Shame on you. You didn’t seriously think we wrote a piece with that headline unironically, did you? But while we have your attention, scroll down to read some of our actual stories that highlight women in the standup comedy scene.

Anu Vaidyanathan Highlights The Importance of Endurance On The Field & Stage

Anu Vaidyanathan has peak first-bencher energy and we love it. She just doesn’t quit. After dominating the academic world and becoming a decorated endurance sportswoman, Vaidyanathan shifted gears and took on the written word, documentary film-making, direction and finally standup comedy. She performed two shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year.

Here’s her story.

Sumukhi Suresh Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

In January 2022, Sumukhi Suresh had launched Motormouth, a company looking to expand the space for female-led video content. And while she’s constantly been in and out of writers’ rooms—some of which were in association with the likes of Vikramaditya Motwane—she found the time to craft an incredibly personal and emotional special titled Hoemonal and made her standup comedy debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She’s also been doing a few million things on the side including opening the show for designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla at the prestigious India Couture Week in New Delhi last year.

Here’s her story.

Ritushree Panigrahi Rises Against The Hate

Ritushree Panigrahi, the first Indian comedian to come out as a trans-woman, broke into the Indian comedy mainstream in 2023 with a standup video titled Coming Out, which documents her journey towards self-discovery and self-acceptance with effortless charm and a keen eye for incisive observations. Her journey has been anything but easy and you can read it about it here.

Devanshi Shah Gets Her Mom To Do Standup Comedy

Devanshi Shah is known to mine her familial relationships for the laughs. That’s precisely what she was doing at her first recording last year. But there was more to it than that. Shah’s mother took the stage to tell her side of the story and the audience was all for it. Also, how would an Indian mom do in a green room full of comedians? Find out here.

Chennai’s First All-Women Improv Comedy Group

In 2022, The Hysterical, Chennai’s first all-women improv comedy group premiered its act at SOCO. It was co-founded by improv artist Shalini Vijayakumar and actress Amrutha Srinivasan.

Check out their story here.

Some Bonus Comedy Content