I found one line that makes me confused and I want someone who can clarify me.
His first shot at stardom came as a band leader in the 1920s. Youngman was telling jokes between songs at a Catskills club. The owner fired the band and hired Youngman as a comic, and the rest was hysteria.

1. From the lines above, I'm wondering what the lase phrase "and the rest was hysteria" mean?

Oddly, the comedian who became an American institution was born in England on March 16, 1906. “I was so ugly when I was born, the doctor slapped my mother,” Youngman(the comedian) said.

2. From the second passage, I'm wondering what the last line "the doctor slapped my mother" mean. Does that mean the doctor slapped his mom because he had ugly boy?

Question

I found one line that makes me confused and I want someone who can clarify me.
His first shot at stardom came as a band leader in the 1920s. Youngman was telling jokes between songs at a Catskills club. The owner fired the band and hired Youngman as a comic, and the rest was hysteria.

1. From the lines above, I'm wondering what the lase phrase "and the rest was hysteria" mean?

Oddly, the comedian who became an American institution was born in England on March 16, 1906. “I was so ugly when I was born, the doctor slapped my mother,” Youngman(the comedian) said. 
 
2. From the second passage, I'm wondering what the last line "the doctor slapped my mother" mean. Does that mean the doctor slapped his mom because he had ugly boy?

Answer

1) Further to the earlier answer, the expression is usually '...and the rest was history'.  So it is a rather clever play of the similarity of hyst-eria, and hist-ory.

Answer

1. 'hysteria' can mean uncontrolled laughter or crying. When the owner fired the band and employed Youngman as a comedian, he was so funny that he caused uncontrolled laughter.

2. Yes. You have understood. Usually the doctor slaps the new baby to make it cry. This time the doctor slapped the mother because she had given birth to such an ugly baby. It is a joke, of course.

Answers · 2

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