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Also by Mel Watkins:

Stepin Fetchit, October 2005
Hardcover
On the Real Side: A History of African American Comedy, May 1999
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ON THE REAL SIDE: A HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN COMEDY
By: Mel Watkins

This comprehensive history of black humor sets it in the context of American popular culture.

Lawrence Hill Books
May 1999
664 pages
ISBN: 1556523513
Trade Size
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Non-Fiction Biography

This comprehensive history of black humor sets it in the context of American popular culture. Blackface minstrelsy, Stepin Fetchit and the Amos'n'Andy show presented a distorted picture of African Americans; this book contrasts this image with the authentic underground humor of African Americans found in folktales, race records, and all-black shows and films. Watkins offers suprising reassessment of such seminal figures as Fetchit, Bert Williams, Moms Mabley, and Redd Foxx, looking at how they paved the way for contemporary comics such as Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, Eddie Murphy and Bill Cosby.

Media Buzz

Talk of the Nation - December 12, 2005