“Why Are Women So Funny?” is a performance created for movie theaters that combines theater, live piano music, and original slapstick films.

The evening pays tribute to the female pioneers of slapstick at the beginning of the 20th century and their witty and phenomenal films from the 1910s and 1920s. Sööt/Zeyringer examine gender roles and humor during a time when women’s roles were undergoing fundamental changes, offering insights into the lives of still-underrecognized slapstick pioneers such as Mabel Normand, Ossi Oswalda, and Sarah Duhamel. In their films, these women created chaos, wore men’s clothing, and used their bodies in expressive ways. Like many actresses, directors, screenwriters, and producers, they used humor as a strategy to push back against patriarchal boundaries.

Funny Women* is a tribute to funny women* and an evening exploring the ever-changing relationship between gender and humor, then and now.