.

You should try stand up. It scares me to death. But hey, since I started transition, I now want to go skydiving.

I wrote a one-liner to someone on another forum.. saying:

"If I tried transitioning slowly, in stealth, and when the wife finally figures it out, the anger and wrath displayed will make Glenn Closes' scene in Fatal Attraction look like an eHarmony commercial.."

Now I've been pretty funny before I began HRT, but I don't think I would have come up with that zinger before it..

Quote from: Tori on May 19, 2014, 12:31:29 AM
I always hid my depression with humor. Comic acting was my forte.

I may express my humor in writing more now and I use it as a way to disarm people I have just met, humor helps them feel more at ease around the trans person they just met.

You should try stand up. It scares me to death. But hey, since I started transition, I now want to go skydiving.

Stand up can't be nearly as scary as improvising lead guitar.  Skydiving, well, if you can get me on the f***ing plane in the first place... OK.  Still not going to happen.

Skydiving is incredible. Just freaking do it.

Quote from: Sincerely Tegan on May 19, 2014, 12:53:32 AM
Skydiving is incredible. Just freaking do it.

I was on a plane that almost crashed once.  The sparks from the wingtip on the runway still haunt me to this day.  Like I say- if you can get me on the plane in the first place, you can certainly get me off mid-flight.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm absolutely humorless.  No time for that sort of silliness...

Before transitioning I didnt find most things funny but now Im just a humerous hoe hahaha jks now i laugh more and make more jokes all the time haha :)

I think being a transwoman has some very special circumstances attached to it.

I think largely most of us transition in adulthood.  I personally was 31 when I started transition.  For most of us we spent some part of our adult lives as male.  I think that gives us a major advantage over natal women.  After all, natal women don't know what it's like to get a ->-bleeped-<-. haha.

Jokes aside, we are special creatures.  Many of us have a lifetime of experiences that sets us apart from natal women.

Are we funnier? I dunno, but I will say we've been in some seriously screwed up situations because of who we are.  Often the best jokes are those told of experience, and girl, we've got some interesting stories to tell.

I will say, without doubt, that transwomen have several advantages over natal women from a guys point of view.  We don't get extra pissy once a month (unless you are one of those girls who gets pissy after hormone injections) nor will we  go through menopause. Oh, we generally age better. /shrug

-AM

Quote from: Sincerely Tegan on May 19, 2014, 12:00:18 AM
After transition, do old habits die hard, and do these women bring the wisecracks with them? Or does the instinct to be funny decrease when you feel more at home in your form?

I'm just as funny. I have the same urge to wisecrack and my jokes go over just as well.

Though when people don't clock me, they sometimes seem surprised that a woman can make them laugh.

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on May 19, 2014, 01:44:42 AM
Skydiving is pretty straighforward

Ends that way as well if the chute doesn't open! ;D

Does sarcasm count?

Quote from: JamesG on May 19, 2014, 07:43:13 AM
Does sarcasm count?

Sure! Most humor is a form of sarcasm. :)

Jammin' guitar while nude skydiving sounds a lot more fun than some other circumstances I can think of, but could I be funnier than another person? There's a pretty good chance but it kinda depends on how much corn you have, or possibly potatoes, peas, green beans or such and what time I happen to need to go the necessary room

Oh, never mind!!!

Quote from: Jill F on May 19, 2014, 01:00:58 AM
I was on a plane that almost crashed once.  The sparks from the wingtip on the runway still haunt me to this day.  Like I say- if you can get me on the plane in the first place, you can certainly get me off mid-flight.

Hmmmmmm.......

Quote from: V M on May 19, 2014, 08:06:29 AM
Jammin' guitar while nude skydiving sounds a lot more fun than some other circumstances I can think of, but could I be funnier than another person? There's a pretty good chance but it kinda depends on how much corn you have, or possibly potatoes, peas, green beans or such and what time I happen to need to go the necessary room

Oh, never mind!!!

V,
Do I really want to know?

:o,
Teg

Quote from: Jill F on May 19, 2014, 12:02:39 AM
Yes, yes we are.  Eat your heart out, Tina Fey.  Hell, eat yourself out...

Lol.

