History of the Joke is a two-hour television special

Television special

A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...

 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 that premiered on February 18, 2008 on History.

This special was hosted by Lewis Black

Lewis Black

Lewis Niles Black is an American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor. He is known for his comedy style, which often includes simulating a mental breakdown, or an increasingly angry rant, ridiculing history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena...

 and starred Mitch Fatel

Mitch Fatel

Mitch Fatel is a stand-up comedian in New York. He was raised in Yonkers, New York and began doing stand-up at the age of 15. In 1988 Fatel attended NYU/Tisch School of the Arts and majored in Film and Acting Studies. Around this time Mitch was an intern on the Howard Stern show...

, Ed Galvez, George Carlin

George Carlin

George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....

, Shelley Berman

Shelley Berman

Sheldon "Shelley" Berman is an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, lecturer, and poet.- Early life :Berman was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Irene and Nathan Berman.- Career :...

, Jimmy Carr

Jimmy Carr

James Anthony Patrick "Jimmy" Carr is an English-Irish comedian and humourist. He is known for his deadpan delivery and dark humour. He is also a writer, actor and presenter of radio and television....

, Jeff Dunham

Jeff Dunham

Jeff Dunham is an American ventriloquist and stand-up comedian who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including Late Show with David Letterman, Comedy Central Presents, The Tonight Show and Sonny With a Chance...

, Steve Byrne

Steve Byrne

Steve Byrne is an American stand-up comedian.-Personal life:Steve Byrne was born in Freehold, NJ. Byrne is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and went to Hampton High School He is of Irish and Korean descent. Steve has a younger brother, William Byrne whom he mentioned in his Comedy Central...

, Gallagher

Gallagher

-Sport:*Bob Gallagher, baseball player*Dave Gallagher, American baseball player*David Gallagher , , a former Australian rules footballer.*Charlie Gallagher , Celtic F.C. & Irish footballer...

, Patton Oswalt

Patton Oswalt

Patton Oswalt is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Spencer Olchin in the popular sitcom The King of Queens, voicing Remy from the film Ratatouille and Thrasher from the Cartoon Network original series Robotomy.-Early life:Oswalt was born...

, Aisha Tyler

Aisha Tyler

Aisha N. Tyler is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and author, known for her regular role as Andrea Marino in the first season of Ghost Whisperer and voicing Lana Kane in Archer, as well as her recurring roles in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Talk Soup, and on Friends as Charlie...

, Robin Williams

Robin Williams

Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...

, Brian Posehn

Brian Posehn

Brian Edmund Posehn is an American actor, voice actor, musician and comedian, known for his roles as mail clerk Kevin Liotta on NBC's Just Shoot Me!, a cast member and writer on HBO's Mr. Show, and most recently as Brian Spukowski on Comedy Central's The Sarah Silverman Program.-Early life:Posehn...

, Greg Fitzsimmons

Greg Fitzsimmons

Greg Fitzsimmons is an American stand-up comedian, television writer/producer and radio host.-Life and career:Fitzsimmons has performed his comedy on numerous programs such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Chelsea Lately and Comedy...

, Gina Yashere

Gina Yashere

Gina Obedapo Yashere is a British comedian of Nigerian descent.-Early life:Yashere was born in Bethnal Green, London, England. Her mother was an immigrant from Nigeria...

, George Lopez

George Lopez

George Lopez is an American comedian, actor, and talk show host. He is mostly known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including the Mexican American culture...

, Lynne Koplitz

Lynne Koplitz

Lynne Koplitz is an American stand-up comedian and actress. Born June 13, 1969 in Long Island, New York, USA and raised in Sarasota, Florida. She was host of Telepictures' nationally syndicated dating show Change of Heart, guest host on NBC's Later, co-host of the Food Network's How to Boil...

, Kathy Griffin

Kathy Griffin

Kathleen Mary "Kathy" Griffin is an American actress, stand-up comedienne, television personality, New York Times best-selling author and an LGBT rights advocate. Griffin first gained recognition for appearances on two episodes of Seinfeld, and then for her supporting role on the NBC sitcom...

, Dave Attell

Dave Attell

Dave Attell is an American stand-up comedian and the host of Comedy Central's Insomniac with Dave Attell and The Gong Show with Dave Attell.-Stand-up beginning:...

, and Penn & Teller

Penn & Teller

Penn & Teller are Las Vegas headliners whose act is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. Penn Jillette is a raconteur; Teller generally uses mime while performing, although his voice can occasionally be heard during their performance...

. In the show Lewis Black considers all of the different components of the perfect joke and all types of comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

, including physical comedy and slapstick

Slapstick

Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...

. The jokes rangered from all types of subect matter: children jokes, race sex, and religion. The show is broken down into thirteen parts: comedy, physical comedy, timing is everything, improv, born funny?, ladies and gentlemen, dirty jokes, taboos, the bomb, hecklers, pain, the truth, and what is laughter? Professor Richard Wiseman

Richard Wiseman

Richard Wiseman is Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.Wiseman started his professional life as a magician, before graduating in Psychology from University College London and obtaining a Ph.D...

 is the scientific and psychological source of comedy and talks about his search for the world's funniest joke. The history of comedy from ancient Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 street performers, the masked performers of mid-16th century Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 to possibly the first female comedians from Shakespearean actresses (although there are little to no female actresses in Shakespearean times because all female roles were played by men) in English Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

were all covered.

External links

• Official website
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1187004/