Who is/was the best stand-up comedian?

[Shell Beau]

I have to go with Murphy, Carlin, and Pryor

On edit I forgot how hard Ellen Degeneres makes me laugh!

[jeff30997]

1. I love Seinfeld and Carlin...

[Shell Beau]

4. Both are very good.

I love Eddie Murphy "Delirious" and anything by Richard Pryor

[jeff30997]

21. Oh yeah, Richard Pryor did hilarious stuff.

[Midlodemocrat]

2. the shrub.

He says some damned funny shit.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

6. That's the idea.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Midlodemocrat]

31. Might be a good idea to change your post there dude.

[bicentennial_baby]

3. Bill Hicks

Sorry folks, there is no other....

RIP Bill

[ghostsofgiants]

12. Seconded with a vengeance

The man was a genius.

[enigmatic]

32. Correct answer

The absolute best of all-time..

[The Donkey]

53. I remembered liking him back when he was alive . . .

And have since gotten back into listening to him. It's almost sad that the same criticisms he used to debase Bush's dad are still pretty current today.

Having said that - the guy's flat out funny.

[enigmatic]

58. Me too..

I used to watch him on Letterman when he was on, but I really had no idea just how good he really was until "Arizona Bay" came out, and he wasn't w/ us much longer.

He was a broken-hearted idealist, and somebody I really, really miss...

[Initech]

77. Hell yes!

I wonder what he'd say if he were alive today with George "Child Of Satan" Bush in power?

[shugh514]

78. Without a doubt

Bill Hicks was

Dave Chappelle
Lewis Black
is

[Shredr]

5. I still laugh at Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor

And each broke a lot of ground.

[hfojvt]

18. was that ground or wind?

I was/am a fan of Pryor, but sometimes it seemed like the entire punchline was just the word "muthafucka". But he was Mrs. Braxton's favorite son.

[Shredr]

24. Even so, I'm always laughing my ass off when I pop in his cd.

[underpants]

7. Jake Johanson

If you like that style

[nickgutierrez]

8. Robin Williams

Live on Broadway made me laugh harder than anything else I've ever seen.

[merh]

14. Without a doubt

Robin Williams.

His live shows are incredible.

[mark414]

9. Paul Mooney

Lenny Bruce
George Carlin
Richard Pryor
Steven Wright
Dave Chappelle
Mitch Hedburg

and on..and on..and on...

[Shell Beau]

11. So sad about Mitch Hedburg; he sure was funny!

[johnnie]

19. He was on a rerun of That 70s show last night

He was even funny on there.

[ghostsofgiants]

38. Which episode is he in?

He mentions doing an episode on one of his cds, but I don't think I saw that episode. If I did, I completely missed him, haha.

[johnnie]

50. He was the counter guy at the "soda place" they hang out at

It was an episode when Eric found a new friend and the kid ended up being gay.

[ghostsofgiants]

52. I see

I remember that episode, but not Mitch. Have to keep my eyes open for that.

The "soda place" is The Hub if I'm not mistaken, haha.

[zinndependence]

91. did he die?

I guess I'm out of the loop...what the hell happened?

After I typed in Chris Rock I thought of Mitch Hedburg....I love him....

[ghostsofgiants]

15. Yep, some great ones there

I love Paul Mooney. "Ask A Black Man" on Chappelle's Show was brilliant.

[idlisambar]

10. Leno n/t

[Shell Beau]

13. As in Jay Leno? Really?

[hfojvt]

22. sure, if you like Clenis jokes

I prefer Rodney Dangerfield.

[idlisambar]

49. yes

I am not saying that his individual acts are the best, but his job requires him to deliver different and untested material (suitably tame) every night, a challenge most comedians probably couldn't face. In terms of overall skill and versatility he is among the best, and he is certainly one of the hardest working (he still performs a lot in clubs outside of his work on the show).

[frylock]

16. rupert pupkin

[stanwyck]

62. My Pride and Joy n/t

[frylock]

86. ..

