After a NY Times piece on comedian Eddie Brill hit the web this past week it’s now being reported that Brill is stepping down as the comedy booker for Late Show with David Letterman. A position he’s held for 11 years in addition to being the warm-up comedian for the talk show.
The article, which many believe has a slight take-down vibe suggests that Brill believes women aren’t funny, raising the age-old debate on the topic which continued in the comments section on a Mirth.com piece where Brill, comedian Amy Schumer (who’s quoted in the article), and Jason Zinoman, the Times writer who originally wrote the piece all commented.
Bonnie McFarlane the director to the forthcoming film, Woman Aren’t Funny is coming to Brill’s defense. Brill appears in the movie and, in a statement released to The Laugh Button by her management, McFarlane stated “People need to stop taking exception every time someone makes a slight towards female comics.” She continued, “We’re winning, already. Relax, take a victory lap.”
McFarlane’s documentary focuses on the question: “are women as funny as men?” In it, she interviewed Brill for almost an hour. “Eddie Brill was in our movie and I can honestly say that during the 40 minutes of raw footage he states over and over again that he thinks women are funny and perhaps even funnier than men.” She joked afterward, “Of course, for the movie, we took this footage and rearranged it to make him look like a misogynistic asshole.”
Bonnie and her husband comedian Rich Vos, who is the Executive Producer on Women Aren’t Funny have a working relationship with Brill that’s stretched over a decade. “Eddie Brill booked me, a lady comic, on Letterman twice and although it was a great experience, it really did nothing for my career. Point being, if you don’t make it on Letterman, it really doesn’t matter.”
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