There's a really great book by Kliph Nesteroff called The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy that dives into the broad hi

There's a really great book by Kliph Nesteroff called The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy that dives into the broad history of comedy over the ages. Something that really jumped out for me is that, according to Nestorhoff, comedy is very much generational. Comedians who were able to appeal to multiple generations are very rare. Don Rickles, Lucille Ball, Rodney Dangerfield, Dave Chappelle, etc. are able to connnect across those timelines.