Comedian and USC Professor Wayne Federman Updates The History of Stand-Up
From the explosion of online crowd-work clips to the controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival, the book hailed as the definitive history of stand-up returns with a new chapter on the post-pandemic boom.
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's top stand-up comedians sell out arenas, generate millions, and shape social discourse. How did it all happen?
Wayne Federman answers that in The History of Stand-Up: From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle, now expanded and updated for 2026. Comprehensive yet concise, the 180-page book traces the arc of American stand-up from pre-vaudeville monologists like Mark Twain and Artemus Ward to the streaming era. It has become a standard text in comedy courses at Yale, USC, and Emerson.
The new chapter chronicles stand-up's chaotic 2021–2026 boom: when a single crowd-work clip could launch a career, when a top comedian could gross $82 million in a year, and when a festival in Riyadh split the comedy world over money and speech.
"Stand-up is primarily a generational art form. Most of it ages like fine milk," says Federman. "Yet one constant links all these performers across time: a human being standing on a stage, alone, trying to spark laughter."
Drawing on his acclaimed podcast and forty years as a working comedian, Federman writes from inside the craft, tracing the lineage of his own profession.
PRAISE FOR THE HISTORY OF STAND-UP
"Packs so much in such a slim book. Smart and deeply researched. Should be required reading for comedy types."
— Jason Zinoman, comedy critic, The New York Times
"Absolutely riveting chronicle of stand-up's history. This book has it all."
— Patton Oswalt
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wayne Federman is an Emmy-winning producer (George Carlin's American Dream), actor, and comedian who also teaches the history of stand-up at USC. He produced the acclaimed documentaries The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling and Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, with Mel Brooks currently nominated for six Emmy Awards. He recently appeared in the HBO series Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness. Acting credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Larry Sanders Show, Silicon Valley, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Step Brothers.
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble in ebook, paperback, and hardcover.
MEDIA CONTACT
Review copies, excerpts, and interviews available immediately.
Haley Long, Independent Artists Media
[email protected] | (323) 741-6465
SOURCE Wayne Federman
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