Episode 116: Jean Carroll, First Lady of Laughs

Before Joan Rivers, there was another Jewish woman who broke ground as a stand-up comedian. Her name was Jean Carroll, and although she was a household name in the 50s and 60s, today she has been mostly forgotten. Grace Kessler Overbeke hopes her new book about Jean Carroll, First Lady of Laughs, will change that. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we talk to Grace about why Jean Carroll deserves to be remembered for changing both the face of comedy and people's ideas about what a Jewish woman could be.

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Released September 24, 2024

Grace Kessler Overbeke and the cover of her book, First Lady of Laughs: The Forgotten Story of Jean Carroll, America's First Jewish Woman Stand-Up Comedian.
Jean Carroll.

Courtesy ofGary Holmes.
Comedian Jean Carroll performing on Vaudeville in the Shaw-Carroll Revue, playing the Keith Albee Circuit. Photograph by Nasib. From the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library Digital Collections.
Advertisement for performance by comedian Jean Carroll. Courtesy of Susan Chatzky.
Jean Carroll circa 1950.

Courtesy of Gary Holmes.
Promotional photograph from comedian Jean Carroll’s short-lived television show, “Take It From Me,” 1953, saved in Carroll’s personal scrapbook. Courtesy of Susan Chatzky.
Jean Carroll, circa 1955.
Courtesy ofThe New York Times
Comedian Jean Carroll performing one of her classic routines on the Ed Sullivan Show, October 11, 1964.

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Jean Caroll speaks at the testimonial at the Friar's Club in NYC, November 2006.

Photo courtesy of Gary Holmes.