Women’s History Month @ QED

I’ve worked in comedy in NYC for almost 20 years now wearing various hats of producer, publicist, booker and now the owner of QED in Astoria, Queens. I’m familiar with the old boys’ club. I pay keen attention to the rumblings about women not getting booked and ye olde malarkey that “women aren’t funny”. I reeled from the horrors of Cosby, seethed in anger at Louis CK and grappled with the ongoing debate of crime, punishment, forgiveness and redemption.

Curious about QED’s female representation in the calendar of over 100 monthly events, I decided to do an analysis and was delighted to learn that 65% of shows were produced and/or hosted by women.

What I’m most proud of about this statistic, is that I didn’t actively set out to make it so. It happened organically.

Now, I do love my straight white men. I married one, in fact, and while he is one of the smartest, nicest and funniest people I will ever know, it would get awfully boring if he were the only type I booked. (Not a comment on our marriage, thankyouverymuch.)

For so many years, straight white males have been the gatekeepers and the tastemakers at comedy clubs and boardrooms and everything in between. As more women and people of color become part of the upper management (in this case booking a venue) it is only natural to see a shift. At QED this means more heterogeneous programming from which QED audiences and performers benefit. Diversity breeds creativity.

Since March is #WomensHistoryMonth it’s a great time for QED to celebrate the work of these 65% who help make QED an incredible gem in Astoria and the NYC comedy scene. To commemorate their work and give back, QED will donate $1 to Planned Parenthood for every ticket pre-purchased from our website in this collection. Support women in comedy, QED and Planned Parenthood by buying a ticket and seeing a show. It’s a trifecta of good chi!