I had to have sex with so many executives over there." So begins comedian Mary Beth Barone's new Netflix special, Galaxy Brain, with a joke about just how exceptional a woman apparently has to be to reach one of comedy's biggest platforms. I'm taking this very seriously, because it's still very rare for women to get Netflix specials.
I'm taking this very seriously, because it's still very rare for women to get Netflix specials.
Barone's joke points to a real disparity in who receives the industry's most visible opportunities.
Among 2025's 10 highest-grossing comedy tours, Nikki Glaser's Alive and Unwell was the only one headlined by a woman.
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I'm taking this very seriously, because it's still very rare for women to get Netflix specials. Barone's joke points to a real disparity in who receives the industry's most visible opportunities. Among 2025's 10 highest-grossing comedy tours, Nikki Glaser's Alive and Unwell was the only one headlined by a woman.
A recent New York Times article, "Feminist Stand-Up Was Once Ascendant. Can Mary Beth Barone Revive It?" paints a picture of a stand-up scene that's left women behind: one dominated by deliberately confrontational, anti-"politically correct" comedy and Netflix Top 10 lists littered with right-wing darlings like Tony Hinchcliffe and Andrew Schulz. Women account for only a quarter of Netflix's stand-up specials in 2026.
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