Talk:Comedian

I noticed that the "fuckeristick" link leads to the Comedian page. They are not one and the same. Somebody smarter than I should think about doing a Humorist page.

I put in a bit about famous comedy places, links between comics and illness and examples of when comedians have got it wrong. fell free to edit this. --Duey Finster (Too lazy to login, signed as 00:35, 18 December 2005 (UTC) )'

Will smith ain't a comedian, i removed him from the laundry list :) 68.193.87.97 01:35, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

de-stubbing

This page has gone beyond a stub -- Fplay 13:56, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

other meanings

I have heard the term "comedian" used in the sense of "humorous writer," as in "Aristophanes was an ancient Greek comedian." Fishal 18:22, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Geographic bias

Is there a reason most of the examples are comics from the UK? Aside from the laundry list, there are no North American comics?

Laundry list? plus British comics are generally more funny than american comics. Matt lucas, Vic Reeves, Eric Idle, John cleese etc. I don't see many if any UK comics in the longer lists, I mean who finds Tim Allen funny lol?

Comedienne

Come into the 21st century, Wikipedia. Try calling Whoopi Goldberg a comedienne and see how well she takes it. Comedian is fine for male or female. Comedienne we can do without. 82.69.28.55 (talk)

Absolutely agreed. I freaking loathe that term. --71.155.190.112 (talk) 18:40, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

I don't see the issue. Do you speak French? German? Italian? Why do people embrace gendered terms in other languages yet oppose them in English? I'm a masseur and were I a woman, I'd be a masseuse. At school, we had a head mistress for a time and then a head master. I love the beauty of language and would rather that than replace it with some stale carbon-copy language devoid of beauty, colour and expression. Enzedbrit (talk) 11:48, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Accuracy supersedes political correctness. Comedienne is a proper term; stop removing it from the article just because you don't like it. --199.111.155.82 (talk) 01:24, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

'Supersedes' means 'comes after' or 'replaces'. You may have meant 'takes precedence over' or 'is more important than'. Even so, I'm aware of female comedians who insist that they are 'comedians' and that 'comedienne' is an outmoded term in the business. There again, I know another who is equally insistent that 'comedienne' is just fine, thanks. 'Comedian' certainly functions adequately for both, and there is no real reason to have a special word to denote female if the basic word doesn't denote male. Prior to the 19th century, 'comedienne' wasn't used in English at all.

Still, putting aside the accusation of 'political correctness' (which is an emotive term often used to muddy the water), the problem with language is that, while everyone can have an opinion, the correctness of language is determined solely by usage. None of the commenters above are correct because there is no 'correct' in this case. A dictionary, as we know, doesn't decide the correct use of language - it merely describes how it's used. So it seems that we would need to look to usage to determine this one. How does Wikipedia take that measure? - Laterensis (talk) 11:34, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

I notice the last few edits have been back and forth additions and removals by anonymous editors of the word 'comedienne'. Are we going to discuss this here, or just continue reverting? - Laterensis (talk) 10:27, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

First time I've read this pages and I just reverted to a version with coverage on sight. I admit I didn't read these comments first but it doesn't change anything. The test is a simple one. Is the term in common use? If so we include it. If not we don't. The ultimate purpose of this project is to document reality, not pass judgement on it - that is inherently POV. With this in mind 71.155.190.112 invalidates his own argument.

Similarly a single individual making a claim as to what he or she is does not make that binding on all members of that class. Indeed, Whoopi Goldberg does not have to power to alter whether she is a comedian or comedienne (at least, short of gender reassignment surgery). She can express a preference as to what she would prefer to be called but that does not change what she is.

However, this is a point that could perhaps do with being made explicitly. If we do this though, it must be neutral and in proportion to the rest of the article - that is, a sentence at most. It should not dominate the rest of the article. CrispMuncher (talk) 15:39, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

1 fan

hi carol you rock in annie. your my favorite actress as ms hannigan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.238.14.116 (talk) 19:48, 14 October 2008 (UTC)