100 Years of Boston Comedy at the Fall River Public Library

Name: 100 Years of Boston Comedy at the Fall River Public Library
Start: 2026-04-23T18:00:00-04:00
Location: Fall River Public Library

Schedule

Thu, 23 Apr, 2026 at 06:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Fall River Public Library | Fall River, MA

Register here: https://fallriver-ma.whofi.com/calendar/full
Veteran arts journalist Nick Zaino explores Boston’s long history of comedy, from vaudeville to YouTube, highlighting some of the personalities that have defined laughter in America for 100 years using audio and video clips. Eva Tanguay found her calling as the Queen of Vaudeville in Holyoke. Fred Allen found inspiration at the Boston Public Library to start his vaudeville career. Bob and Ray started their radio run in Gloucester at WHDH. Rusty Warren and Tom Lehrer shocked crowds in song. Norm Crosby and Bill Dana played the swinging supper clubs. Jay Leno, Denis Leary, Paula Poundstone, Steven Wright, Janeane Garofalo, Conan O’Brien, Eugene Mirman, Mike Birbiglia, Bo Burnham, Chris Fleming, Sam Jay, Ziwe – all are part of the fabric of Boston comedy lore. Their history is a mirror of the history of American entertainment.
Bio: Nick A. Zaino III is an arts freelancer, creator of Boston Comedy Radio, podcaster, and musician. For 28 years, he has covered comedy for publications from the Buffalo News to the Los Angeles Times. In 1998, he started writing about the Boston scene for The Boston Phoenix and Stuff@Night Magazine, and took up the beat for The Boston Globe in 2001. He still writes features and previews for the Globe on a weekly basis. The 100 Years of Boston Comedy lecture series is the basis for the book he is writing, the first comprehensive history of live comedy in New England.
Boston Comedy Radio features all of the comedians you hear in the lecture, and is available 24/7 at www.bostoncomedyradio.com.
Presentation made possible by the Mass cultural Council and the Fall River Cultural Council.