''History of the Joke'' is a two-hour

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

that was premiered on February 18, 2008, in the USA on

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. This special was hosted by

Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion and cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis Black's ...

and starred

Mitch Fatel Mitch Fatel (born December 20, 1968), also known as Mitch Faytel, is a stand-up comedian. Born in Manhattan, he was raised in Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. st ...

, Ed Galvez, Jessica Glassberg,

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercultur ...

Shelley Berman Sheldon Leonard Berman (February 3, 1925 – September 1, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, and lecturer. He was awarded three gold records for his comedy albums and he won the first Grammy Award for a spoken comedy recor ...

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an Irish-British comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of One-line joke, one-liners. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regula ...

Jeff Dunham Jeffrey Douglas Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Comedy Central Presents'', ''The Tonig ...

Steve Byrne Steve Byrne (born July 21, 1974) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known from his multiple stand up comedy hour specials; creating, writing, and starring in '' Sullivan & Son''; and as the writer/director of the feature fi ...

, Gallagher,

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His acting roles include Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–2023) as adult ...

Aisha Tyler Aisha Tyler (born September 18, 1970) is an American actress and talk show host. She is known for playing Andrea Marino in the first season of ''Ghost Whisperer'', Dr. Tara Lewis in ''Criminal Minds'' since 2015, Mother Nature in the final two ...

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

Brian Posehn Brian Posehn (; born July 6, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician, and writer. After numerous appearances as a television guest star, Posehn acquired his first major recurring role in HBO's '' Mr. Show with Bob a ...

Greg Fitzsimmons Gregory Sebastian Fitzsimmons (born April 5, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster, and Emmy Award-winning television writer. Early life Fitzsimmons was raised in Tarrytown, New York to Bob (1939-1993) and Patricia Marie Judi ...

Gina Yashere Regina Obedapo Iyashere (born 6 April 1974) is a British comedian, actress and writer who has made numerous appearances on British and American television. She co-created the American sitcom '' Bob Hearts Abishola'', on which she plays a support ...

George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is most known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom '' George Lopez''. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican ...

Lynne Koplitz Lynne Koplitz is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actress. Koplitz was host of Telepictures' nationally syndicated dating show ''Change of Heart (TV series), Change of Heart'', guest host on NBC's ''Later (talk show), Later'', c ...

Kathy Griffin Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television series, comedy specials and has released multiple comedy albums. In 2007 and 2008, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her rea ...

Dave Attell David Attell (born January 18, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer best known as the host of Comedy Central's '' Insomniac with Dave Attell.'' Early life Attell was born in the New York City borough of Queens to a Jewish fa ...

, and

Penn & Teller Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since 1975. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic. The duo has bee ...

. In the show, Black considers all of the different components of the perfect joke and all types of

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

, including

physical comedy Physical comedy is a form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. It can include slapstick, clowning, mime, physical stunts, or making funny faces. Physical comedy originated as part of the Commedia dell'arte. It is ...

and

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

. The jokes ranged over all types of subject matter: children, race, sex and religion. The show is broken down into thirteen parts: comedy, physical comedy, timing is everything, improv, born funny?, ladies and gentlemen, dirty jokes, taboos, the bomb, hecklers, pain, the truth and what is laughter? Professor

Richard Wiseman Richard John Wiseman (born 16 September 1966) is a professor of the public understanding of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. He has written several psychology books. He has given keynote addresses to The Roy ...

explains the scientific and psychological source of comedy and talks about his search for the world's funniest joke. The history of comedy is covered from ancient

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

street performers, the masked performers of mid-16th century

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to possibly the first female comedians from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

an actresses (although there were few if any female actresses in Shakespearean times because all female roles were played by men) and

English Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

References

External links

* https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1187004/ History (American TV channel) original programming Documentary films about comedy and comedians 2008 American television series debuts {{arts-documentary-film-stub