Ryan ChartrandLast weekend, I (and apparently the rest of the movie-going public) went to see “Baby Mama” and, to my chagrin, I was pleasantly surprised. Although Tina Fey has consistently proven her power to successfully entertain the public with her written and performed contributions to “Saturday Night Live” and her series “30 Rock,” I wasn’t certain that “Baby Mama” would appeal to anyone in the 18-25 demographic.
The trailer, which apparently tested well, focuses on a 37-year-old businesswoman looking to have a child via surrogacy – not exactly a “Sarah Marshall” type. Even though the film’s themes seem more appropriate with more mature audiences (the “10 p.m. bedtime” audiences, not the “rated R” ones), it still resonated with a younger crowd. Another selling point the trailer excluded was that Greg Kinnear, Steve Martin and Sigourney Weaver all have small but uproariously funny roles (although these actors may have aged the film further).
I suppose I am really just excited that two ladies, without the help of their comedic male costars, were able to score No. 1 at the box office. Hats off to those who are successfully proving that women can be funny (on purpose), too. Here are a few other comediennes who hilariously represent their sex:
Chelsea Handler: You may remember this sarcastic broad from Lifetime’s “Girl’s Behaving Badly,” pulling various pranks with her signature deadpan sincerity. Now, you can find her hosting her own late-night talk show, “Chelsea Lately,” with her pint-sized Mexican side-kick Chuy. Handler does for female comedians what Lance Armstrong did for men with only one testicle (you don’t need balls to be funny, or win the Tour de France). And like Lance, she has her own book, too, but with a less inspirational title: “Is that you, Vodka? It’s me Chelsea.”
Kristen Wiig: She first appeared as the candle-obsessed “Target Lady” opposite Dane Cook on “SNL,” and then as one-half of the obnoxiously ignorant “A-hole” duo and the one-upper from hell, “Penelope.” After a small role in “Knocked Up” and a larger role in “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” she quickly took over at “SNL” this year and is the main standout of the season. Her next project, “Ghost Town,” stars Ricky Gervais and Tea Leoni and will be released in August.
Lisa Nova: Mainly garnering attention from viral videos posted on YouTube, her sketch comedy channel is rapidly gaining popularity. Nova is like a chameleon, effortlessly morphing from Keira Knightley to buxom Russian video host “Paulina.” She even has a sketch featuring Perez Hilton, the Smosh boys and a few other fellow YouTube celebrities. Just think of her as a female Liam Sullivan (of “Shoes” fame) – without the egocentric casting choices.
Allison Baker is an English senior, Mustang Daily columnist and pop-culture enthusiast.