Kliph Nesteroff

From the preeminent historian of comedy, an expansive history of show business and the battles over culture that have echoed through the decades and changed the United States“Outrageous is required reading. An essential book of the social history of the United States—with laughs.” (Steve Martin) There is a common belief that we live in unprecedented times, that nobody got offended in the past, that people are simply too sensitive today, that racism and sexism were once widely accepted without objection. The truth is precisely the opposite. With every step of our cultural history, minorities have pushed back against racist portrayals, women have fought for respect, and people have sought to change the world of entertainment and beyond through a combination of censorship, advocacy, or protest. Likewise, opposing forces have sought to sway public opinion and shape culture through violence and political and economic pressure. Kliph Nesteroff, author of The Comedians and We Had a Little Real Estate Problem, presents a deep dive into the history of show business and illustrates both how our world has changed and how the fierce battlegrounds of today are reflected in our past. Outrageous is a crucial and timeless book filled with surprising details, remarkable anecdotes, and unforgettable characters, including figures we think we know, such as Mae West, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and Stan Laurel (who tried to bury his wife alive but still wasn’t “cancelled”), and others readers may never have heard of.

For years, acclaimed artist Drew Friedman has chronicled an oddball, alternate history of American pop culture, where forgotten character actors, old Jewish comedians, comic book artists, and liver-spotted elevator operators are afforded the spotlight over Hollywood starlets and heartthrobs. This latest collection showcases a wide range of recent color and black-and-white portraits of comedians (Gilbert Gottfried, Groucho Marx, Selma Diamond, Moms Mabley, Brother Theodore), writers (Kurt Vonnegut, Alan Zwiebel, Bruce Jay Friedman, Arnie Kogan), musicians (B. B. King, Bob Dylan, Al Kooper, Sammy Davis, Jr., Weird Al), directors (Buster Keaton, Elaine May, Terry Zwigoff), comic book legends (Max Gaines, Bill Gaines, Kelly Freas, Ron Turner), actors (Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr, Rondo Hatton, Peter Falk) and other famous, infamous, and not-so-famous human beings that Friedman has drawn inspiration from over his lifetime. In addition to over 100 full-page images, this collection features a foreword by historian of comedy Kliph Nesteroff, a glossary of brief biographical information on each subject by the author, as well as the never-before-collected eight-page comic strip, "R. Crumb and Me," detailing Friedman's intense relationship to the work of the cartoonist he cites as his greatest inspiration of all. Shtick Figures is a must have for fans of Friedman's inimitable talent and sharp curatorial eye for preserving lesser known but worthy tributaries of all aspects of American culture, high and low.

From the preeminent historian of modern comedy comes an expansive history of showbiz and the culture wars There is a common belief that we live in unprecedented times, that people are too sensitive today, that nobody objected to the actions of actors, comedians, and filmmakers in the past. Modern pundits would have us believe that Americans of a previous generation had tougher skin and seldom complained. But does this argument hold up to scrutiny? In Outrageous, celebrated cultural historian Kliph Nesteroff demonstrates that Americans have been objecting to entertainment for nearly two hundred years, sometimes rationally, often irrationally. Likewise, powerful political interests have sought to circumvent the arts using censorship, legal harassment, and outright propaganda. From Mae West through Johnny Carson, Amos ’n’ Andy through Beavis and Butt-Head, Outrageous chronicles the controversies of American show business and the ongoing attempts to change what we watch, read, and hear.

*A Best Book of the Year by NPR and Esquire* "A remarkable book." --Steve Martin "An illumating and stereotype-busting history of Native Americans and comedy" (The Washington Post) from Kliph Nesteroff, "the human encyclopedia of comedy" (VICE). It was one of the most reliable jokes in Charlie Hill's stand-up routine: "My people are from Wisconsin. We used to be from New York. We had a little real estate problem." In We Had a Little Real Estate Problem, acclaimed comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff focuses on one of comedy's most significant and little-known stories: how, despite having been denied representation in the entertainment industry, Native Americans have influenced and advanced the art form. The account begins in the late 1880s, when Native Americans were forced to tour in wild west shows as an alternative to prison. (One modern comedian said it was as "if a Guantanamo detainee suddenly had to appear on X-Factor.") This is followed by a detailed look at the life and work of seminal figures such as Cherokee humorist Will Rogers and Hill, who in the 1970s was the first Native American comedian to appear The Tonight Show. Also profiled are several contemporary comedians, including Jonny Roberts, a social worker from the Red Lake Nation who drives five hours to the closest comedy club to pursue his stand-up dreams; Kiowa-Apache comic Adrianne Chalepah, who formed the touring group the Native Ladies of Comedy; and the 1491s, a sketch troupe whose satire is smashing stereotypes to critical acclaim. As Ryan Red Corn, the Osage member of the 1491s, says: "The American narrative dictates that Indians are supposed to be sad. It's not really true and it's not indicative of the community experience itself... Laughter and joy is very much a part of Native culture." Featuring dozens of original interviews and the exhaustive research that is Nesteroff's trademark, We Had a Little Real Estate Problem is a powerful tribute to a neglected legacy.

Jokes change from generation to generation, but the experience of the comedian transcends the ages: the drive, jealousy, heartbreak, and triumph. From the Marx Brothers to Milton Berle to George Carlin to Eddie Murphy to Louis CK--comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff brings to life a century's worth of rebels and groundbreakers, mainstream heroes and counterculture iconoclasts, forgotten stars and workaday plodders in this essential history of American comedy. Beginning with the nationwide vaudeville circuits that dominated at turn of the twentieth century, Nesteroff describes the rise of the first true stand-up comedian--a variety show emcee who abandoned physical shtick for straight jokes. The end of Prohibition ushered in a surprising golden age of comedy, as funnymen were made into radio stars and the combination of the "Borscht Belt," the "Chitlin Circuit," and Mafia-run supperclubs furnished more jobs and money than ever before. Those were the days of the Copacabana, tuxedos, and smoking cigars onstage, when insulting the boss could result in a hit man at your door and obscenity charges could land you in jail. In the 1950s, late-night television cemented the status of the comedy establishment while young comics rebelled, arriving on the beatnik coffeehouse scene with cerebral jokes and social angst. They soon found their own way to fame through comedy records that vied with top musicians for Billboard spots. Then came the comedy clubs of the coke-fueled 1970s and 80s, Saturday Night Live and cable TV, and with the internet, a whole new generation of YouTube stars, podcast personalities, and Twitterati. Through the decades, Nesteroff reveals the contradictions between comedians' public and private personas and illuminates the often-seedy underbelly of an industry built on laughs. Based on over two hundred original interviews and extensive archival research, The Comedians is a sharply written and highly entertaining look at one hundred years of comedy, and a valuable exploration of the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture along the way.