The Smithsonian Institution and the National Comedy Center hold outstanding collections of objects that illustrate the vitality and importance of comedy in American life, from 19th-century vaudeville, minstrel, and puppet shows to stand-up comedians, television satire, and internet memes. Examples include Jerry Seinfeld’s “puffy shirt,” Phyllis Diller’s gag file, and Carol Burnett’s “Went with the Wind” curtain dress. The new book Funny Stuff: How Comedy Shaped American History shows these collections for the first time in vibrant photographs, accompanied by illuminating essays that tell the story of how comedy helped shape American history.

Ryan Lintelman, entertainment curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH), reveals the stories of rarely exhibited artifacts and recount the lives of famous, infamous, and unknown comics and their influence on American culture.

Following the lecture, attendees have the opportunity to see objects from the National Museum of American History’s collection that are not currently on public display.

Funny Stuff: How Comedy Shaped American History (Rutgers University Press) is available for sale and signing. The National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Center for Folklore and Cultural Heritage, and National Museum of the American Indian contributed to the book, along with several of Lintelman’s NMAH colleagues.

General Information

• Registration for this program will end by 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 30, 2026.