Lou Sanders on Tina Fey – no one is safe from her lovable rudeness

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/may/13/my-comedy-hero-lou-sanders-on-tina-fey

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Saying you like Tina Fey is like saying you like the sky – everyone likes the sky. Most people discovered Fey after her Sarah Palin impersonations on Saturday Night Live, though I prefer her impression of her two-year-old daughter on The Tonight Show.

The first time I came across Fey was through her character Liz Lemon in 30 Rock, the TV series based on her time as a head writer at Saturday Night Live.

30 Rock is superbly funny – it’s unashamedly odd, loud and cartoony. There are physical jokes, clever jokes, dumb jokes, character jokes and jokes within jokes. And, if you don’t like jokes, there are lots of characters. Every character in 30 Rock is so well drawn, big, bold and hilarious. Most of the characters shouldn’t be likable but somehow they put some heart into their heartlessness.

In 30 Rock, Fey doesn’t deny gender stereotypes, but covers them in such a way that it’s not gender speaking, but the individual. There’s a scene where Jenna, her narcissistic long-term friend and star of the show-within-a-show that 30 Rock centres on, asks: “You never pretended to be a bride when you were a little girl?” Lemon replies: “I did, but I just never romanticised it.” And we see a flashback to Lemon as a little girl, in a bridal veil, holding two teddy bears: “This is my husband, Sol Rosenbear, and this is his son Richard … from a previous marriage.”

Fey was also hilarious presenting the Golden Globes alongside Amy Poehler. Like the characters in 30 Rock, they were rude to everyone and you loved them for it, simply because there was no real malice. I wish everyone were a bit more like Fey and Poehler. In TV and comedy it often feels as if everyone is living in a fearful climate, where they are nervous about new ideas, concepts or talent.

Fey’s book Bossypants is the perfect comedy autobiography. Take her response to people telling her that women aren’t funny: “It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don’t like something, it is empirically not good. I don’t like Chinese food, but I don’t write articles trying to prove it doesn’t exist.”

As well as being an author, actor and scriptwriter, Fey is an amazing improviser. I’ve always thought the rules of improv are just like the rules of life: don’t try too hard, don’t be up in your head, and say yes to things. Fey does all of these and teaches others to do them, too.

Before and beyond 30 Rock, she consistently seems to support and bolster those around her. She doesn’t just talk about supporting women, she actively hires, nurtures, celebrates and collaborates with them. But that doesn’t stop women from being ridiculed and called out for stuff – alongside men, dogs, kids and anyone else in her firing line. That’s equality.

• Lou Sanders: Excuse Me, You’re Sitting on My Penis Again is at the Edinburgh fringe, 7-30 August.