This insight is from a Remarkist Memento.
Title: Tits Up!
Creator: @nancyw
Event (Watch Party): S5 E1 | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Event Date: 2023-04-14
Drop Date: 2023-04-14
Remarkist World: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Density: 19.61
Number of Editions: 28
The story of Midge Maisel is coming to a close.
We have followed our heroine on her rise in the comedic world from her auspicious beginning at the Gaslight Café, her opening act with singer Shy Baldwin and later as the emcee of a strip club. What will be next for Midge Maisel? Will she achieve stardom like the women she is based on?
Amy Sherman-Palladino created this world by writing about things she knew. Her father worked the comedy circuit in the 1950s and 1960s. Many comedians we see in this show are based on real life people.
Women who were referred to as comediennes around the 1940s and ‘50s were actually part of Vaudevillian acts. They acted in farces and their roles were mainly song and dance numbers. It wasn’t until the ‘50s that a handful of women managed to break free and slowly begin to take to the comedic stage.
It was extremely difficult for women to find success as comedians. Being witty and intellectually challenging was neither maternal nor sexually inviting. Women often played exaggerated roles so the audience would not feel threatened by the fact that a woman was making witty remarks and observations about them.
Sophie Lennon is part Phyllis Diller and part Moms Mobley. Sophie’s fat suit was meant to desexualize her and to disguise her fit figure. Susie Myerson was inspired by female talent agent Sue Mengers, a talent scout to be reckoned with. From the ‘60s, everyone wanted to be her client. She was considered a legend in show business. She was smart, tough, and funny, and like Susie, brutally honest.
And then there is Midge Maisel-mainly inspired by the incomparable Joan Rivers-as both were born in New York to Jewish parents who disapproved of their daughter’s career, both went to prestigious Seven Sisters schools. The edgy, stream of consciousness stand up that challenged gender norms was indicative in both sets. And surprisingly, Lenny Bruce was a secret champion to both women.
Remarkist: @nancyw
Pronouns she/her
because my brain is a wild jungle of scary jibberish!
i should take my bicycle to work, bicycle, unicycle, unitard, hockey puck, rattlesnake, monkey, monkey, underpants!
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