Member since December 2025
Lynn Harris is a culture-shifting producer, award-winning journalist, and author/co-author of six books. Her comedy and campaigns for social justice and gender equity have changed laws and conversations from Capitol Hill to NASCAR. She is founder and CEO of GOLD Comedy—the comedy school, professional network, and content studio where women and non-binary creators grow their comedy careers, build powerful communities, and make funny stuff. Harris co-created Breakup Girl (acquired by Oxygen), one of the first multiplatform internet success stories, and co-hosted, with Ginna Green, The Forward’s A Bintel Brief: The Podcast. Lynn served as the first VP of communications at global human rights group Breakthrough, where her blend of humor and advocacy powered some of the team’s most effective U.S. campaigns. She has also worked as a Tonya Harding lookalike, which is a long story.
Helping women and other "others" unleash the power of comedy/humor as a career, creative side hustle, means of connection with audiences and customers, and ya know, joy.
When I was about 16, in maybe 1985, I went to a Jewish youth group ski weekend in New Hampshire. On Saturday night, a bunch of dudes, one of whom may or may not have in fact been Adam Sandler, somehow got some grapefruits and borrowed nightgowns and did some sort of sloppy, impromptu drag skit that brought down the house.
My immediate thought: OK, now what can the girls do? I was a comedy ringleader—it was my solemn duty to respond in kind. But I also somehow realized this: girls would have to work WAY harder than dudes in nightgowns to get that same reaction. Allie, Jessica, and I—HILARIOUS though we were—could not have just put grapefruits in our pants, wiggled our butts, and crushed. Audiences aren’t that easy on girls. I could feel it. So we just laughed.
That's still true. In comedy, as in most other male-dominated realms—which are most realms—women (and most other non-straight white dudes) have to work harder to succeed.
This matters because comedy is a job and because women are people. It also matters because comedy matters. Comedy is not just a fun distraction; it's a cultural force. Who makes comedy matters.
So that night stuck with me, on into my many-slashes-and-hyphens career as a journalist/standup comic/humor writer/comedy teacher and producer/pop culture brand-builder/culture change strategist/professional feminist. I always thought: When you make people laugh, you make people listen. Let's build a world that listens to women.
Girls are under pressure. Pressure to conform, behave, excel. Pressure that’s driving teen girls’ depression rates higher than boys’, and perhaps higher than ever.
Girls are told to be serious, polite, perfect. Girls want to be funny, truthful, themselves. But girls still get the message that funny is what boys do and girls giggle at. That looks are worth more than laughs. That only serious striving brings real rewards.
What if we could show girls that it’s not just okay to be different or “weird”? That they don’t need to change anything about themselves? That they can succeed by doubling down on who they already are?
Oh wait! We can. Comedy can. That’s what comedy does.
Comedy and humor invite teen girls to discover and double down on their authentic voices, their unique lenses on the world. That’s why, especially for teen girls, comedy is power. Whether you’re an aspiring pro or just like to get laughs, you’re the one with the mic. You’re the one with the punch. When you make people laugh, you make people listen.
I will show you WHY comedy skills are the killer app for teen girls—and HOW you can help your daughter build them.
When I was about 16, in maybe 1985, I went to a Jewish youth group ski weekend in New Hampshire. On Saturday night, a bunch of dudes, one of whom may or may not have in fact been Adam Sandler, somehow got some grapefruits and borrowed nightgowns and did some sort of sloppy, impromptu drag skit that brought down the house.
My immediate thought: OK, now what can the girls do? I was a comedy ringleader—it was my solemn duty to respond in kind. But I also somehow realized this: girls would have to work WAY harder than dudes in nightgowns to get that same reaction. Allie, Jessica, and I—HILARIOUS though we were—could not have just put grapefruits in our pants, wiggled our butts, and crushed. Audiences aren’t that easy on girls. I could feel it. So we just laughed.
That's still true. In comedy, as in most other male-dominated realms—which are most realms—women (and most other non-straight white dudes) have to work harder to succeed.
This matters because comedy is a job and because women are people. It also matters because comedy matters. Comedy is not just a fun distraction; it's a cultural force. Who makes comedy matters.
So that night stuck with me, on into my many-slashes-and-hyphens career as a journalist/standup comic/humor writer/comedy teacher and producer/pop culture brand-builder/culture change strategist/professional feminist. I always thought: When you make people laugh, you make people listen. Let's build a world that listens to women.
Girls are under pressure. Pressure to conform, behave, excel. Pressure that’s driving teen girls’ depression rates higher than boys’, and perhaps higher than ever.
Girls are told to be serious, polite, perfect. Girls want to be funny, truthful, themselves. But girls still get the message that funny is what boys do and girls giggle at. That looks are worth more than laughs. That only serious striving brings real rewards.
What if we could show girls that it’s not just okay to be different or “weird”? That they don’t need to change anything about themselves? That they can succeed by doubling down on who they already are?
Oh wait! We can. Comedy can. That’s what comedy does.
Comedy and humor invite teen girls to discover and double down on their authentic voices, their unique lenses on the world. That’s why, especially for teen girls, comedy is power. Whether you’re an aspiring pro or just like to get laughs, you’re the one with the mic. You’re the one with the punch. When you make people laugh, you make people listen.
I will show you WHY comedy skills are the killer app for teen girls—and HOW you can help your daughter build them.
