Louis C.K. attends the FX and Vanity Fair Emmy Celebration at Craft in Century City, Calif., on Sept. 16. Rich Fury/Getty Images hide caption
comedy comedy
David Letterman arrives at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the 20th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor presented to him on Sunday. Owen Sweeney/Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP hide caption
Conan O'Brien in 2016. He is being sued by a writer who accuses him of stealing jokes. O'Brien says the idea of stealing someone else's comedy makes him physically ill. Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images hide caption
Don Rickles was jokingly known as "The Sultan of Insult." The Kobal Collection hide caption
Groundlings comedy troupe founder Gary Austin has died at 75. Here he attends a January 2016 Groundlings event with actress Victoria Carrol-Bell in West Hollywood, Calif. Araya Diaz/Getty Images for The Groundlings hide caption
John Oliver speaks at Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars: America Comes Together for Autism Programs" in New York in 2015. Charles Sykes/AP hide caption
Comedian Irwin Corey was known for his long-running act as "The World's Foremost Authority." He is pictured here in the 1970s. Corey died at the age of 102. ABC/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption
Corey Ryan Forrester, Drew Morgan and Trae Crowder write and perform together. They wrote a book called The Liberal Redneck Manifesto, which challenges what readers might expect from Southern comedy. Robin Marchant/Getty Images hide caption
Stephen Agyei (left) and Roy Wood Jr. talk about what it takes to make it in comedy. Jeffrey Nicholson/Courtesy of Stephen Agyei; Mindy Tucker/Courtesy of Roy Wood Jr. hide caption
Aparna Nancherla says that making jokes about depression and anxiety injects "a little dose of hope." Shaughn & John hide caption
A snowy owl looks very content in the Canadian province of Ontario. Edward Kopeschny/Barcroft Media hide caption
Qui Nguyen wrote Vietgone to tell the story of his parents' meeting at a Vietnamese refugee camp in Arkansas in 1975. Jesse Dittmar/Courtesy of Qui Nguyen hide caption
Cameron Esposito (left) and her wife Rhea Butcher play married comedians in their new show Take My Wife. Seeso hide caption
Kevin Hart was the most successful comedian last year. He's seen here speaking at the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners in Las Vegas. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for CinemaCon hide caption
Comedian George Carlin appears at Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, Colo., in 2007 during HBO's 13th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Inc for HBO/Getty Images hide caption