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The Comedians

Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy
May 02, 2016egl rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed the early chapters of this most, the vaudeville performers and postwar club acts because much was new to me. With a survey of a big subject like this it's hard not to have a few "but what about" gripes so I'll indulge: Bob & Ray rate one sentence although he does discuss radio comedy in the tv era. This is a serious lapse. Likewise for SCTV,a one sentence name drop, although 80's tv is covered in depth. I wondered if he disapproved of their parodies of Vegas lounge type comedians. 30's talkies comedy seems to be something he chose to treat lightly but this leaves the silliness of a book about comedy where Vaughan Meader gets more ink than Laurel and Hardy. He does have a wonderful appreciation of how good Jonathan Winters was.