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The Legacy of the Wisecrack: Stand-up Comedy as the Great American Literary Form

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The following review has been posted here on behalf of its author, Izuu Nwankwo (PhD student, Nigeria)

There are very few scholarly books on stand-up acts and Tafoya's work remains the most current and insightful. Many books on stand-up comedy tend to be promotional, aimed mostly to serve as developmental guides for upcoming stand-up comedians. In Tafoya's the use of existing theory and criticism is at once innovative and groundbreaking, in stand-up comedy research. I find this book useful especially in the creative and convincing way it has manipulated the Freudian concepts of the id and the super-ego, in the understanding of how jokes make us laugh. One other thing that makes this work outstanding is the conversational manner in which the book is written. While we read, we are aware at the back of our minds that this is a scholarly work written by a practising stand-up comedian. In my view, this makes for a much more pleasurable reading as we get a grip on how and why stand-up comedy can also be categorised as literature. I have found this book indispensable in my own research due to the overall background information it carries with it. As such I believe it is a catalyst for further research, not only into stand-up, but also into other emergent popular performances and literature.

Eddie Tafoya, associate professor of American Literature, has the audacity to compare Richard Pryor's "Live on the Sunset Strip" to Dante Alighieri's "The Inferno," and has the perspicacity to make his assertion resound with conviction.
A Virgil in his own right, Tafoya takes the curious connoisseur of comedy, and the studious stand up, on an entertaining tour through the centuries in search of the secrets to laughter. From the shaman spellbinding an ancient tribe, to the showman killing a night club crowd, "The Legacy of the Wisecrack" is filled with arcane knowledge and neatly-documented facts which shine a spotlight on the origins, character, and history of this mysterious and singularly American--Great American Literary Form we call Stand-Up Comedy.

The Legacy of the Wisecrack: Stand-up Comedy as the Great American Literary Form

Erudite author Eddie Tafoya presents an academic but highly entertaining history and study of humor. It takes a serious look at the human condition that is reflected in stand-up comedy: a safe way to expose the inner voice one would not otherwise dare to share in public. The reader's consciousness will be raised with the author's explanation of hidden meanings in humor. A truly enjoyable and educational read.

Nancy Smoot Tramont

The Legacy of the Wisecrack is a provocative, engaging tome, on the history, content, context, and power of stand-up comedy in American society. "Stand-up comedy is Literature," states author Eddie Tafoya, an American Literature professor and professional comic from Northern New Mexico. Tafoya, then proceeds to give an insightful breakdown and definition of both literature and comedy. He succeeds in making the case for stand-up comedy being American Literature. Professor Tafoya challenges the reader to look beyond the mythical and superficial view of America's history and culture and offers up, instead, a sociologically complex view of America's past and present culture. A culture that gives birth to a unique American art-form, stand-up comedy. The comedian is the protagonist, who through humor, becomes the voice and conscience of a culturally suppressed, and often oppressed, American people. The scholarship and writing employed for this book makes for a groundbreaking study in an extremely overlooked art form: stand-up comedy.

This timely book explores the role of the stand-up comedian in the 21st-century U.S.A. The author confronts the inhumanity of early American history, including slavery, concluding that the salve and salvation to rampant depersonalization is laughter. It is the stand-up comedian who reaffirms the true American values of individuality and freedom of speech. Thus the comedian plays the parts of social commentator and healer once relegated to the poet.

Whether we are comics or students of comedy does not really matter. Anyone interested in American culture or a history of entertainment as well as everyone who enjoys original nonfiction is sure to remain engaged. Teachers and general readers will appreciate the intriguing contextual background provided in the first five (of eight) chapters in addition to included charts, a glossary and timeline. The lucid and lively writing is richly layered from a variety of sources, from theology to psychology to pop culture. Many keen cultural analyses, novel insights, and meticulous explications keep us intellectually involved--while hilarious excerpts from a wide range of stand-up routines keep us wearing a grin.

This book gives a deep look into why stand up comedy should be considered literature. Plus it looks at stand up comedy, what else could be more interesting? Overall, great book.