In the rock-and-roll 1970s, a new breed of comic, inspired by the fearless Lenny Bruce, made telling jokes an art form. Innovative comedians like George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Robert Klein,
and, later, Steve Martin, Albert Brooks, Robin Williams, andAndy Kaufman, tore through the country and became as big as rock stars in an era when Saturday Night Live was the apotheosis of cool
and the Improv, Catch a Rising Star, and the Comedy Store were the hottest clubs around. In Comedy at the Edge, Richard Zoglin gives a backstage view of the time, when a group of brilliant,
iconoclastic comedians ruled the world--and quite possibly changed it, too. Based on extensive interviews with club owners, agents, producers--and with unprecedented and unlimited accessto the
players themselves--Comedy at the Edge is a no-holdsbarred, behind-the-scenes look at one of the most influential and tumultuous decades in American popular culture.--From source other than
Library of Congress.Surveys the stand-up comedy of the 1970s, citing the contributions of celebrity comics, from George Carlin and Richard Pryor to Robin Williams and Andy Kaufman, in an
account that also evaluates the roles played by such clubs as Catch a Rising Star, the Improv, and the Comedy Store.
