Absolute must. Accept no substitutes.

Wit, grace, charm, courage, wisdom...Give me that over a pretty face any day. Beyond the point of "she is not Quasimodo", other attributes matter far more.

On the other hand, if you're sharper than your date, or his ego is tender and sensitive, perhaps your humor may be too pointy or otherwise too much.

I can not say - I was not there, which is just as well.

There are some girls I've had dinner with that were quite funny - but sometimes they were too sarcastic, pessimistic etc (albeit hilarious) - but that kind of humour only goes so far.

Keep in mind- if you're trying to find a mate through humour alone, you both need to have the same kind of humour for it to work.

And if you don't - then there has to be other factors at play.

I read somewhere that "sense of humour" is a must have in a significant other for both men and women. However, they don't mean the same thing. Women are looking for someone who can make them laugh, men are looking for women who laugh at all their jokes.
In my opinion, ideally both people can use their sense of humour to elevate the conversation and have equal laughs. But I guess that's not how most people feel.
So yay, funny single females unite!

It's not a gendered difference, it's that humour can't be the ONLY quality someone likes about you. ridiculous. you obviously have more qualities than just that alone... I just wrote about this one someone else's confession but dating is just hard, period. you go through a lot of boring, awkward, and disappointing false hopes to get to either no where, or somewhere with someone. it's a mixed bag.