Ellie Tomsett is lecturer in Media at Birmingham City University, UK. She was researcher in residence with the UK Women in Comedy Festival (2014-2019) and is co-founder of Mixed Bill, a comedy and gender research network. She has published on feminist and postfeminist stand-up comedy, self-deprecation, and protest humour.

This is a lucidly written, critical, and powerful book that documents the historical exclusion of women from the UK comedy industry and connects it to the present cultural conjuncture, where feminist comedy and affirmative action coexist with continuing marginalisation and a complexified backlash against feminism.

• Introduction: Welcome to the stage1. How did we get here? The gendered evolution of the UK comedy circuit 2. Where are we now? Challenges today for women comics 3. Women-only comedy spaces: Addressing inequality on the UK comedy circuit 4. Online to IRL: The impact of social media on stand-up comedy by women5. Bodies on stage: Feminisms on the comedy circuit post-20136. An (un)equal and opposite reaction: The backlash and barriers facing feminist comedy 7. Comedy too 8. Conclusion: Reflections on UK comedy’s glass ceilingNotesReferencesIndex

Ellie Tomsett is lecturer in Media at Birmingham City University, UK. She was researcher in residence with the UK Women in Comedy Festival (2014-2019) and is co-founder of Mixed Bill, a comedy and gender research network. She has published on feminist and postfeminist stand-up comedy, self-deprecation, and protest humour.

This is a lucidly written, critical, and powerful book that documents the historical exclusion of women from the UK comedy industry and connects it to the present cultural conjuncture, where feminist comedy and affirmative action coexist with continuing marginalisation and a complexified backlash against feminism.

• Introduction: Welcome to the stage1. How did we get here? The gendered evolution of the UK comedy circuit 2. Where are we now? Challenges today for women comics 3. Women-only comedy spaces: Addressing inequality on the UK comedy circuit 4. Online to IRL: The impact of social media on stand-up comedy by women5. Bodies on stage: Feminisms on the comedy circuit post-20136. An (un)equal and opposite reaction: The backlash and barriers facing feminist comedy 7. Comedy too 8. Conclusion: Reflections on UK comedy’s glass ceilingNotesReferencesIndex

Ellie Tomsett is lecturer in Media at Birmingham City University, UK. She was researcher in residence with the UK Women in Comedy Festival (2014-2019) and is co-founder of Mixed Bill, a comedy and gender research network. She has published on feminist and postfeminist stand-up comedy, self-deprecation, and protest humour.

This is a lucidly written, critical, and powerful book that documents the historical exclusion of women from the UK comedy industry and connects it to the present cultural conjuncture, where feminist comedy and affirmative action coexist with continuing marginalisation and a complexified backlash against feminism.

• Introduction: Welcome to the stage1. How did we get here? The gendered evolution of the UK comedy circuit 2. Where are we now? Challenges today for women comics 3. Women-only comedy spaces: Addressing inequality on the UK comedy circuit 4. Online to IRL: The impact of social media on stand-up comedy by women5. Bodies on stage: Feminisms on the comedy circuit post-20136. An (un)equal and opposite reaction: The backlash and barriers facing feminist comedy 7. Comedy too 8. Conclusion: Reflections on UK comedy’s glass ceilingNotesReferencesIndex