Vaudeville comedians -- Radio -- Nightclubs -- Television -- Late night -- The emergence of Las Vegas -- Stand-up's great change -- Percolation in the mid-1960s -- Hippie madness at decade's end -- The first comedy clubs and the 1970s -- The stand-up comedy boom -- The 1990s -- The new mellennium

"Jokes change from generation to generation, but the experience of the stand-up comedian transcends the ages: the striving and struggles, the tragedy and triumph. From the Marx Brothers to Milton Berle, George Carlin to Eddie Murphy, Conan O'Brien to Louis C. K.--comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff presents a century of fascinating rebels, forgotten stars, and characters on the precipice of fame in this essnetial history of American comedy."--Book jacket