Glad I made it all the way through. My interest in comedy history only goes so far and the high level of detail made this tedious at times. Nesteroff does an admirable job of providing context by discussing the role of places (specific clubs, Vegas), changes in media, cultural shifts (the Counterculture), etc. I wasn’t aware how much advertising controlled content in radio pre-television. Another interesting theme is vaudeville’s influence on early comedy. If you’re not a “comedy nerd,” the book is still well worth reading because it provides excellent pop culture history. ( )

Was my copy the only copy that didn't have any references to women in comedy? ( )

While I enjoyed this book, I found it overly long. And, I have to admit, I didn’t recognize 40% of the comedians mentioned by Nesteroff. Being 72-years-old, I was most interested in the early comics and the early history of comedy. That was both educational and entertaining. I would think that anyone doing any research on the history of comedy would find this book a gold standard source. ( )

As the title suggests, the history of comedians is the story of a profession fraught with hardship and challenges as they navigated the ever-changing mediums of the times. The writing itself reads as more academic than comedic, and thus a little dry given the subject, but there are one or two true stories that are so shockingly funny that it seems like it could've only happened to a comedian. Here's an example:

"Harvey died at sea [working on a cruise ship], and at the time he and his wife were estranged. The cruise ship called and said, 'Your husband, Harvey, died. We have the body on ice. Should we hold it or should we fly it back to New York?' Harvey's wife wasn't too thrilled and said, 'Oh, well, few people knew this, but Harvey always wanted to be buried at sea.' She got rid of him that way! Here's a Jew from Detroit who never saw a boat in his life. They dumped him in the ocean. And that was the end of Harvey Stone." ( )

Great introduction to the world of comedy and the early comics. Definitely got me interested in reading more about it. However, I feel like the book was a little too light once it got to the 1970's and beyond. There's so much that happened and people that the book didn't cover. ( )