On the Real Side Laughing, Lying, and Signifying-- : the Underground Tradition of African-American Humor that Transformed American Culture, from Slavery to Richard Pryor

At a time when Whoopi Goldberg and Eddie Murphy are major stars and In Living Color is a hit show, it is easy to forget that it was only thirty years ago that Bill Cosby became the first black star of a network series. Now Mel Watkins has written the first comprehensive history of black American humor - from the public face of minstrelsy and vaudeville to the "real side" of the slave enclaves and urban street corners, from folklore to prime time. On the Real Side is a thoroughly documented account of a rich comic …