Wicked Wenches: 'Why isn't there an angry woman on TV?'

"I think that you will know, having just watched it, that you can have just as diverse a show with a four or five woman line-up" says Ria Lina after her performance at Wicked Wenches, The Stand's monthly all-female line up night. What makes this a special evening in the comedy calendar? For Elaine Devlin, speaking backstage after a well received set, there are "fewer men in tight white T-shirts, men who don't like stuff about breast feeding, who only think of breasts in pert terms. This show rarely mentions male masturbation. It isn't man hating. I think men are very funny indeed." Lina picks up on this, adding "A lot of men's sets end with their sex story. I don't mind that, but it's nice to have stories where the women are on top. We as storytellers are in control." Kiri Pritchard-McLean also testifies to the night being 'different to other all female comedy nights' after her debut appearance on this bill.

Janey Godley exemplifies all that is sharp, combative and direct about Glasgow humour. Tonight's headliner says "There aren't a lot of styles on TV, and there should be a place for strong women. We don't have feisty, outspoken women on TV, they tend to be de-sexualised and safe. There are soft, approachable women, and there's a place for them, but there should also be this. Why isn't there an angry woman on TV? It's fucking taboo, and I would welcome it if, when someone like me walks in, they aren't expecting me to be talking about cakes and cushions. There should be more choice, it's like the seventies again. Men in suits with short hair - Bob Monkhouse, Monty Python, Morecambe & Wise....I couldn't relate to any of that. Then Billy Connolly turned up, and it was, 'Holy fuck, that's different'. There are amazing comedians, like Susan Calman, Jo Caulfield, Zoe Lyons.But there tends to be just one style of woman on TV. If we can have seventeen types of men, why not seventeen types of women?"

Tonight's compere, Susan Calman, has a special fondness for the night."The Stand is a very special club. It supports women in comedy, and the Wicked Wenches night has seen a lot of people come through - Sarah Millican, Holly Walsh - I'm not saying it was responsible for their meteoric rise, but it gives people an opportunity to see comics they might not see on a weekend night. This started four years ago, when The Stand ran three new nights,including Old Stars and Young Stars. This one has survived. I've been doing it for four years, so I really believe in what it is trying to support."