For the last 100+ years, comedians have recorded and assembled their material into albums to forever enshrine their jokes in audio format. Some of the earliest albums recorded for popular commercial distribution were comedy albums. For example, various collections of humorous short stories recited by vaudeville comedian Cal Stewart were released by Edison Records as early as 1898.

The one album to possibly be considered the first modern stand-up comedy album is Mort Sahl’s 1958. The Future Lies Ahead, which was a recording of his comedy routine in front of a live audience, organized by jazz record producer Norman Granz. By 1959, comedy albums had become so popular that a category was created at the Grammy Awards for “Best Comedy Album.”

The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart in early 1960 hit number one on the Mono Action Albums chart (Billboard 200) for all recordings, including music. It stayed at the top for 14 weeks. It was only dethroned later the same year by the rushed-out sequel, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back! The two albums occupied the top two spots for nearly 30 weeks, a record not surpassed until 1991 by Guns N’Roses!

The 1960s saw a comedy album phenomenon in the USA with the likes of Nichols and May, Smothers Brothers, Jonathan Winters, Dick Gregory, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Tom Lehrer, Bill Cosby, Lenny Bruce, Redd Foxx, Allan Sherman and Vaughn Meader.

By the 1970s, comedy albums developed a reputation for being targeted towards college students, being countercultural and not being allowed on TV. Notable artists were, among others, George Carlin, Cheech and Chong, Richard Pryor, Robert Klein, David Steinberg, Lily Tomlin, National Lampoon and Steve Martin.

The first Brazilian artist to perform a “one man show” similar to American-style stand-up comedy was José Vasconcellos in the 1950s. In 1960, based on material he had performed across Brazil for years, José recorded his first comedy album, “Eu Sou o Espectáculo” (“I Am the Show”), at the Odeon. José became the first Brazilian comedian to sell more than 100,000 copies of a comedy album. .

During the following three-and-a-half decades, the concept of comedy albums became extremely popular in Brazil, with comedians recording their live shows and distributing them commercially with great success. Some of these comedians include Chico Anísio, Jô Soares, Costinha, Ary Toledo, Dercy Gonçalves, Juca Chaves and Zé Trindade. Unfortunately, with the transition to digital audio in the mid-1990’s, the market for Brazilian comedy albums began to wane.

However, with the explosion of stand-up comedy in the 2000’s and the advent of streaming, the demand for comedy in audio format has once again skyrocketed. Comedians across the world are now releasing their comedy albums digitally on audio retailers and streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, Youtube Music and many more. Digital media has given comedians and listeners unparalleled access to each other, providing new avenues for distribution and more exposure for comedy albums than ever before.