Come see this hilarious celebration of this most American of art forms — and what all the jokes and laughter say about America. Stories of forgotten trailblazers, martyred iconoclasts and familiar stars show how the simple act of one joker taking on a crowd became one of our most popular entertainments- and a cultural weathervane.  

RITCH SHYDNER. In the 1980’s, Ritch Shydner made numerous appearances on TV, including HBO and Showtime Specials, Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. He played Al Bundy’s co-worker on “Married with Children”, and made guest appearances on many other TV shows, such as “Designing Women” and “Roseanne.”  Ritch was able to translate his modest success on TV into an obscure film career, appearing in Steve Martin’s, "Roxanne," and Eddie Murphy's, "Beverly Hills Cop II," before moving on to minor roles on smaller pictures. Ritch wrote for sitcoms such as "Roseanne", "The Jeff Foxworthy Show," and HBO’s “The Mind of the Married Man.” In 2006 Ritch was co-author of a book on stand-up, “I Killed”.

In 2010 Ritch produced and performed in an award winning documentary on the world of stand-up comedy, “I Am Comic”. In 2016 Ritch wrote a movie adaptation for HBO of Bill Maher's book on the 1979 New York City stand-up scene, "True Story".  That same year, he released "Kicking Through the Ashes - My Life as a Stand-up in the 1980's Comedy Boom.”