Come­di­ans are no strangers to con­tro­ver­sy or cross­ing the line. But some things do change. Humorists the world over are no longer sim­ply denounced in grouchy op-eds. Now come­di­ans are being hound­ed by crim­i­nal inves­ti­ga­tions and civ­il suits, or forced off the air­waves. They are men­aced by vig­i­lantes and reli­gious fun­da­men­tal­ists. Some have been forced into exile, impris­oned, or even mur­dered. In the age of social media and glob­al dig­i­tal dis­tri­b­u­tion, the audi­ence is every­one, ensur­ing that crit­i­cism can be as vicious as it is unavoid­able. With a flair for sto­ry­telling, Jacques Berlinerblau explores the high stakes of the low blow in this dark­ly wit­ty exam­i­na­tion of Amer­i­can come­di­ans such as Chris Rock, Dave Chap­pelle, Shane Gillis, and Sarah Sil­ver­man as well as humorists in France, Den­mark, Zim­bab­we, and Egypt.