'I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy's Golden Era' by William Knoedelseder

They came from New York, the Midwest, the Southern states, a great exodus of young comics traveling west in search of a few minutes with Johnny Carson. That's all it took to begin the migration: In 1972, "The Tonight Show" moved from New York to Burbank, and stand-up comedy's center of gravity went with it.

By Steve Appleford

August 27, 2009