Publisher Kris Millegan will release This Day in Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia of Laughter through his TrineDay-Star Books on December 3, 2019.
Stand-up comedian Darryl Littleton and Humor Mill Publisher Frank Holder couldn’t take it anymore: Where was a comprehensive review of African American contributions to the world of comedy? Finding none, they decided to write their own and hence This Day in Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia of Laughter is now the first-ever encyclopedia of diversity in the craft of comedy.
Comedy, which Mr. Littleton considers the hardest of all the arts, has long been considered frivolous and devoid of serious craft. This definitive collection of landmark events, facts, figures, bios, photos, quotes and milestones in American ethnic comedy will change all that. Not only is it a detailed source guide to African-American, Latin, Asian, Native-American and Middle Eastern comedy, but innovative in its presentation.
Instead of This Day in Comedy being a stodgy collection of humorous information, it’s an exhilarating journey using 21st Century sensibilities. This book incorporates video links to bring the experience of the entertainers, films, TV shows and rare concert footage to life for the reader; lending a greater appreciation to the subject matter and allowing the text to truly come alive. The legends of the genre are given their proper place in history with insightful biographies and then afforded the space to display the talent readers only imagined. Want to know why this person or event is important? Just look!
This Day in Comedy is not just an encyclopedia, but a celebration of comedy. Every day of the year something happened in the world of comedy and we highlight them. In humorous prose the book takes us through the often-neglected sub-cultures of comedy in America, acknowledging the inclusiveness of the performers, shows and films that made this art form so vital to us and deserves chronicling and preservation.
This encyclopedia offers rare, and in some cases, never-before-seen photos and obscure textual facts making it an indispensable comedy essential. We all grew up on some form of comedy no matter what generation you’re from and each of these pages will restore fond memories or invigorate new ones.
About the Authors:
Darryl Littleton is an accomplished stand-up comedian, author and producer. He’s the Associate Curator for The Comedy Hall of Fame and an Emmy nominated writer for his work on the documentary, “Joan Rivers: Exit Laughing”. His first book, “Black Comedians on Black Comedy” was an instant classic, taught as part of the curriculum at USC and adapted into the Showtime documentary, “Why We Laugh”, executive produced by Littleton and directed by Robert Townsend.
Littleton began his comedy career writing sketches for “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” on CBS Radio. Soon afterwards he became a regular at the world-famous Comedy Store, adopted the stage name, “D’Militant” and landed a job as D. L. Hughley’s exclusive writer when he hosted BET’s “Comic View”. Darryl was promoted to writer/producer and also penned material for Cedric the Entertainer, Sommore and Don DC Curry.
Littleton’s television credits include Robert Townsend’s WB sitcom, “The Parent Hood”, “Townsend Television” for Fox, HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam”, Comedy Central’s “Make Me Laugh”, Martin Lawrence’s “1st Amendment”, Telemundo’s “Loco Comedy Jam”, Byron Allen’s “Comic’s Unleashed”, “Unsung: The Jeffersons” where he was the go-to expert on 70’s sitcoms and ABC’s “America’s Funniest People” where he was the Grand Prize Winner.
Darryl Littleton toured Europe and Asia as a stand-up comedian entertaining US military troops, released 2 comedy CDs, worked as a commentator for NPR, toured as a public speaker, produced “Black & Blue: The Laff Records Collection” and published six additional books as well as the satirical graphic novel, “1 Broke Activist: The Adventures of D’Militant – Mein Trump“.
Frank Holder is the Founder and Publisher of the Humor Mill Magazine, an urban comedy and entertainment on-line digital magazine distributed to over 1.3 million email subscribers. Since its launch over nine years ago and with the addition of the humormillmag.com website, it is now the leading urban comedy website in the industry.
The Humor Mill is known for being a gateway to introducing unknown comedians to the general public. Since its inception, they have introduced thousands of emerging comedians, while sharing in-depth interviews, and exclusives for their audience.
Holder holds degrees in communication and was a Program and Music Director on such radio stations as WRBB, WERS, WZOU and WMJX. Holder recently launched The Minority Report, which is The State of Urban News & Affairs for the minority community and he’s in pre-production on The Humor Mill Comedy Festival which is set to launch in November of 2020.
“This Day in Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia of Laughter” will be like no other book in your collection and once you add it you’ll never look at January to December quite the same way again.
