Came across this list of the best comics ever while surfing the web. First thing that jumped out at me was how low Louie CK was ranked; he's down at 98, roughly sandwiched between Andrew Dice Clay and Gallagher. Now, this was 8 years ago, but even 8 years ago he'd been doing standup for two decades, so it's not like he was some unknown. Lists don't mean too much, but they're fun to think about, especially when somebody ranked so low gets so hot immediately. In that spirit: Focus: Rank your top 5 (or 10) standup comedians ever. Subfocus: Rank your top 5 (or 10) current favorite comedians. Alt-Focus: What comedian do you hate/just not understand?
Top 5: Louis CK Lewis Black Richard Prior Brian Regan Bill Cosby Comedians I hate: Jeff Dunham, Dane Cook, Bill Hicks, Mitch Hedberg, Denis Leary
Top 5: George Carlin Rodney Dangerfield Dave Chappelle Jim Gaffigan Louie CK Comedians I hate: Robin Williams Jeff Dunham Mitch Hedberg
1. George Carlin 2. Patrice O'Neal 3. Louis C.K. 4. Doug Stanhope 5. Dave Chappelle/Lewis Black (I go back-and-forth on this one constantly) I think end all, be all rankings for any art form are silly, especially when it concerns stand-up comedy. All that aside, the thing about CK's place on that list is that while he had been doing comedy for 2 decades, he was basically doing the same one-hour act during that entire time, and Live in Houston is nowhere near the caliber of anything he's put out since then. Though I agree #98 is way too low. Alt-Focus: Larry the Cable Guy. I can appreciate the rest of the Blue Collar Comedy guys, but the fact that a getup like his has such a popular following bothers me. I've grown up in a part of the U.S. where his brand of comedy is laughed at without irony. Apparently ignorance is something to be celebrated? Also, 2 knocks against Mitch Hedberg right off the bat? Meh, to each their own, I guess.
Can we please get some youtubes in this thread to back up the assertions? I don't believe it until I see it. One of my favorites, the late, great, Greg Giraldo. He was a licensed attorney, then he quit the job to become a comedian (like the success story that ballsack will never live).
Louie CK being down that low is ridiculous. Whoever did those ratings were probably in a hissy fit over not having enough jizz filled Cinnabons. My Favorite Comedians: Louis Ck Daniel Tosh Dave Chappelle I need to be introduced to a lot more apparently because I am coming up with a blank on who else I enjoy. But I do know who I can not stand, and that is: and thank god searching this in google "that asian guy horrible comic daniel phan" came up with a name because there is no way I would have remembered it as Dat Phan.
Top 5 Ever (no order) George Carlin Richard Pryor Jerry Seinfeld Chris Rock Louis CK You can just as easily put Lenny Bruce, Steven Wright, Eddie Murphy, or a multitude of other great comedians. Top 5 Current/Recent Favorites Louis CK Brian Regan Dave Chappelle Patton Oswalt Zach Galifianakis Dunno if Galifianakis is performing much these days, but man he is funny.
This is a very challenging list to come up with as I can appreciate many types of stand-up comedy. 1. George Carlin. He was a master of the English language and took observation to the analytical level and hit the nail on the head every time. He got really bitter towards the end, but still made complete sense. 2. Louis CK. He's just so honest and makes no excuses for any of his feelings about anything. 3. Bill Burr. He's so completely underrated as a rage comic. He came to my college a while back and no one knew who he was, even though he had some guest spots on Chappelle Show. He wasn't the headliner, but he upstaged everyone after him. I was in tears the whole time. This is a 12 minute rant he did in Philly several years back where he just started tearing into the fans for heckling him. It was incredible. 4. Patton Oswalt. He is a genius and can tell a story like no one else. He loves to make tons of Star Wars and comic book references. Here is his Black Angus skit. 5. Greg Giraldo. He is the best rage and roast comic in my opinion. Although I don't think he would like to be remembered as a roast comic. He was just so much better at it than anyone else. It was terrible when he died. But a lot of the angryish rage comics tend to suffer depression issues. He OD'd in 2010. This is a video compilation of all of his roasts.
Right now I'm looking up pictures of hairy man ass for a friend, but I'll do a top 25 tomorrow. With clips.
