...so says comic-turned-historian Kliph Nesteroff

The comedy bubble is set to burst in the next few years, a leading entertainment historian has warned.

Kliph Nesteroff, who wrote the acclaimed book The Comedians, says the stand-up market is over-saturated and ready to collapse.

Speaking at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, the comic-turned-historian likened the current situation to the stand-up boom that swept America in the late 1980s – only to be followed by a huge bust.

‘We’ve been here before,’ he said at a screening of his new Viceland series Funny How? ‘We’re in 1987. By 2021 we’ll be done.’

‘There are too many comedians, too many Netflix comedy specials. We’ve all turned off a special before the end.

‘‘When you’re in a  bubble you think it’ll last forever – but it will burst.’

Nesteroff, who was a stand-up from 1998 until 2006, added that he was astounded by the expanse of the current open mic circuit after following aspiring comics around grim nights performing only to fellow hopefuls. And he was also taken by the ambition of new comedians.

When he made an episode looking at one comic on their way up, and one on their way down, he expected the younger performer to be happy and full of enthusiasm, with the older hand  –  former Police Academy star Michael Winslow  – more jaded.

But it turned out the reverse was true.

Of the younger act, whom he did not name, he said: ‘She got upset that she wasn’t breaking through fast enough,’ but he said Winslow was a ‘sweet, loveable, genuine guy who was genuinely happy’ with his lot.

Living in Orlando, away from the main entertainment hubs, Winslow now predominantly plays music festivals, where he uses sample and loop technology to enhance his talents for vocal sound effects. He was introduced to the techniques by Reggie Watts, who was inspired to get into comedy after watching Winslow.

Funny How? is available in North America now and is scheduled to air on Viceland’s UK channel from October 24.

Published: 28 Jul 2017