[Strawman]

17. Not this guy

I caught his act on PBS last weekend. Laced with cracks on evolution and sex ed. Basically ripping off Yakov Smirnoff's lame act and bringing it into the Bush era. I'll bet he's a big hit in Branson.

http://www.nazarethusa.com/

[Taverner]

26. Bill Hicks

The man in black!

[snickersnee]

20. bob newhart (n/t)

[Burma Jones]

23. Pryor, Carlin, Jonathan Winters and I really like Lewis Black too.....

[caty]

27. George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Lewis Black

http://www.lewisblack.net/





:rofl:

[Burma Jones]

29. I commend you

[lpbk2713]

28. Ask some successful comics who they like and who they learned

a lot from and a lot of them will tell you Jonathan Winters.

[Shell Beau]

30. He was funny!

[bertha katzenengel]

33. Robin Williams. Also good are/were

Mitch Hedberg, Paula Poundstone, Rita Rudner. The last two: subtle, but high-freaking-larious.

[jeff30997]

34. Nobody mentioned Andy Kaufman ?

I heard he's still alive !(Yeah right).

[Shell Beau]

35. He definitely had a bizarre sense of humor! Very unique!

[jeff30997]

39. That guy is not only saying that Kaufman is alive...

He pretend that he IS Andy Kaufman:

http://andykaufmanreturns.blogspot.com/

:rofl:

[Shell Beau]

44. I wouldn't be too shocked if it turned out that he was alive!

[The Donkey]

36. What About David Cross???!?

I'd figure that guy'd be treated like royalty around here - his is about the edgiest stuff out there right now - and it's almost all right in line with our outlook here at DU!

If you haven't seen him or listened to his material - make sure to check it out, you'll love it.

[Shell Beau]

37. Have never heard of him!!

[ghostsofgiants]

40. You've never heard of David Cross?

Check out "Shut Up You Fucking Baby" and "It's Not Funny", post haste!

[Shell Beau]

42. Maybe I have heard him, but don't know him by name.

He looks familiar.

[ghostsofgiants]

45. Ever see Mr. Show?

Or Scary Movie 2? He was in that.

[Shell Beau]

46. Aha! I knew he looked familiar. Doesn't he also play

in Men In Black?

[ghostsofgiants]

51. Possibly

I don't remember much of Men In Black.

But check out his stand-up. Really good stuff.

[Shell Beau]

54. I looked it up and he was the guy that was the morgue attendant!

[The Donkey]

47. You likely have seen him

He was part of the series "Mr. Show" on HBO for a few years, and he's now part of the cast of "Arrested Development" on Fox.

I have both of his CDs and have gone to see him live - He's just outstanding. Plus - you'll laugh until you nearly wet yourself.


Buy this album and see what I mean . . . .

[Shell Beau]

48. I finally figured out who he is!!!

[stanwyck]

64. And he was Donnie

on that totally lame show with David Spade...about a magazine..anyway, he played one of the regular's "slow" brother. (only, he wasn't).
And he was very funny.
The show wasn't.
Oh, just thought of it..."Just Shoot Me." (???) Is that right?
Plus, he's very liberal. Saw him on Bill Maher's show. Bright guy.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

66. Second that

Carlin is the greatest ever but David Cross rules all NOW!

[Rabrrrrrr]

85. He's the closest thing we have to Bill Hicks - and in a few years,

and some more practice, he might be the next Bill Hicks.

I love him!

[khashka]

41. Andy Kaufman

But well, there's Carlin and others. Ellen alway's makes me laugh.

And of course Lenny Bruce.

On edit: Funniest thing I ever saw was a bunch of dykes carrying a sign labelled LABIA : Lesbians Against Boys Invading Anything. Still cracks me up. Funny as hell and I agree with 'em.

Khash.

[Midlodemocrat]

43. Eddie Izzard.

[gmoney]

82. Izzard is brilliant

It really helps to see him delivering... on CD it loses just a nuance.

