According to a report by AP Wire Service on March 4, female comedians have become more popular in the entertainment business after famous comedian Jerry Lewis had made derogatory remarks about female comedians at last year’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festi-val.

Janeane Garo-falo, one of the more recent and more successful female comedians, said women are now on equal footing with men in stand-up comedy and are better off than women in the movies, where “there’s such a hard line against aging and looks.”

Comedy has been a remedy against the harsh realities of the world we live in since ancient times.

Silicon Valley is facing more difficult times, as earthquakes, high school shootings, a slow-down of the economy and the energy crisis make the daily news.

Hester Schell, drama instructor at De Anza College, says she doesn’t see female comedy on the rise, although she admits the climate for women in comedy is friendlier than it used to be.

She cites Gilda Radner, Lucille Ball and contemporaries Whoopi Goldberg, Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts as women who have been successful in the business.

However, Schell points out that women are still extremely limited in the male-dominated entertainment industry.

“As long as the networks and comedy clubs are run by men, we’ll see the same stereotypes of women as wives, girlfriends and secretaries over and over again,” says Schell.

According to Schell, the male-dominated business also dictates a certain kind of humor, which she describes as “bathroom and bedroom humor.”

Schell says she is not very fond of this low style of comedy and encourages her acting students to try out high style comedy, which is more intellectual and also dubbed political comedy.

However, she adds that comedy is a tough area to succeed in and explains that in her acting classes, the students’ comedy material is almost always approached through their personal life experiences and memoirs.

“Ninety-nine percent of the material in comedy comes from one’s personal biography,” which is then molded into comic relief. “We laugh at the human condition,” says Schell.

Schell says she is not very fond of this low style of comedy and encourages her acting students to try out high style comedy, also dubbed political comedy, which is more intellectual.

When asked about where comedians can go from De Anza, Schell says that even though the entertainment industry is still very much dominated by men and entertainment careers are “one of the hardest careers to get into,” she encourages all her De Anza comedic actors to go out there and give it a try.

“We kick them out the door and send them to open-mike clubs in the area,” says Schell, who thinks the quickest way for comedians to “make it to television” is through the open-mike comedy clubs.

Schell said that even though men dominate the entertainment industry, and entertainment careers are “one of the hardest careers to get into,” she encourages her De Anza comedian actors to pursue their goals.

Lena Reyna is one of Schell’s actors, and the only female one doing stand-up comedy. Reyna has appeared on the stage of Dave & Buster’s, a restaurant and bar in the Great Mall in Milpitas.

She admits that she gets some of the parts she auditions for because of her “shapely physique” and adds that because of that, she is often thrown into the category of a promiscuous, seductive woman. “If you have looks, you get more consideration for a part,” says Reyna.

“In a way, [this typecasting] makes me mad. But I got into the business knowing that.” According to Reyna, women in the entertainment business constantly experience their self-esteem “on the line.”

Reyna says she has overcome her times of doubt and low self-esteem and now sometimes even uses stereotypes to her advantage.

“Today I go to an audition knowing I have talent. I want people to consider my talent, but I double that with my physical looks. I don’t think it’s wrong to use one’s physical side and walk in with talent, too.” Reyna says she enjoys both drama and comedy, but adds that comedy gives that “special rush, this energy on stage.” In addition, she recently wrote her own dramatic piece and directed it.

The De Anza College Actors Ensemble, was initiated with the intent to practice and perform student-originated material.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.