Feminist Comedy Night

Starting in 2015 at Mad House Helsinki, Feminist Comedy Night carved out a place for stand-up comedy that doesn’t rely on patriarchy for its punchlines. 

Since its beginning, it’s featured local and international guests, moved from Mad House to being a regular feature at Korjaamo, featured over 90 comedians, and bashed into problematic territory a few times. Jamie’s take on its aims: “First off, you’re getting into a space where you know that punchlines about women drivers or gay sex aren’t going to fly. At the same time it’s not that interesting to me to hear jokes that are simply at the expense of straight white cis able-bodied men for their own sake. I’m more interested in the night as an encounter where comedians are forced to think over their material from another person’s point of view, and audiences are challenged to extend trust.”

While FCN is a comedy show like most others, offering a mix of professional and open-mic comedians every show, it is also a long-term project and practice of community creation, and of consciously steering towards a political direction whilst trying to remain accessible and non-serious.

Feminist Comedy Night plays in Helsinki and at Telakka in Tampere regularly, and gave rise to the Feminist Comedy Academy, where new comedians can develop their first 5-minute set.