The League of Extraordinarily Funny Women: 50 Trailblazers of Comedy by Sheila Moeschen

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

A celebration of the most groundbreaking women in comedy who used humor to shake up the status quo and change perceptions of gender and comedy forever.


Step aside, Seinfeld. It's time for the brave, hilarious women of comedy to finally get the recognition they deserve. The people who say women aren't funny are actually saying something else: that humor in the hands of women is radical and scary. Nevertheless, women have persisted for generations now, deploying their wit in game-changing ways. The League of Extraordinarily Funny Women is a beautifully illustrated book that showcases fifty women -- past and present -- who use humor to deliver cutting social commentary, tangle with sensitive subjects, challenge traditional ideas about femininity, and, above all, do anything but sit still and stay quiet when laughs are on the line.

The result is a sisterhood of empowering and often under-recognized figures who have gone on to become standups, writers, and actresses, including Mae West, Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner, Tina Fey, Amy Sedaris, Wanda Sykes, Ellen DeGeneres, Mindy Kaling, Jessica Williams, and many more.

My thoughts-

My husband and I are HUGE comedy fans. When I was pregnant with our first baby before we knew the gender, we picked out a boy name immediately but struggled hard to agree on a girl name. After about each contributing 30 names each that we both couldn't agree on we came to Madelyn and both immediately knew that had to be our daughter's name. You see, we were big fans of a movie called Young Frankenstein starring an extraordinarily gifte comedienne named Madeline Kahn. We love comedy so much that it took a comedian to influence our baby name decision (and of course that baby turned out to be a girl and she is a funny female in her own right. The last two years at her school's talent show, she has done a comedy act!). Madeline Kahn does not get a mention in this book (a travesty really) but there are 50 worthy women from all backgrounds, both personally and comedically, and different time periods who deserve their stories told in this book. I love that there are several different categories with a handful of comedians listed and their stories told. Some of my favorite people profiled in the book are Lucille Ball, Mindy Kaling, Tina Fey, Ellen DeGeneres, and Gilda Radnor. There were even a couple I have never heard of that now I will have to look up! I recommend this book to anyone who loves comedy. You can get your copy starting April 9!