What makes this documentary entertaining as well as educational are the clips of stand-up performances sprinkled liberally throughout the film. The subjects these women poke fun at in their acts include comedy standards such as sex, Catholicism, and airport security, but they also tackle more controversial topics such as politics, race, and 9/11.

When Williams, Clinton, and Gomez began their stand-up careers in the early 80s, there were no other out lesbian comedians, and they were generally advised to keep quiet about their sexual orientation--advice they fortunately chose to ignore. By the early 90s, when Westenhoefer began performing, lesbian comedians were still a rarity: in the early days when Westenhoefer told audiences she was a lesbian (as she always does in the first few minutes of her act), they almost always laughed because they thought it was a joke; it took them several minutes to get that she was serious. Occasionally being a pioneer had more serious repercussions: the day after Williams appeared on a "lesbian chic" episode of Geraldo in 1994, she found her car windshield broken and her tires slashed.

For the most part, however, all of the women maintain they've generally received positive responses from straight audiences regarding their sexuality--in part, they believe, because they've been so open about it.

One of the most refreshing and important characteristics shared by these women is that they have all been deliberately out as lesbians in their careers, using humor not only as entertainment, but as a political tool to advance gay visibility and gay rights. This takes no small amount of courage and dedication, and is certainly not the easiest path to success, which makes these women deserving subjects of the recognition this documentary confers.

Interestingly, almost all of the women assert in the documentary that although Ellen DeGeneres's coming-out in 1997 was "wonderful" because it "made it possible for so many people to come out," they actually found it more difficult to get work afterwards, because the media positioned Ellen as the only lesbian comedian.

This also exposes the film's only major flaw (besides the use of cheesy background graphics): it touches on a lot of interesting subjects, but doesn't pursue them to any depth. After hearing about how Ellen's coming-out hurt their careers, for example, you would expect to see some follow-up comments about how or when that changed--since these women have clearly overcome that hurdle since then--but that's the last we hear of their career challenges or successes. No exploration of how audiences receive them now compared to five or ten or even twenty years ago, how the explosion of gay visibility in the last few years has impacted their success, or even whether it's easier to be an out comedian now than it was when they started out in their careers.

This happens frequently in the film, in fact: one of the women will make a provocative comment or raise an interesting topic, but before it goes more than an inch deep, the documentary jumps to a funny but barely-related performance clip, never to return to the topic again. When Williams comments derisively that "we're all supposed to be really excited that there are some gay characters on TV," for example, the documentary cuts to a clip of her stand-up act before she can explain what she means. It happens again when Gomez says "what we say on stage has a very strong effect," and then, without providing any illustration of this "strong effect," or even an explanation of what exactly that effect is and on whom, you're suddenly watching back-to-back clips of the comedians riffing about the joys and perils of airport security.

But a film whose worst flaw is raising too many interesting subjects is a film worth watching. Although Laughing Matters feels frustratingly like being handed the table of contents for a really great book, and then not being allowed to read the book itself, you nonetheless come away feeling grateful for even getting a glimpse at it. The documentary also serves as a great introduction to these comedians for those who haven't heard of them yet or seen them perform.

Even those who don't naturally gravitate towards stand-up comedy should watch Laughing Matters, however, because it humorously and entertainingly brings to light the struggles and succeses of four diverse women who, by following the road not usually taken, have made a lot of difference for lesbian visibility.

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