On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying, and Signifying- The Underground Tradition of African-American Humor That Transformed American Culture, from Slave to Richard Pryor -- On Stage, Screen & Radio, Racial Ventriloquy, Black Soaps, Race Records, Black Films + by Watkins, Mel - 1994

New York: Touchstone Books, 1994. -----Large soft cover, 652 pages, with b & w photos, tight square and clean, no names. "On the Real Side is the first and only definitive history of African-American humor. with meticulous documentation. Watkins tells the public histoy, but he also uncovers the private,acerbic tradition that developed and remained underground for more than a century." Contents include: Intro / Prologue: Black Humor...what it is / Slavery.."don't nobody know my name but me" Minstrelsy...the die is cast / Black Minstrelsy to Vaudeville...black on black / Vaudeville & Early Twentieth-Century Black Humor...the blackening of America / Hollywood's Silent Years...the curse of a nation / The New Negro: Harlem and Hollywood...exotics, imposters, and other misshapen identities / Radio & Early Television...racial ventriloquy, black soaps & servants / Race Records and Black Films...sounds and visions in black and blue / The Theatre Owners Booking Association & the Apollo Theatre...changing the joke and slipping the yoke / Literary reflections of African-American Humor...depictions of things unseen / Folklore & Street Humor..."if you grinnin', you in 'em" / The New Comics...what you see is what you get / Pryor and thereafter...on the real side / Notes Bibiography / index. Any image directly beside this listing is the actual book and not a stock photo. First Edition 1st Printing. Soft Cover. Near Fine. Illus. by Cover photograph of Richard Pryor. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.