By Kliph Nesteroff
- - - I know a lot of you white people have never seen an Indian do stand-up comedy before, joked Charlie Hill on The Richard Pryor Show in 1977. Like, for so long, you probably thought that Indians never had a sense of humor. We never thought you were too funny either.
Hill s TV debut, making him the first indigenous comedian in prime time, is one of the milestones that Kliph Nesteroff chronicles in We Had a Little Real Estate Problem, an illuminating and stereotype-busting history of Native Americans and comedy.
Nesteroff profiles Hill, who died of cancer in 2013, as well as other indigenous comedians whom Hill influenced in much the same way Freddie Prinze and Eddie Murphy inspired Latin and Black comics with their phenomenal success at a young age.
The Day - Native American comedians get their due - News from southeastern Connecticut theday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Book World: Native American comedians get their due
Donald Liebenson, The Washington Post
Feb. 22, 2021
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By Kliph Nesteroff
- - - I know a lot of you white people have never seen an Indian do stand-up comedy before, joked Charlie Hill on The Richard Pryor Show in 1977. Like, for so long you probably thought that Indians never had a sense of humor. We never thought you were too funny either.
Hill s TV debut, making him the first indigenous comedian in prime time, is one of the milestones that Kliph Nesteroff chronicles in We Had a Little Real Estate Problem, an illuminating and stereotype-busting history of Native Americans and comedy.