Says Adam Carolla, so it must be true

Comic Adam Carolla has claimed mediocre women fare better in comedy because there are fewer genuinely funny females.

He claims sitcoms hire women writers to fulfil quotas – even though they don’t produce as many good gags as men.

Carolla, who fronted Comedy Central USA’s The Man Show, made a bid to fire up controversy by telling a New York Post interviewer: ‘Dudes are funnier than chicks.’

He denied that he hated working with women but said: ‘They make you hire a certain number of chicks, and they’re always the least funny on the writing staff.

‘The reason why you know more funny dudes than funny chicks is that dudes are funnier than chicks.

‘If my daughter has a mediocre sense of humour, I’m just gonna tell her, “Be a staff writer for a sitcom. Because they’ll have to hire you, they can’t really fire you, and you don’t have to produce that much. It’ll be awesome.”

Warming to his theme he added: ‘When you’re picking a basketball team, you’ll take the brother over the guy with the yarmulke. Why? Because you’re playing the odds. When it comes to comedy, of course there’s Sarah Silverman, Tina Fey, Kathy Griffin — super-funny chicks. But if you’re playing the odds? No.

‘If Joy Behar or Sherri Shepherd was a dude, they’d be off TV. They’re not funny enough for dudes. What if Roseanne Barr was a dude? Think we’d know who she was? Honestly.’

Carolla’s deliberately provocative comments generally stirred little more than weary resignation on Twitter.

Julie Klausner said: “Adam Carolla’s death rattle sounds like the rusty chucrch bells of a crumbling empire. Don’t listen to the old man, he’s already a ghost’

Lance Henderstein said: ‘I worked for Adam Carolla. He's as sad, angry, and bigoted as his comments make him seem. Pity him, then ignore him. That is all.’

Comic Matt Kirshen tweeted: ‘Not fair. All women have to do to disprove Carolla is tell a joke. I have to find 4 fellow Jews to play basketball. And a basketball.’

Carolla’s Man Show featured the big-breasted Juggy Dance Squad and a regular Girls On Trampolines segment.

Adam Carolla is 48.

Published: 20 Jun 2012