American Comedy Archives, Emerson College

The American Comedy Archives is proud to relaunch its oral history program with newly recorded interviews featuring Emerson alumni Bill Burr ’92, Mario Cantone ’82, and Steven Wright ’78, along with comedians Paula Poundstone and Roy Wood Jr. These conversations explore their personal and professional journeys, insights into great comedy, career reflections, and the evolving comedic landscape. Watch clips of the new interviews below!

Bill Burr, '92

Burr reminisces about his childhood, making people laugh, transferring to Emerson College to get over stage fright, his first stand-up performance at Nick’s Comedy Stop, and more.

Mario Cantone, '82

Cantone discusses growing up in Stoneham, MA, early influences and his love of performing, auditioning for the Emerson Comedy Workshop, the influence the comedy group had on his career, and more.

Paula Poundstone

Poundstone discusses many topics ranging from traveling across the United States and the diverse people she has met, to career development and her stand-up act.

Roy Wood Jr.

Wood Jr., reminisces about his childhood in Birmingham, AL, his familial relationships and their influence on his life, the evolution of his political views and the impact on his comedy, and more.

Steven Wright, '78

Wright talks about his early comedic career and his anxiety performing in front of audiences, his first performance at the 'Comedy Connection' in Boston, performing at Ding Ho in Cambridge, MA where producer Peter LaSalle booked him for 'The Tonight Show,’ and more.

Watch all the full interviews at the American Comedy Archives Oral Histories.

Bill Dana

The American Comedy Archives project was a passion for Bill Dana, a 1950 Emerson graduate with a distinguished career in comedy as a performer, writer, and producer.

Oral Histories

Between 2005 and 2007, Emerson College Archives staff members worked with Bill Dana to create over 60 oral histories with some of the most well known names in Comedy. In the 2010s, a new partnership with the Television Academy Foundation's The Interviews: An Oral History of Television and the Center for Comedic Arts was established to produce new interviews. We are now placing these oral histories online, along with all available transcripts. The current selection of interviews includes those with Weird Al Yankovic, Betty White, Steven Wright, Carlos Mencia, Hugh Hefner, and Janis Paige.

Collections

The ACA collections contain a wide variety of materials, from letters and scrapbooks to posters and action figures. Together they provide not only a history of the important individuals within the comedic realm over the last one-hundred and fifty years, but also the evolution of comedy as a genre throughout that time. Collections include the papers of Bill Dana, Henry Winkler, Janis Paige, and Dom DeLuise.

Contact & Appointments

The Emerson College Archives are located at:

120 Boylston Street
Second Floor, Room 223
Boston, MA 02116

The Archives are open to students, faculty, staff, and the public by appointment only.

Appointments may be made: Monday–Friday, 9:00 am–4:00 pm. Please note that we close at 2 pm on Fridays during the summer.

To schedule an appointment, please call (617) 824-8301 or email archives [at] emerson.edu (archives[at]emerson[dot]edu)