Jonny Roberts drives five hours to every gig and five hours back -- "Degrading, demoralizing, and degenerating" -- The 1491s in their underwear -- Vaudeville was fraud-ville -- Adrianne Chalepah pays the price for correcting her history teacher -- Will Rogers' grandpa is murdered in a vengeance killing -- Jonny Roberts is nervous in San Berdoo -- Will Rogers learns rope tricks from an enslaved person -- Jackie Curtiss breaks Ed Sullivan's foot -- Will Rogers takes a fateful flight with a one-eyed pilot -- Dakota Ray Herbert listens to Jeff Foxworthy on her Walkman -- Jim Thorpe demands only American Indians for American Indian parts -- From meteorology to the Upright Citizens Brigade with Joey Clift -- Will Rogers Jr. hated analogies to his father -- Charlie Hill orders a ventriloquist dummy -- Brian Bahe goes onstage twelve times a week -- Davy Crockett brainwashes the kids -- Lucas Brown Eyes sells a sitcom pilot -- Charlie Hill is inspired by Bob Newhart and other political radicals -- Paul LIttlechief's only ambition is to be the "First American Indian comedian" -- The Trickster figure causes people to fart when they're most keen to impress -- F Troop represents the f-word -- Williams and Ree perform for thirteen people at the Holiday Inn -- Charlie Hill and the bearded comedian in a rusty, red truck -- Williams and Ree are desperate to get on Carson -- Charlie Hill asks Barney Miller to free Leonard Peltier -- Jackie Keliiaa thinks, "Holy shit, this is amazing." -- Someone calls the cops on the 1491s -- Charlie Hill and the swimming number with Joe Namath -- Larry Omaha investigates a foul-mouthed parrot -- Terry Ree becomes the first (and last) Native American comedian on Hee-Haw -- Ryan McMahon has a life changing experience in Winnipeg (of all places) -- Charlie Hill isn't offered anything but crap -- The 1491s reluctantly agree to do a Shakespeare festival -- Sierra Ornelas sells sitcoms like it's the Santa Fe Indian Market -- Vincent Craig performs on the back of a flatbed truck -- Isiah Yazzie does improv for an empty room in Shiprock, New Mexico -- Howie Miller does impressions. Do you guys like impressions? -- The beef with Don Burnstick -- Marc Yaffee is weirded out by his own mother -- Jonny Roberts quits his job -- Netflix summons Adrianne Chalepah to Minnesota -- Elaine Miles assumes she was the first woman to do it -- Dallas Goldtooth rides his bicycle through Standing Rock and Sterlin Harjo mocks the hippies -- Those friendly Canadians send death threats to Williams and Ree -- Ralphie May starts a fight and then changes his mind -- Charlie Hill phones Mitzi Shore to say good-bye -- The 1491s get a standing ovation in a small Oregon town -- Jonny Roberts is stunned to see the literal writing on the wall.
Summary:
Comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff focuses on one of comedy's most significant and little-known stories: how, despite having been denied representation in the entertainment industry, Native Americans have influenced and advanced the art form. The account begins in the late 1880s, when Native Americans were forced to tour in wild west shows as an alternative to prison. (One modern comedian said it was as if a Guantanamo detainee suddenly had to appear on X-Factor.) This is followed by a detailed look at the life and work of seminal figures such as Cherokee humorist Will Rogers and Charlie Hill, who in the 1970s was the first Native American comedian to appear The Tonight Show. Also profiled are several contemporary comedians, including Jonny Roberts, a social worker from the Red Lake Nation who drives five hours to the closest comedy club to pursue his stand-up dreams; Kiowa-Apache comic Adrianne Chalepah, who formed the touring group the Native Ladies of Comedy; and the 1491s, a sketch troupe whose satire is smashing stereotypes to critical acclaim. As Ryan Red Corn, the Osage member of the 1491s, says: The American narrative dictates that Indians are supposed to be sad. It's not really true and its not indicative of the community experience itself. Laughter and joy is very much a part of Native culture.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.