Comedians of the 1950s
Mainstream magazines discovered the new wave comedians by the late 1950s, after their comedy albums became bestsellers. In July 1959, Time dubbed them “The Sickniks” in an article that highlighted their hefty salaries and their “highly disturbing hostility” that distinguished them from the previous generation of comics. New Yorker, Newsweek, Esquire, Look, and other national magazines soon profiled the leaders. “Suddenly satire had become commercial,” cartoonist Jules Feiffer observed.
Mainstream magazines discovered the new wave comedians by the late 1950s, after their comedy albums became bestsellers. In July 1959, <em>Time</em> dubbed them “The Sickniks” in an article that highlighted their hefty salaries and their “highly disturbing hostility” that distinguished them from the previous generation of comics. <em>New Yorker, Newsweek, Esquire, Look,</em> and other national magazines soon profiled the leaders. “Suddenly satire had become commercial,” cartoonist Jules Feiffer observed.