American Indian Culture and Research Journal

Our comedians were like the Lakotas called them “Heyokas,” and there’s trickster stories, dancers, singers, the contrary man. Everyone had something like that in their society. But that’s a little different than a standup nightclub routine. The comic says I’m tired of talking about me, let’s talk about you. —Charlie Hill Contrary to the dominant conception of Indians as humorless, stoic, and tragic, humor and comedy have always been central to Native American cultures. However, most people have never seen an Indian standup comedian. When I mention writing about Indian comedians, people often ask, “are there any?” Such a response reflects the scarcity of Indian comedians both in popular entertainment and in studies of humor. Most studies of Indian humor focus on rural and tribal rather than urban and individual forms of humor. Standup comedy is different than rural tribal comic traditions in several ways. Working primarily in urban comedy clubs or settings, standups perform as individuals conveying their personal sense of humor to their audiences. With comedy club audiences ranging from predominantly white to ethnically mixed, Indian standups serve as cross-cultural entertainers and educators. Drawing upon extensive ethnographic research and interviews I have conducted among comedians in California during the past five years, this essay analyzes how Indian standups mediate personal identity, convey cultural sensibilities, establish common ground across ethnic groups, and imaginatively expand consciousness. Going beyond prior studies of Indian humor emphasizing rural and collective forms, this study focuses on Indian humor within urban contexts among individual comedians.