In books, TV series and documentaries, stand-up comics of the 1970s have become nearly as mythologized as the auteurs of the New Hollywood. If Richard Pryor, David Letterman and Andy Kaufman were the Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola of the club scene, then Elayne Boosler is the Hal Ashby, the misunderstood master who never got proper due. When Larry King asked Ms. Boosler on CNN, “Why is comedy considered not for women?,” the question answered itself. Ms. Boosler’s career clearly suffered from systemic sexism, the impossible bind that demanded women command the stage without being too, well, commanding. (She actually could be both, but that was part of her charismatic power.)

Source: New York Times September 30, 2018 14:00 UTC