First Lady of Laughs - by Grace Kessler Overbeke

Book Synopsis

Before Hacks and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, there was the comedienne who started it all

First Lady of Laughs tells the story of Jean Carroll, the first Jewish woman to become a star in the field we now call stand-up comedy. Though rarely mentioned among the pantheon of early stand-up comics such as Henny Youngman and Lenny Bruce, Jean Carroll rivaled or even outshone the male counterparts of her heyday, playing more major theaters than any other comedian of her period. In addition to releasing a hit comedy album, Girl in a Hot Steam Bath, and briefly starring in her own sitcom on ABC, she also made twenty-nine appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Carroll made enduring changes to the genre of stand-up comedy, carving space for women and modeling a new form of Jewish femininity with her glamorous, acculturated, but still recognizably Jewish persona. She innovated a newly conversational, intimate style of stand-up, which is now recognized in comics like Joan Rivers, Sarah Silverman, and Tiffany Haddish. When Carroll was ninety-five she was honored at the Friars Club in New York City, where celebrities like Joy Behar and Lily Tomlin praised her influence on their craft. But her celebrated career began as an impoverished immigrant child, scrounging for talent show prize money to support her family.

Drawing on archival footage, press clippings, and Jean Carroll's personal scrapbook, First Lady of Laughs restores Jean Carroll's remarkable story to its rightful place in the lineage of comedy history and Jewish American performance.

Review Quotes

""Get This Book!...If you are a fan of comedy, especially stand-up, it is full of unbelievable information and insights.""--Judy Gold, Emmy-Award Winning Comedian

"A rollicking reclamation of a standup comedy pioneer, First Lady of Laughs provides a candid and telling history of the performer's career. More than a simple biography, Overbeke's keen analysis calls our attention to the ways that societal assumptions about gender and Jewishness -- separately and in combination -- helped shape the emergent genre of standup in ways that still resonate today."--Henry Bial, author of Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage and Screen

"A spirited biography ... a valuable addition to the history of female comedians and Jewish American entertainers."-- "Publishers Weekly"

"Grace Overbeke's new biog-ra-phy traces the arc of Carroll's career, offer-ing insight into the dis-tinc-tive char-ac-ter of her humor ... While any-one inter-est-ed in women's his-to-ry will find this biog-ra-phy eye-open-ing, it also has a lot to say about how com-e-dy -- espe-cial-ly eth-nic com-e-dy -- works."-- "Jewish Book Council"

"Long-overdue assessment of a pioneering female comic ... A welcome first step in making a legend among her sister comics better known to a wider audience."-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"Navigates the intersections of gender and ethnic biases in entertainment, offering essential perspectives on the historical and cultural environs shaping Jean Carroll's career. Overbeke's thorough examination of archival materials, televised performances, and personal effects enriches our understanding of the complexities faced by women in the arts and offers a compelling reminder of the relentless spirit required to redefine genres and break glass ceilings. In doing so, she recuperates Carroll's rightful place in comedic history."--Beck Krefting, author of All Joking Aside: American Humor and its Discontents

"Offers a lively and compelling account of Jean Carroll, who shook up the male-dominated 1950s comedy scene and pioneered the gossipy stand-up style popular today. Comedy lovers will be delighted that Carroll is getting the funny and touching biography she deserves."--Linda Mizejewski, author of Pretty/Funny: Women Comedians and Body Politics

"Shows us the brilliance of Jean Carroll's subversive yet dignified comedy, explaining how she became the 'First Lady of Laughs.' To the admiring women comedians who followed, she was 'the Mother of us all."--Joyce Antler, author of Jewish Radical Feminism: Voices from the Women's Liberation Movement

About the Author

Grace Kessler Overbeke is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre at Columbia College, Chicago.