50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time

[Stellar]

Rollingstone = Next 45. Who's your top five?

Top 5

5. Chris Rock
4. Louis C. K.
3. Lenny Bruce
2. George Carlin
1. Richard Pryor

Agree to disagree?

[VMA131Marine]

1. Andy Kaufman should be in the top 10

If not the top 5.

What about Bob Hope and Don Rickles?

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

2. Rodney Dangerfield

should be one of them.

[workinclasszero]

26. Top 5 at least but

Rodney gets no respect of course.

[lame54]

3. Bill Hicks

[TBA]

9. I second Bill Hicks.

Died way too young.

[Chiyo-chichi]

15. I like to joke that Bill Hicks opened for me once.

In the very late 80s/early 90s, I did a few open mic nights at a couple of clubs in New York. Though it was a Monday or Tuesday or some other slow night, established and up-and-coming comics would come in and test out new material before the open mic comics performed. The two I remember were Bill Hicks and Ray Romano. Hicks was doing material that he had just written. It wasn't polished yet, but he was still great. I was glad to have the chance to see him live, even in that context.

Of current, active comics, I'd put Jake Johannsen on this list.

And I'm surprised that Marc Maron isn't on it.

[Orsino]

4. I noticed that CNN's first episode of The History of Comedy omitted Cosby...

..from where he possibly belonged.

I could support never speaking his name again, but goddamn he was indeed a great and ground-breaking comic. Just a miserable excuse for a person.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. It's sort of like kicking OJ out of the Football Hall of Fame.

There's a certain fine line between professional achievement and personal conduct that always gets debated.

[Stellar]

14. Bill Cosby, I think was too funny in his stand-up.

and I still would watch the Cosby show if it were aired. JMO.

Are there any famous people that had some of the same issues like Bills?
Our President Bill Clinton (had sex with that woman in the White House) he's still going strong. IDK, maybe that's not as bad.

[Spider Jerusalem]

18. Drugging and raping women? Yeah, that's pretty clearly not as bad as a consensual blowjob

the only famous person I can think of offhand who had "similar issues" of drugging and rape is Roman Polanski.

[Stellar]

25. You are right...

As an old girl....from what I remember seeing and reading about 'Studio 54' back in the day...those activities were pretty prevalent back then, wasn't it? I also remember Bill being a constant guest on the Hugh Hefner after-hours show and he was alway in Pajama's and bathrobe walking around like he was Hefner. I thought it was funny then but now in hindsight, it gives me pause to ponder his activities.

[Turbineguy]

5. Gerard Hoffnung

[Greybnk48]

6. Steve Martin was a stand-up genius.

Alan King, Don Rickles, and that whole group. Sadly, Bill Cosby was fantastic on stage. One of the funniest ever.

How about the ladies? Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, Joan Rivers, Roseanne Barr, Ellen Degenerous, Lily Tomlin, Goldie Hawn, Gilda Radner, and on and on.

[KittyWampus]

12. Did Lucille Ball ever do stand-up? That would be an interesting addition to her resume

that I didn't know existed.

But all the women you listed were real ground breakers.

[Greybnk48]

23. I can't find evidence of it. She was so funny on Johnny Carson

and other talk shows, I just assumed she had done Vegas somewhere along the line.

Add Bob Hope to the list.

[unblock]

13. never found don rickles remotely funny.

i don't find anger funny, even if it's clearly meant to be over-the-top. and just calling someone a "hockey puck", that's just a lame insult. no humor in that.

on the other hand, i find kathy griffin absolutely hilarious, and her comedy is very clearly inspired by don rickles'. maybe it's because she does it with a smile.

[leftynyc]

17. Oh - Alan King is brilliant

I had forgotten him but a little known movie "Just Tell Me What You Want" with Ali McGraw and Myrna Loy - SO FREEKING FUNNY!!!

[otohara]

19. LMAO Steve Martin - November 12, 1977

Macky Auditorium, Boulder, CO

My first stand-up show had me rolling.
Let's Get Small tour.

[el_bryanto]

7. Humor is pretty subjective

And you kind of get in trouble sometimes for expressing the view that someone who said some sexist or racist things could also be funny (because they obvious response is "so you think racism/sexism is funny?&quot That said, I would put Bill Hicks on the list as someone else noted. I think Johnny Carson's monologues were often times very funny; but in fairness he had 4 nights a week for years to practice. Steve Martins standup was very funny. I guess I have old timey tastes.

Bryant

[unblock]

10. robin williams

[DoBotherMe]

11. Oscar Levant

I know he wasn't known as a stand-up, but he was a riot!

[Basic LA]

21. He was a regular on the old Jack Paar show.

Many funny story-tellers there.

[leftynyc]

16. More

Whoopie Goldberg
Robin Williams
Janeane Garofalo
Billy Crystal

[JTFrog]

20. Mitch Hedberg. nt

[MurrayDelph]

22. I thought Elayne Boosler should have been higher on the list

but, she is a bud, so I'm prejudiced.

[doc03]

24. I would make Rodney Dangerfield number one nt

[malchickiwick]

27. As a teenager in the 1980s, I listened to Eddie Murphy's "Delirious" Over and Over and Over...

Loved it then, but, you know, the teenage sense of humor. I wonder if it would hold up today.

[elehhhhna]

28. Roseanne Barr

They're right about Pryor for sure.

[Archae]

29. I never liked "blue" comedy unless it was actually funny.

Like when Eddie Murphy would use exclusively nasty blue material, he wasn't funny.

Other times he could be hilarious, like how he described how his Mom would throw a shoe.

Andrew "Dice" Clay was never funny.

Bill Cosby could be hilarious on stage, just too bad he couldn't keep his zipper up.

Sam Kinison I never liked.

George Carlin was a total genius.

Even Carrot Top could get me laughing.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

30. I'd move Robin Williams up into Louis C. K.'s spot, just for starters.

I think Louis C. K.'s stuff gets awfully repetitive thematically and doesn't hold up to repeat listening. He also seems to get credit for breaking ground that's been broken for decades.

A few I'm surprised at not seeing somewhere among the 50, given some of those who did make the cut, include:
Hannabal Buress
Daniel Tosh (his standup stuff is miles ahead of his TV series)
Rodney Dangerfield.
David Steinberg
Christopher Titus