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Remembering Pioneering Comedian Jack Carter

Jack Carter
By William Morris Agency (management).[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Comedian Jack Carter in 1949. Carter died at the age of 93 last week. He was a pioneering comedian who used Las Vegas lounges to perfect his act.

You might not recognize the name Jack Carter.

But Carter, who died last week at 93, was a pioneer of the kind of improvisational comedy many of us know today.

And he perfected his act in the Las Vegas lounge scene, of all places. His act helped create the bridge between the one-liners, old-school comedians and the stand-up comedians of today.

Kliph Nesteroff – comedy historian, and curator of the website, “Classic Television Showbiz,” joined KNPR’s State of Nevada to talk about Carter and his impact on comedy.  

He also has a book coming out this fall: The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy.”

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Kliph Nesteroff, comedy historian

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Since June 2015, Fred has been a producer at KNPR's State of Nevada.