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Comedy is subjective, we know. It all depends on personal taste, whether you’re more of slapstick fan or a stand-up aficionado. However, some things are just undeniable, like how much women in comedy are dominating the game right now. From Amy Schumer to Leslie Jones, these are names you hear in constant conversation, and with good reason: they’re generating the biggest laughs. In fact, let’s continue to delight in and celebrate them. Here are the 15 funniest women in comedy right now.
Amy Schumer
Current projects: Inside Amy Schumer, Dying Laughing
As it stands, Amy Schumer is currently the Lebron James of comedy. Or, er, is Lebron the Amy Schumer of the NBA? Meh, you get the point. She’s unstoppable. From her Emmy-award winning Inside Amy Schumer to her hit film Trainwreck to her own HBO stand-up special, Schumer’s been busy challenging Hollywood stereotypes and taking down the patriarchy, one joke at a time. On the horizon, she’s developing a buddy comedy with none other than America’s (other) sweetheart, Jennifer Lawrence. Girl’s setting herself up for back-to-back-to-back championship rings here.
Lily Tomlin
Current projects: Grace and Frankie
Almost 50 years in the game and Lily Tomlin is still finding fresh ways to make new audiences laugh. Today, the Emmy award-winning comedian is best known for slaying opposite Jane Fonda in Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. There, she plays Frankie Bergstein, an unfiltered hippie beach-dweller.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Current projects: Veep
The Saturday Night Live and Seinfeld alum knows a thing or two about clever comedy. That isn’t more apparent than on Veep, where she plays Selina Meyer, the foul-mouthed former POTUS who can annihilate (and captivate) any man, woman, or child (seriously, she doesn’t discriminate) with the most outrageous one-liners ever uttered on television. And the Academy agrees—at this point, her Emmys won for the role can anchor a cruise ship.
Aubrey Plaza
Current projects: Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
When Parks and Rec ended, we went through serious Aubrey Plaza withdrawal. Luckily, our favorite next-gen Janeane Garofalo is back this summer with Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. Here, she plays Tatiana, a burnout-turned-con artist who buddies up with BFF Alice (Anna Kendrick) to milk a Hawaii trip out of idiot bros Mike and Dave Stangle (Zac Efron and Adam Devine). All we can say is FINALLY. Pop culture has been starving for something (anything!) from the reigning KWEEN of deadpan.
Maria Bamford
Current projects: Lady Dynamite, Fresh Off the Boat, Adventure Time
IT’S ABOUT TIME, says everyone who’s been a Maria Bamford fan for the past few years. Mainstream audiences are finally taking note of the quirky standup comedian thanks to her bizarre Netflix sitcom Lady Dynamite. Loosely based on Bamford’s own checkered life, Lady Dynamite sees the comedian trying to bounce back in an unforgiving industry after a stint in a psych ward. Like the show’s unconventional narrative structure—it’s literally all over the place—Bamford’s style of comedy is simultaneously honest, heartfelt, and completely insane.
Jenny Slate
Current projects: Lady Dynamite, Zootopia, Bob's Burgers, The Secret Life of Pets
Jenny Slate is everywhere you look, turning in bit parts in everything from your favorite sitcoms to animated comedies. The reason why? Her versatility is unmatched. The SNL vet does slapstick (check out the Kroll Show); she slays at voice work (“Marcel the Shell,” anyone?); she aces dramedy (watch the latest season of Girls); and, hell, she’ll even write her own (see: Obvious Child). There’s quite literally no genre of comedy Slate can’t adapt to.
Leslie Jones
Current projects: Ghostbusters, Saturday Night Live
Leslie Jones might as well be known as The Secret Weapon across the board. Since joining SNL as a writer in 2013, she’s made every project she’s in 100 times better. She’s since become the show’s clutch player, turning in memorable skits like “Naked and Afraid,” all of which helped land her a coveted spot in Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters remake, alongside Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy, and Kristen Wiig (who’d probably rank 16, 17, and 18 on this list). It’s Jones who stands out though, with her refreshing brand of outspoken, no-holds-barred physical comedy making her one of the funniest women in the game today.
