Fridays are made for fun, and nothing inspires fun better than good comedy. On April 5, Stove’s Cabin Crew, Lincoln Center’s comedy club, hosted their third annual feminist comedy night in the Student Lounge. “Strong Leads Who Happen to be Women” starred 10 women and featured monologues from female characters, stand-up and improv. Attendees were encouraged to bring menstrual products to be donated to The Bowery Mission, keeping with the theme of the night.

FemCom is a show put on by Stove’s Cabin Crew, featuring only the women of the group. It is a night to celebrate women in comedy. The show opened with a scripted skit featuring studio executives searching for the right female lead. This prepared the stage for monologues of various archetypal women characters often seen in television and movies.

One character, Gwendolyn Marshall Waters, played by FemCom director Frankie Ciannavei, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20, was a no-nonsense businesswoman who decides to freeze her eggs. Another, Crystal, played by Natalie Grammer, FCLC ’21, was an aura reader who had a tarot card reading that “changed her life.” Other characters mentioned were Kelsey (Shannon Constantine, FCLC ’19), the token nerd of the group; Carina (Emily Krichmar, FCLC ’21), an influencer who swears “anyone can have clear skin if you just drink water” and Brithany (Marielle Sarmiento, FCLC ’21), your local high school ditz. The performances alternated between these scripted characters and stand-up from the women in Stove’s.

The show ran smoothly with a cohesive theme. It was evident that the group operated at a high level of teamwork. Hanna Bowman, FCLC ’21, explained: “It was very collaborative. We each wrote our character monologues, but the effort setting up the character profiles in the beginning were made by everyone.” The stand-up was written individually after these profiles were created.

Stove’s President, Constantine, discussed the process of putting the show together. “Everyone in the show picked an archetypical woman we see a lot in television shows and movies, and wrote a character monologue as that character,” she said. Then everyone got together to work on their individual parts as a group. “All the participants in this show were really familiar with these tropes, which is unfortunate for the state of women’s representation in entertainment, but great for generating our show material in a collaborative way.”

Switching back and forth from monologues to stand up was a nice touch. There was constant laughter from the audience at the ridiculous tropes of women seen in media all the time. The stand-up gave a personal feel to us watching. A strong emphasis was placed on female experiences, but the comedy could be enjoyed by all. The audience had a good mix of men and women, and if laughter is any indication of good writing, this show was full of it.

Some people seem to hold on to the idea that women are not on the same comedy playing field as men. “Fordham is full of very funny and creative people, and a lot of those people are not cisgender men,” said Constantine. “Even at a relatively open-minded place like Fordham at Lincoln Center, that idea is still contrary to the popular belief.”

It is a challenge for anyone to check out the work from the women in Stove’s and not laugh. Its members write all of their own content for shows, and their work reflects this limitless freedom.