Ladies only perform standup at Max’s Place for first time

On Tuesday night, Max’s Place featured a dozen female standup comics.

“Comic’s Night” is a biweekly staple on Tuesdays that provides valuable microphone time for aspiring jokesters.

But for the first time in its one-year history, the stage was ladies-only.

Show promoter Mike Tucker saw the need for an all-female comedy forum six months ago.

“I didn’t see anybody doing anything with the female comedians,” Tucker said. “This is the stage where all comedians are trying to get to that next level and they’re hungry.”

Comedienne Miranda Britton joked about the neon-colored tapestry behind her.

“Can everyone hear me over this quilt?” she said.

The audience of Max’s Place filled the dining room with warm approval from wall to wall.

“Good comedy is good comedy,” audience member Ken Grooms said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s male or female.”

Some of the comediennes were telling jokes to an audience for the first time. Others were finding more experience behind the microphone. Comediennes ranged from 14 to 60 years old.

“So many of these women I’ve heard of but never seen because we’re not put on shows together,” show host Melinda Kashner said.    

Kashner started her standup career a year ago at the Bloomington Comedy Festival and has since performed in shows throughout Indiana

“It’s something that stuck,” Kashner said. “Once I did it for the first time, I just wanted to keep doing it.”

Sometimes standup can be referred to as a boys club.

“If I do 10 sets in a week, I might work with three girls and 100 men,” comedian Courtney Kay Meyers said of the male-dominated standup scene.

An Indianapolis native and resident, Meyers is an established talent  in her hometown.

She contributed to the comedy book “The Starving Artists’ Diet.”

“In my everyday life, I like to be the girl that breaks the tense moments at the water cooler. Or if traffic is at a standstill, I will get out of my car and do crazy things,” Meyers said.

Competing against scores of men does not faze her.

“All I have to do is be funny in the first 30 seconds, just like everybody else,” she said.
Tucker hopes to organize another ladies’ night this fall.

“I get goosebumps just thinking about it,” Tucker said. “Once you have a good show, you’re hooked.”