In on the Joke: The Original Queens of Standup Comedy

(Author)
Available

Product Details

Price
$30.00  $27.90
Publisher
Doubleday Books
Publish Date
Pages
400
Dimensions
6.3 X 9.4 X 1.6 inches | 1.6 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780385545785
BISAC Categories:

Earn by promoting books

Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.

Become an affiliate

About the Author

SHAWN LEVY is the bestselling author of The Castle on Sunset, Rat Pack Confidential, Paul Newman: A Life, and Dolce Vita Confidential. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, Sight & Sound, Film Comment, and American Film. He jumps and claps and sings for victory in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

An insightful and impeccably researched examination of the inspirational and fearless female comedians who first trod the unconventional path I gratefully followed. In reading Shawn Levy's book, I discovered almost every woman changed her original name; in tribute, I'm changing my name to Lady HaHa.
--Rita Rudner, bestselling author and nine-time recipient of Las Vegas's "Comedian Of The Year"

A seminal (eew gross I hate that word but it applies here and I love this book) work on the incredible journey of women in comedy, past and present, for all of us hope there will be many more of us in the future.
--Margaret Cho, Grammy and Emmy Award-nominated stand-up comedian and actress

Dying is easy, but comedy is hard; for women, until about ten minutes ago, it was almost impossible. But only almost. In his ground-breaking history of women in stand-up, Shawn Levy brilliantly weaves together history, politics, and culture to tell the epic saga of those bold and fearless trailblazers who dared to tell jokes while being female. Well-researched, profound, and laugh out loud funny, In on the Joke is simply fabulous. I loved it!
--Karen Karbo, author of In Praise of Difficult Women and How to Hepburn

"Both thorough and sympathetic, Levy's work is notable for how it fills gaps in entertainment history... A readably informative, well-researched comedic history."
--Kirkus

[A] riveting cultural history of women's stand-up comedy between WWII and the 1970s...Written with a vibrance that excellently captures the larger-than-life personalities of Levy's subjects, these stories coalesce to reveal the resilience and chutzpah that went into shaping stand-up as it's known today. Comedy fans would do well to snatch this one up.
--Publishers Weekly

"Insightful, moving, and well researched, with humorous anecdotes and fond memories of a group of women Levy clearly admires...Levy gives these trailblazers their due, and fans of comedy will adore the snippets of classic banter and long-lost one-liners."
--Library Journal