Talk:History of stand-up comedy

[Untitled]
I dislike this first phrase in the first sentence: "perpetuated racist stereotypes in the United States" -- Are we sure this is the correct way to present minstrel shows, in the very first sentence describing stand-up comedy? In this age of woke-ism, pretty much everything can be seen in such a light. Isn't the very essence of stand-up comedy supposed to play with racist stereotypes --ultimately to expose stereotypes as either harmless or wrong? I know Frederick Douglass disliked what he saw as profiting from stereotypes. Isn't this just one take? Is it possible Douglass, as great a man as he was, had a bad sense of humor? If it were me, I would move this opinion of minstrel shows out of the first sentence and put it in a section devoted to it below.

Many great titans of modern standup have been accused of being racist or xenophobic in some way. A great many of them are merely casting light on racism -- focusing the public's attention on the ridiculousness of it -- and their cancel-hungry critics can't tell or don't have enough context to know the difference. Let's not let such an attitude invade Wikipedia above the fold.

Thujone33 (talk) 17:47, 13 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Agreed. The article is discussing stand up. The “perpetuating racism” qualifier is unnecessary and confusing. 2600:8805:9983:9900:9065:952F:6818:667A (talk) 16:04, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

Were there any stand-up acts in antiquity? The Romans surely made fun of each other at parties, and had apparently a vibrant theater scene. Do we have any historical record of such? And surely Mel Brooks wasn't the first Jew to make fun of the Fifteen Commandments?

I'm thinking that stand-up comedy might be the oldest human art form, beginning as soon as humans tried to make each other laugh. We have no archeological evidence for it because it requires no tools or equipment. 2601:600:4281:82E0:B9E7:5C45:478D:E261 (talk) 16:49, 9 December 2021 (UTC) 2601:600:4281:82E0:B9E7:5C45:478D:E261 (talk) 16:43, 9 December 2021 (UTC)