Book Review: “We Had A Little Real Estate Problem” by Kliph Nesteroff

We Had A Little Real Estate Problem by Kliph Nesteroff

Nesteroff is a historian of show biz comedy, which he takes very seriously.  His new book is a history of Native American stand up comedians, which he takes very seriously, too. 

For a book about comedy, there isn’t much to laugh about here.  The life of a stand up comedian is just as hard as any other aspiring entertainer, and Native Americans have additional hills to climb and battles to fight, including racism and racist stereotypes, poverty and just plain geography.

Many of the entertainers covered have sought to voice the history and life of Native Americans, and making that funny ain’t easy.  The title of the book references the esteemed Charlie Hill’s signature line,

“My people are from Wisconsin.  We used to be from New York.  We had a little real estate problem.”

– Charlie Hill

On a positive note, this book describes the historic cultural importance of humor, indeed, improvised stand up humor, in traditional cultures across North America.  Anyone who has spent time in Indian country knows that there is a lot of laughter, and a lot of crazy humor.

But jokes do not always translate well outside their context, however, so aspiring Native American comics have had to work to communicate to different audiences.  A few years ago, a friend from out west turned me on to the 1491s, who are one of the most successful groups working today, so I was sort of prepared in advance for this topic, and for the ‘culture shock’ of some of the humor.  No, I don’t understand a lot of the 1491s stuff, except as slapstick.

Personally, I dislike stand up comedy, so I don’t personally care whether anyone ever becomes a comic, Native or not.  But I certainly was rooting for a lot of the crazy kids who work so hard despite everything.

And, if nothing else, read this book to learn about racism and the founding crimes of the US and Canada.  It’s not funny.

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1. Kliph Nesteroff, We Had A Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy, New York, Simon & Schuster, 2021.

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