1) George Carlin. (in Australia you would be surprised how many people don't know about this legend.) the rest vary depending on my mood. Though I am loving Bill Burrs work at the moment.
Top 5 is hard for me, I love comedy and listen or watch it often. This list won't be in order because certain comics suit different moods and, being a woman, there is quite a spectrum. Louis CK Dave Chappelle Patton Oswalt Daniel Tosh Jim Jeffries- his show Legit on FX is fucking hysterical and oh so wrong. I can't stop there, I also love Richard Pryor George Carlin Bill Burr Ron White Chris Rock Russell Peters Bill Hicks I really dislike Seinfeld. His "observations" are unfunny. I am always surprised if I even crack a smile during any of his bits. Perhaps I have missed the "good" ones, but I doubt it.
My top current list roughly correlates with the answers to the following question: If this person put out an album next week, whose would be the best? Here's a list of greats (in some kind of order) whose "next week" output wouldn't match prime people. A lot of them are dead, which is a valid defense. 1. Richard Pryor 2. Eddie Murphy 3. George Carlin 4. Dave Chappelle 5. Chris Rock 6. Emo Phillips 7. Mitch Hedberg 8. Jerry Seinfeld 9. Woody Allen 10. Greg Giraldo Now for the good stuff, the top current (with clips and keywords). Off the top of my head, so I know I forgot people. Reverse order: 25. Amy Schumer (Dark/Sex) 24. Chris Turner (Dry/Brit/One Liners) 23. Mitch Fatel (Jokes/Absurdist) 22. Jim Gaffigan (Observation/Family) 21. Rhod Gilbert (Observation/Rants) 20. Daniel Tosh (Dark/Observational) 19. Myq Kaplan (Nerdy/Wordplay) 18. TJ Miller (Silly/Character Work) 17. Pete Holmes (Silly/Observational/Brian Regan) 16. Tim Minchin (Dark/Musical) 15. Kevin Hart (Observational/Family) 14. Flight of the Conchords (Musical) 13. Bo Burnham (Musical/Dark/Wordplay) 12. Nick Thune (Observations/Wordplay/Guitar) 11. Kumail Nanjiani (Observation) 10. Jimmy Carr (British/One Liners) 9. Doug Stanhope (Angry/Observational) 8. Mike Birbiglia (Observational/Stories/Pizza) 7. Tig Notaro (Silly/Observational/Dry) 6. Bill Burr (Observational/Angry) 5. Anthony Jeselnik (Dark/One Liners) 4. Kyle Kinane (Stories/Observations/Beard) 3. Hannibal Burress (Stories/Observations) 2. John Mulaney (Stories) 1. Louie CK (Stories/Observations/Dicks)
If we're talking about current (alive) musicians, Tim Minchin has to be near if not in the top five. Dude is not only a damn good comic, he's a brilliant fucking musician. See, this video:
Even though I forgot to include them, Steven Wright is a genius to me. His stuff is written in such a way that you don't laugh until a few seconds after he finished the punchline. Dmitri Martin is very similar to him but with more visuals. Martin is nothing short of a genius. He writes paragraph long palindromes.
Nom's list is really good, but a glaring omission of Dylan Moran: I recently saw Iliza Schlessinger live and she had a rock solid set:
Best: Damonde Tschritter Stephen Wright Richard Pryor Kyle Kinane Patrice O'Neal Worst: Kat Williams Cathy Griffin Nick Swardson Chelsea Handler Bob Saget
If we're including comedians with multiple talents, I don't see how Steve Martin gets left off any list. Besides the hilarious standup, he's a fantastic musician (banjo? that makes it funny), film &TV acting credits and several screen writing credits, song writing credits, he's written several books, and still tours with a band (Steep Canyon Rangers). Apart from all that, I loved his standup and the ability to do silly / deadpan as good as anybody. I had "Comedy Is Not Pretty" on cassette and wore it out, and some of his older appearances on Letterman are among my favorites bit on late night TV.
So something I have come across on the net lately is hate for Louis CK because he is now a big hit and bought a boat. Seriously, some people think that now that he is successful, he has turned his back on everything, and his comedy can't be true. That is when I realized I hate mankind.
Martin is an innovative, hilarious legend. One of a kind. He's a comic renaissance man and his book "Cruel Shoes" is a must-read. Rob Zombie called him "The single greatest live act there has ever been."