Holdings Information

Bibliographic Record Display

• Title:In on the joke : the original queens of stand-up comedy / Shawn Levy.
  
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• Author/Creator:Levy, Shawn, author.
  
• Published/Created:New York : Doubleday, [2022]
  

• Holdings

  Holdings Record Display

  • Location:KOERNER LIBRARY stacks (Floor 1)Where is this?
    
  • Call Number: PN2286.8 .L48 2022
    
  • Number of Items:1
    
  • Status:Available
    

   
• Library of Congress Subjects:Women comedians--United States--Biography.
  Stand-up comedy--United States--History.
  
• Edition:First edition.
  
• Description:xii, 383 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
  
• Summary:"Today, women are ascendant in standup comedy, even preeminent. They make headlines, fill arenas, spawn blockbuster movies. But before Amy Schumer slayed, Tiffany Haddish killed, and Ali Wong drew roars, the very idea of a female comedian seemed, to most of America, like a punchline. And it took a special sort of woman-indeed, a parade of them-to break and remake the mold. In on the Joke is the story of a group of unforgettable women who knocked down the doors of standup comedy so other women could get a shot. It spans decades, from Moms Mabley's rise in Black vaudeville between the World Wars, to the roadhouse ribaldry of Belle Barth and Rusty Warren in the '50s and '60s, to Elaine May's co-invention of improv comedy, to Joan Rivers' and Phyllis Diller's ferocious ascent to mainstream stardom. These women refused to be defined by type and tradition, facing down indifference, puzzlement, nay-saying, and unvarnished hostility. They were discouraged by agents, managers, audiences, critics, fellow performers-even their families. And yet they persevered against the tired notion that women couldn't be funny, making space not only for themselves but for the women who followed them. Meticulously researched and irresistibly drawn, Shawn Levy's group portrait forms a new pantheon of comedy excellence. In on the Joke shows how women broke into the boys' club, offered new ideas of womanhood, and had some laughs along the way"-- Provided by publisher.
  
• Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages [357]-359) and index.
  
• ISBN:9780385545785 hardcover
  0385545789 hardcover
  9781984899279 trade paperback
  1984899279 trade paperback
  9780385545792 electronic book
  
• Contents:Machine generated contents note: One. Philosopher
  Two. Pro
  Three. Sunflower
  Four. Bawds
  Pottymouth
  Liberator
  Five. Positive Thinker
  Six. Perfectionist
  Seven. Songbird
  Eight. Scrapper.