The powerHouse Arena invites you to
the book launch for

We Killed: The Rise of Women in
American Comedy

by Yael Kohen

featuring: Jesse David Fox, Emily Heller, Julieanne Smolinski, and Lizz Winstead

Wednesday, October 17, 7–9 PM
Drinks will be served
The powerHouse Arena · 37 Main Street (corner of Water & Main St.) · DUMBO, Brooklyn
For more information, please call 718.666.3049
RSVP appreciated: RSVP@powerHouseArena.com

Yael Kohen, author of We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy, will discuss the evolution of women and comedy with Lizz Winstead, author of Lizz Free or Die; Julieanne Smolinski, who Rolling Stone named one of the top 25 funniest people on Twitter; stand-up comedian Emily Heller, and Jesse Fox of New York's Vulture.com.

About We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy:

In January 2007, Vanity Fair published an essay by Christopher Hitchens called "Why Women Aren't Funny." It was incendiary, much-discussed, and—as proven by Yael Kohen's fascinating oral history—totally wrongheaded.

In We Killed, Kohen assembles America's most prominent comediennes (and the writers, producers, nightclub owners, and colleagues who revolved around them) to piece together the revolution that happened to (and by) women in American comedy. We start in the 1950s, when comic success meant ridiculing and desexualizing yourself. Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller emerged as America's favorite frustrated ladies; the joke was always on them. The Sixties saw the appearance of smart, edgy comediennes (Elaine May, Lily Tomlin), and the women's movement brought a new wave of radicals: the women of SNL, tough-ass stand-ups, and a more independent breed on TV (Mary Tyler Moore and her sisters). There were battles to fight and preconceptions to shake before we could get to where we finally are: in a world where women (like Tina Fey, or, whether you like them or not, Sarah Silverman and Chelsea Handler) can be smart, attractive, sexually confident—and most of all, flat-out funny.

Like all revolutions, it's suffered false starts and backslides. But it's been a remarkable trip, as the more than one hundred people interviewed for this riveting oral history make clear. With a chorus of creative voices and often hilarious storytelling, We Killed is essential cultural and social history.

About the Author:

Yael Kohen is a reporter and editor in New York City. A contributing editor at Marie Claire, she covers books, pop culture, and issues important to working women. She has written for New York magazine, Salon, The Daily Beast, the New York Daily News, and The New York Sun.

About the Panelists:

Jesse David Fox is an Associate Editor at New York Magazine's Vulture.com He was previously at Splitsider.com. He is male. He is by far the least funny person on the panel.

Emily Heller is a comedian and writer who likes you very much. You may have seen her on the third season of John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show on Comedy Central, or as one of the New Faces at the 2012 Montreal Just For Laughs Festival. In 2011, She was included in Comedy Central's Comics to Watch, won Rooftop Comedy's Silver Nail Award, and was named one of the "Funniest People in Town" by 7x7 Magazine. Praised in San Francisco for what her friends call her "self-deprecating feminist slob poetry," Emily now lives in New York City and performs stand-up all over the country.

Julieanne Smolinski is a writer and humorist who often works under the name Boobs Radley. She contributes regularly to The TODAY Show, XoJane, GQ, and New York Magazine, among many other print and online publications. She was recently named one of the 25 Funniest People on Twitter by Rolling Stone. She is currently working on a book like everybody else.

Lizz Winstead is co-creator and former head writer of The Daily Show and one of the founders of Air America Radio. A performer and stand-up comedian, she frequently appears on MSNBC, CNN, and Comedy Central. Winstead's first book, Lizz Free Or Die: Essays, personal essays, published by Riverhead Books is available everywhere books are sold. In 2012, Winstead joined actress Martha Plimpton to form A Is For, a reproductive rights organization working to raise awareness and engage women on the issues of women's reproductive health. She lives in Brooklyn.

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