Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy

Nesteroff, Kliph

Paperback

Biographies GeneralHumorRegional: Midwest

Publisher Price: $18.99

ISBN10: 1982103051
ISBN13: 9781982103057
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: Feb 15 2022
Pages: 336
Weight: 0.65
Height: 0.90 Width: 5.40 Depth: 8.30
Language: English
*A Best Book of the Year by NPR and Esquire*

A remarkable book. --Steve Martin

An illumating and stereotype-busting history of Native Americans and comedy (The Washington Post) from Kliph Nesteroff, the human encyclopedia of comedy (VICE).

It was one of the most reliable jokes in Charlie Hill's stand-up routine: My people are from Wisconsin. We used to be from New York. We had a little real estate problem.

In We Had a Little Real Estate Problem, acclaimed comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff focuses on one of comedy's most significant and little-known stories: how, despite having been denied representation in the entertainment industry, Native Americans have influenced and advanced the art form.

The account begins in the late 1880s, when Native Americans were forced to tour in wild west shows as an alternative to prison. (One modern comedian said it was as if a Guantanamo detainee suddenly had to appear on X-Factor.) This is followed by a detailed look at the life and work of seminal figures such as Cherokee humorist Will Rogers and Hill, who in the 1970s was the first Native American comedian to appear The Tonight Show.

Also profiled are several contemporary comedians, including Jonny Roberts, a social worker from the Red Lake Nation who drives five hours to the closest comedy club to pursue his stand-up dreams; Kiowa-Apache comic Adrianne Chalepah, who formed the touring group the Native Ladies of Comedy; and the 1491s, a sketch troupe whose satire is smashing stereotypes to critical acclaim. As Ryan Red Corn, the Osage member of the 1491s, says: The American narrative dictates that Indians are supposed to be sad. It's not really true and it's not indicative of the community experience itself...Laughter and joy is very much a part of Native culture.

Featuring dozens of original interviews and the exhaustive research that is Nesteroff's trademark, We Had a Little Real Estate Problem is a powerful tribute to a neglected legacy.

Also in

Humor

View All