[Jade Fox]

92. Yes!!!

What I love about Izzard is that he doesn't fall back on shock and crudity
humor just to get laughs from the audiences through discomfort. He is
genuinely funny.

It is relatively easy to get a laugh by shocking or embarassing the audience.
It's a lot harder to make something like, say, European history a laugh riot.

[AngryAmish]

55. Redd Foxx and his filthy mouth

[Shell Beau]

56. Ahhh! Yes he was good!

[Cornjob]

95. I always like Dennis Wolfberg

Too bad he died so young.

I still laugh out loud about his appearance in Mobile, AL.

The female hotel clerk there asked him if he was Jewish.
Wolfberg replied that he was.
She then said "...well happy Chakka Khan to you!"

Man, he was a great comedian!

[SoCalDem]

57. Pryor

:)

[kodi]

67. any man who can joke about being a human torch is funny. pryor is best

.

[SoCalDem]

70. and he was PURE... You had the feeling that no matter what he discussed

it was REAL..not made up to get a laugh:) He was inately funny..and truthful

[kodi]

72. yeah, he was more than a comedian, he was just plain funny about life

.

[barb162]

59. Billy Crystal

[ProfessorGAC]

63. Aaaarrrrggghhhh!

My vision of hell is to have to sit in his audience for eternity!
The Professor

[enigmatic]

60. Honorable Mention: LaWanda Page!

The only person whose act made Redd Foxx blush...

[BronxBoy]

69. Shit

Are those albums still available some where? I would love to get my hands on some of them.

[enigmatic]

80. Oh yeah...

I've played them on my overnight show; they are mostly about 30-35 minutes in length. I'll get a link for you in a sec..

[no name no slogan]

61. Andy Kaufman/Tony Clifton, Buddy Hackett, Rodney Dangerfield

I'm actually old enough to remember a "Midnight Special" thing on ABC where Tony Clifton was on. Offensive as hell, probably not that funny, but it sure as hell was memorable.

Also gotta give honorable mention to Hackett and Dangerfield, they made it possible for a lot of the later guys to get away with what they did. :rofl:

[Gidney N Cloyd]

65. Scooey Mitchell

[Parche]

68. the best

Robin Williams
George Carlin

[leftofthedial]

71. Bill Hicks

then your four

Robin Williams too.

[Sugar Smack]

73. Sam Kinison, definitely.

What a man he was, too.

[Sugar Smack]

74. And WANDA SYKES.

:applause:

[DS1]

87. I'd rather listen to a metal rake on cement

:hurts:

[zinndependence]

93. I love her too!

[4_Legs_Good]

75. Bill Cosby - bar none

I also love Bob Newhart, and all the classics from the 70's - Robin Williams, Steve Martin, etc.

david

[SKKY]

76. Steven Wright, hands down, bar-none. He's the G.O.A.T.

[Initech]

79. David Cross

Mr. Show, Arrested Development, his 103531256161 TV cameo appearances he's been on?

I'm also a big fan of: George Carlin, Lewis Black, Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor, and Lenny Bruce.

[Reverend_Smitty]

81. do I have to choose 1?

Carlin, Hicks, Cross, Black and Eddie Izzard who doesn't really fit into the angry wise-ass category like the others but his cake or death bit really cracks me up for some reason.

[gmoney]

83. Woody Allen was great at stand-up

He put out two albums that are really tremendous, and actually pretty timeless... The Vodka Ad is a classic. His humor books are top notch, too... Side Effects and Without Feathers

[Rabrrrrrr]

84. BILL FUCKING HICKS!!

[DS1]

88. what he said

and in caps

[zinndependence]

89. chris rock

[Catchawave]

90. Seinfeld, Carlin and Maher

[Emops]

94. Bill Hicks, no doubt.

"You died for your flag? Well, I bought mine."

Also, Brian Regan is the funniest "clean" comedian I've ever seen.