Kliph Nesteroff is a comedy historian. But before that, he was a stand-up comedian. The author grew up in Canada, he has a nuanced perspective on American comedy and of U.S. history. In this brisk analysis of the history of what has been considered funny over the years, and what wasn't, Nesteroff examines how what was socially acceptable as comedy has changed constantly since the 1880s. While the concept of political correctness has put a damper on some types of jokes the author asserts that humorists today in the USA have more freedom to be funny than any previous generation of wags has had.
We had originally planned to do a half hour long program but he had so much to say and was go good at articulating it that we just kept on taping. I hope you enjoy this conversation.
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