When Shari Doran and Jane Hajduk hit menopause, they decided to write and perform a comedic digital series about the experience.
“Thee Third Act“ began airing on YouTube in January.
“There’s menopause content being used for commercials and we had a meeting two days after we posted our first episode with one of the biggest commercial medias in the world, who’s handling one of the biggest accounts for menopause,” Ms. Doran told The Epoch Times. “They’re looking for content.”
The series’ episodes are 2 to 5 minutes in length and feature Ms. Doran and Ms. Hajduk as two women “in the depths of menopause” who are trying to cope with the third act of life and its accompanying hot flashes, insomnia, night sweats, joint pain, headaches, and mood changes.
“There’s something about the episodes being no longer than five minutes that interests people,” Ms. Doran said.
The National Institutes of Health estimates that as women live longer, they will spend 40 percent of their lives post menopause. That’s more than 30 years for most women.
“Jane and I have different symptoms,” Ms. Doran added. “Friends will do anything for each other, and that’s where a lot of the comedy comes from is trying to help each other through the symptoms.”
Zippia data shows that the average age of the comedian population is 40 and older. Female comedians make up 26.7 percent of that population, compared to 73.3 percent who are men.
In their sitcom-style episodes, which are filmed weekly, Ms. Doran and Ms. Hajduk try to appeal to all age groups and genders.
“We don’t have to talk just about menopause,” Ms. Hajduk told The Epoch Times. “We can talk about other things like kids going off to college. Your relationship and whether you’re getting divorced.”
Ms. Hajduk is married to comedian Tim Allen, who starred in the hit television series “Home Improvement” on ABC.
Actor, comedian, and author Tim Allen at the Shen Yun Performing Arts' show, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, on April 29, 2017. Yaning Liu/Epoch Times
“He is just so supportive,” Ms. Hajduk said. “He couldn’t be more happier for me. He really is very pleased.”
As a result, there’s a high demand for comedians who are women, who are moms, and who are producing family safe content, according to Angel Studios co-founder and chief content officer, Jeff Harmon.
“It is the biggest hole in the market for comedy right now,” Mr. Harmon told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Harmon, along with his two brothers, Neal Harmon and Jordan Harmon, started Dry Bar Comedy specials in 2017 and in the process created a family-safe niche that’s been thriving ever since.
Neal, Jeff, and Jordan Harmon attend Angel Studios Presents the Los Angeles Premiere Of "The Shift" in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 27, 2023. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for "The Shift"
Dry Bar Comedy, which has launched the careers of hundreds of comedians, has amassed almost three billion views across streaming platforms.
Its home is the Dry Bar Comedy Club in Provo, Utah where comedians test their family safe jokes.
“Every comedian has to be approved by the audience because they are the first line of defense for what goes online,” Mr. Harmon said. “The audience there watches the show. They vote. They take surveys, and that’s the first step. Then, the Angel Guild votes on it after that.”
The Angel Guild is a 250,000-strong worldwide network of creators who choose which projects to fund. No completed film project, script, special or screenplay is undertaken by Angel Studios unless first approved by the Angel Guild.
One of the comedic careers that the Harmon brothers launched is that of stand up comic Leanne Morgan.
Ms. Morgan is a 57-year-old married mother of three adult children and grandmother of two.
“Leanne had been around forever but when she performed on Dry Bar, we blew her up,” Mr. Harmon added. “We got her hundreds of millions of views. Now, she has a deal with Netflix.”
Ms. Morgan, who declined to be interviewed, recently wrapped her first movie role with Reese Witherspoon, a fellow Tennessean, in the upcoming comedy “You’re Cordially Invited” and her Netflix comedy special is “I’m Every Woman.”
Family safe comedy is nothing new, according to comedian Jeff Gurian. Mr. Gurian is currently writing family safe comedy to perform on May 23 at Comedy for a Cause in Glenwood Landing, New York, and in preparation to pitch to Dry Bar Comedy.
Comedian Jeff Gurian is writing clean comedy for an upcoming performance and in preparation for Dry Bar Comedy Photo credit: Isak Tiner
“It’s having a resurgence because people are tired of mean-spirited comedy and bathroom humor,” Mr. Gurian told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Gurian, who has been writing and performing non-controversial stand up comedy for more than 40-years, blames the advent of cable television and social media for the declining quality of comedic content.
“There are no limits,” he added. “You can say anything you want these days. Before, you had to work clean if you wanted to be known, and if you wanted a career in comedy, you had no choice but to work clean.”
