The question of the absence of female writers in late night television has been raised a lot lately (I even had a post about it, remember?). Now, a news item (which I briefly mentioned Monday) has popped up on Jezebel; the insanely talented, non-penis-having comedian Jessi Klein has been hired as a Saturday Night Live writer.
There's an exciting rumor going around comedy circles today: that well-regarded comedian Jessi Klein, 34, has been hired (mid-season!) on the writing staff at SNL.
The rumor has been confirmed by NBC, meaning Klein will join six other female writers on staff (not including the performers who write as well), which include Emily Spivey, Marika Sawyer, Jessica Conrad, Jillian Bell, Christine Nangle and Danielle Kasen.
As anyone can see from the number of women currently writing on staff, Saturday Night Live actually has a relatively well-balanced crew of writers. But since females in late night are currently being discussed in the wake of the Letterman scandal, I suppose it's not irrelevant.
While it is good to see that Jessi Klein and SNL are helping to shift the numbers on this issue, it's even more heartening to know that a brilliant female comedian was hired, not to fill a quota, but rather, to fill the chuckle meters in the guffaw containers of our souls.
She's proven herself to be one of the funniest comedians, testicles or sans testicles, around. Looking through her credits, Jessi Klein has an amazing resume, having worked on a ton of Comedy Central shows. Most recently she was a writer and performer on Michael and Michael Have Issues. But resume schmesume, right?
Here are some clips to convince even the most Don Drapery of sexists.
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