And nope, I think female standups are equally funny to men if not more, and I have lots of funny cis females in my life.

But I also am hilarious obvs.

Are trans-women funnier than cis-women?

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Quote from: JamesG on May 19, 2014, 11:08:30 AM
Are trans-women funnier than cis-women?

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You're doing it wrong  :D
Trans women are indeed funnier!

I guess if you can learn to laugh about your situation, it helps. And imagine, we have enough experience to last 2 lifetimes :P both male AND female lol.

Before transition, i was always the "comedian" of my group, my jokes were a bit vulgar and crazy ~ I thought i would have to give that up, but who says women can't be vulgar? xD

Now i'm still the comedian only now I have MORE material. The other day i went to the beach and we were talking about something (I forgot the topic, but lets say for the moment that it was about skydiving), i was discussing that my friend (who is wild in nature) should try skydiving, and he said "hell no, that ->-bleeped-<- is too crazy.", and I said "Oh I'm sorry, last time I checked, I thought 'I' was the one getting a vagina."

Laughs all around the table with him saying "thats why we're friends! lol"

Lucky enough that everyone there knew about my transition and non of them were strangers, so I didn't see any harm in it :P so I guess you can say transwomen are funnier by default simply because we have more material to work with ;D

I don't know that i am funnier, but I have always used humor to relate the irony that I saw in the word around me, and to deal with uncomfortable situations. The real irony was my insides not matching my outsides, and that was also the basis of the discomfort within me (oh, if you only knew ...)

I recently began to examine my use of sarcasm, and why I often responded sarcastically in certain situations. I have come to realize it afforded me two benefits. First, not being macho as a kid, I couldn't easily defend myself physically. So sarcasm was my way of putting you on notice that I could hurt you in another way. I was essentially drawing a line in the sand, and when you stepped over, I would zap you with my mouth. Also, lacking self esteem, it was my way of letting you know how clever I am. I now recognize that this brand of humor was based totally on fear. Over time, as I have become less afraid, my sarcasm has diminish. I still have a sense of humor, but now it is more the self deprecating sort -- able to laugh at the crazy things I do, but all the while knowing that I am OK.

Quote from: Tori on May 19, 2014, 12:17:40 AM
Humor has been a vital tool in my socialization. It really breaks the ice.

yeap  :)

Princess,
I love your potential new FB profile pic. Super-cis.

Also I miss your old avatar. You were so cute in it, and seeing it always made me smile.

Also, these dishes aren't going to wash themselves. Just saying.

:P -Tegs

Quote from: LittleEmily24 on May 19, 2014, 11:16:56 AM
i was discussing that my friend (who is wild in nature) should try skydiving, and he said "hell no, that ->-bleeped-<- is too crazy.", and I said "Oh I'm sorry, last time I checked, I thought 'I' was the one getting a vagina."

*giggles*  THAT was funny!!!

Quote from: Sincerely Tegan on May 19, 2014, 11:59:06 AM
Princess,
I love your potential new FB profile pic. Super-cis.

Also I miss your old avatar. You were so cute in it, and seeing it always made me smile.

Also, these dishes aren't going to wash themselves. Just saying.

:P -Tegs

oh thank you :) it means a lot  :angel:

on my way to your kitchen!

Early in my college years, I really did try hard sometimes to bring the funny. I probably embarrassed myself more than anything. My humor used to mainly revolve around teasing, complaining, and huge helpings of sarcasm. My rants were legendary, but they also kept people and situations at a distance. It's difficult to truly get close to a person who seems to be doing a routine of some sort.

When I joke these days, I do it for myself and purely for fun. I don't try so hard anymore, so it's all much more organic. Now I'm more about wit and silliness than sarcasm, and I don't use humor for approval or acceptance anymore, either. If it makes me laugh, then I say it; if others enjoy it, then that's a bonus. This attitude really helps when you're looking at the deadpan expressions of 35 students who really don't want to encourage you. :)

-Teg

Sometimes,I've always made people laugh it was really useful as a skinny weedy kid who was no good at fighting or running and it was a great defence against bullies

I've never been very good at the 'Who's better or best' thing, regardless of gender and so forth imo when it comes to comedy the comic is either funny or they're not

Now, that's a funny question to ask! ;)