LOL: She-Rock brings on laughs for annual International Women's Day fest
She-Rock might have music in its name, but the local International Women’s Day festival wants people to have some laughs, too.
Claws Out Comedy, a Dallas-Fort Worth-based comedy brand that puts emerging and established female comedians on stage and pays them for their performances.
Helmed by Fort Worth comedian Monna, Claws Out started last October and is booking comics onto stages and into shows.
“Claws Out is my baby, though Kim Wadsworth, a comedian here in DFW, helps me get into some spaces,” said Monna, who just goes by her first name. “My goal really is to elevate and create a space for female performers.”
Monna has been writing and performing stand-up comedy for six years.
Courtesy photo
At 27, Monna has been writing and performing stand-up for six years. She moved to North Texas from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Denton audiences have seen her at the Denton Art & Music Awards, and at We Denton Drag It, an annual drag show.
“We didn’t have much of a comedy scene there, and we didn’t have very many women. There was a smaller market,” she said. “Moving to Fort Worth and getting involved in the DFW scene, there were a couple of women who were very impressive. And it was really cool for me to see women who were really funny, but also not protective of the space.”
Claws Out has moved well past North Texas in its short life. Monna said she’s booked shows in San Antonio and Arkansas and has a show coming up in Houston.
For She-Rock, Claws Out brings a roster of women to the festival from 6 to 7 p.m. Saturday: Monna, Wadsworth, Tasha D, Sydney Carson, Michelle Miller, Marcia Eligwe, Joanna Sissons and Malori Davis.
Kim Wadsworth, a Dallas-Fort Worth comic, teamed up with Monna to develop Claws Out Comedy, a brand that books women onto comedy stages and festivals and pays them for their time and talent.
Courtesy photo
Monna said she’s using a simple formula to build the brand: Recruit new comics from open mics (as well as nudging funny women toward the open mic stage), booking them into venues and taking donations instead of cover charge or admission. Venues also collect tips for the performers, something Monna said is paying off for the comics. Ultimately, Claws Out will not only be a brand representing women in comedy, but it will be a pipeline that’ll get touring comics who are on the road, in search of clubs to test out their jokes, into venues they might not get booked into on their own
“The DFW scene has grown since I moved here, and I’ve personally been part of the growth,” Monna said. “To make something grow, you need comics who are willing to make things happen. It all really comes down to comics busting down doors and saying, ‘Hey, can we perform here?’”
Monna said Denton’s comedy scene is still building.
“Denton is the hardest-working and the most dedicated scene in DFW,” she said. “Joey Johnson and Taylor Higginbotham have done so much. Taylor built a stage in his backyard, and they’ve been very invested in getting female comics to perform. When it comes to Claws Out, its important to me for Denton to get credit ... because it’s getting better and better.”
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Because She-Rock is a festival, Monna said she wanted to showcase more comics. Each comedian will perform five to seven minutes of stand-up. Nothing grooms a comic like a live audience, she said.
“I try to put comics on stage — just women who can be funny — for five to 10 minutes and put money in their hands. And it’s like, ‘You’re a comic now.’ And I tell them to do every open mic every week leading up to a showcase. Michelle Miller has come back for every open mic, and you can tell. She’s really taking it seriously,” she said.
She-Rock starts Friday night. The two-day festival features three stages led by female-fronted acts, all-female bands and solo artists. For more details, visit www.facebook.com/events/352043602321254.
For more information on Claws Out, you can follow Monna on Twitter and Instagram at @monnacomedy.
LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877 and via Twitter at @LBreedingDRC.