The definitive history of the world's most polite revolution: How Canadian comics took over the comedy world."Canada is chock-full of broadcasting talent but hasn't a comedian worth his salt." So said the first Canadian Radio Commissioner echoing a near universal sentiment throughout most of the twentieth century: Canadians simply weren't that funny. They were too deferential, too serious, too Canadian to be funny. And yet, behind their polite exterior, Ca...

*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....

*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....

The definitive history of the world's most polite revolution: How Canadian comics took over the comedy world."Canada is chock-full of broadcasting talent but hasn't a comedian worth his salt." So said the first Canadian Radio Commissioner echoing a near universal sentiment throughout most of the twentieth century: Canadians simply weren't that funny. They were too deferential, too serious, too Canadian to be funny. And yet, behind their polite exterior, Ca...

From the preeminent historian of modern comedy comes an expansive history of showbiz and the culture warsThere 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 Outr...