Comedian Janet Hyde Has Heard and Discussed 100 Male Comics’ Jokes About Women On Her Podcast

Brooklyn NY, USA—Janet Hyde is celebrating the 100th EPISODE of her podcast, Dude Talks To A Lady, on the Brain Machine Network. On Dude Talks to a Lady, standup comedian Janet Hyde is trying to end the patriarchy…one joke at a time. So she’s inviting (mostly) male comics to tell her a joke about women or gender -- or sex, dating, periods, abortion, feminism, rape…nothing is off limits. After they talk about it, Janet grills the guys with her thunder round of questions about feminism, gender relations, toxic masculinity and why men are so awful. The result: hilarious, touching, surprisingly intellectual conversations with men that really need to happen.

In the last 5 years of Janet Hyde’s work as an outspoken feminist stand-up comedian, she found herself constantly having conversations with male comics in the back of comedy shows and open mics which is what inspired her to start the podcast. Says Hyde, “when some idiot is spewing hate speech in the form of “jokes,” I have a tendency to heckle them or go after them when it’s my turn at the mic. So sometimes, my male comic buddies would run their new bits by me to ask if it was sexist, and I’d give them my point of view. I never get sick of it. I think it’s fascinating, and I’m a teacher at heart, so I really don’t mind repeatedly explaining to guys how it feels to be the only woman in the room when some creepy dude tries out his hot take on rape while making direct eye contact with you. It seemed like guys were really interested in having these conversations, and I thought it was something that everyone could benefit from hearing.”

Dude Talks To a Lady started recording in the summer of 2017, releasing the first episodes in October of that year and releasing one episode a week up to now. Considering the premise, one would expect a bit of tension or regular arguments between guest and host, however part of the appeal of the podcast is that her network is mostly comprised of “good dudes” who may have some blind spots but their hearts are essentially in the right place. The guests come into the taping, willing and expecting to listen and learn. Says Hyde, “a major requirement is that the comic has to be funny. If I wanted to invite outright misogynists so I could yell at them, there’s an unfortunately long list -- but those guys don’t have good jokes.”

Janet Hyde has definitely caused some “Ah ha!” moments on the podcast and in real life with her willingness to educate on the subjects of her expertise. She says that the guests often come in with a joke that they think is edgy or offensive for one reason, and after some deliberation, she explains that it’s actually a different part of the joke entirely that’s problematic. One example: way back in Episode 3, Andrew Casertano told a hilarious and bizarre bit about the friendzone. He thought the risky part was saying how women want to be slapped around during sex. Janet points out that the concept of the friendzone is deeply sexist in and of itself. She says, “I could see the wheels turning as he processed this idea that he probably hadn’t considered before.”

And therein lies the charm and intrigue of Dude Talks To A Lady. Listen to all 100 episodes here, and stay tuned as they continue to be released.

About Janet Hyde:

Janet Hyde is a Brooklyn-based comedian and storyteller from New England by way of Austin, Texas. In addition to hosting Dude Talks To A Lady, she co-hosts and produces Female Comedians (With Tits!), a popular, long-running monthly show in Bed Stuy. She’s been a guest on other popular podcasts like The Unofficial Expert Podcast with Sydnee Washington & Marie Faustin and Dark Tank with Yedoye Travis. Her one-woman show Cross My Legs & Hope to Sneeze was selected as a Best of the Week Short Fringe at Austin’s FronteraFest 2015.