Abbi Jacobson & Ilana Glazer
Current projects: Broad City
OK, so this is cheating. But you can’t have Abbi without Ilana, and without Abbi and Ilana you don’t have the genius that is Broad City! Abbi and Ilana speak a language so specific to all of us twentysomething basket cases that they’re undoubtedly the most relatable women on this list. Their brand of comedy is honest, occasionally embarrassing, but sweet and hopeful underneath the surface. Watching them together as they tackle first-world millennial problems—from tracing lost iPhones to working lame jobs—feels like hanging out with your best friend. It’s exactly what makes them so special to this generation.
Gina Rodriguez
Current projects: Jane the Virgin
You don’t get a Golden Globe for Best TV Actress in a Comedy for nothing. Gina Rodriguez is simply a trailblazer in the genre. The celebrated funnywoman has been making headlines as the star of The CW’s mega-hit series, Jane the Virgin, where she aces campy telenovela comedy so rarely seen on mainstream television.
Constance Wu
Current projects: Fresh Off the Boat
Make no mistake, Constance Wu is the best thing about Fresh Off the Boat, a sitcom based on the life of chef Eddie Huang. While any Asian-American will tell you that her portrayal of an Asian immigrant mother is hilariously spot-on, it’s her comedic timing and commitment to her character that truly elevates this from spoof or parody. Essentially, Wu’s got incredible instincts in front of the camera, and week-by-week that translates into her earning the biggest laughs on TV.
Rachel Bloom
Current projects: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Showtime truly messed up with this one. Before Crazy Ex-Girlfriend found a home at The CW, Bloom’s brainchild was set up at Showtime, who eventually passed on the show. Joke’s on them though, because Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has become a certified hit, and Rachel Bloom has a Golden Globe for Best TV Actress in a Comedy to show for it. But what sets her apart from every other decorated comedian? Her incredible ability to craft musical numbers about the most boring details and worries of our everyday lives, and turn them into gold. Just check out the “Sexy Getting Ready Song.”
Tracee Ellis Ross
Current projects: Black-ish
While she’s most recently become the cornerstone of ABC’s most talked-about comedy Black-ish, Tracee Ellis Ross (yes, the daughter of Diana) has been making people laugh for years. For eight years, she killed it on UPN’s severely underrated sitcom Girlfriends. We should all be so lucky to get the chance to appreciate her brand of refreshingly real comedy today.
Kristen Schaal
Current projects: Gravity Falls, Bob’s Burgers, Last Man on Earth
Kristen Schaal is simply peculiar, in that she’s arguably the most unironic, optimistic comedian on this list. No matter if she’s hiding behind a cartoon character (re: Mabel Pines on Gravity Falls or Louise Belcher in Bob’s Burgers) or stealing the scene from Will Forte on Last Man on Earth, she’s got a signature hint of childlike wonder in her delivery that makes her one of the most purely delightful comedians to watch.
Chelsea Peretti
Current projects: Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Peretti is a chameleon when it comes to making people laugh, with her innate ability to both lampoon relatable comedy in her TV shows (see: Kroll Show and Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and bask in it (see: her stand-up sets). Even when she’s presumably not in character, she still brings the laughs on Twitter, where many encounter her humor before seeing any of her actual projects. She’s as prolific as she is enjoyable to watch.
Mindy Kaling
Current projects: The Mindy Project
Screw waiting for the world to give you the time of day. Pull a Mindy Kaling and make it pay attention to you! The former Office writer-turned-co-star wasn’t finding anything perfect for her style of comedy, so she decided to create her own, i.e. The Mindy Project. It’s basically every Nancy Meyers movie meets the hot gossip you share with your friends. In other words, it’s everything Mindy is all about, and everything so many of her devoted fans worship her for. The Mindy Project is bible, as is her equally veracious collection of humor essays, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) as well as Why Not Me?