| Author | Message | ||
     Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 525 Registered: 03-2006 |
1) Lenny Bruce 2) Richard Pryor 3) Bill Hicks 4) Denis Leary (okay, he pretty much stole a lot of material from Hicks, but he gets points for his excellent delivery, and other material of his own that he actually wrote. Plus, he also gets kudos for his excellent acting, writing and directing that he brings to "Rescue Me") 5) Eddie Izzard - a scarily brilliant mind 6) Jon Stewart 7) Stephen Colbert 8) Don Rickles 9) Louis CK 10) Sarah Silverman Honorable mentions: Not for their stand-up per se, but just their comic sensibilities, writing directing, acting, etc.: Larry David and Ricky Gervais Comedians I don't find funny at all: Dane Cook, Jay Leno, all those "Redneck" comedians, particularly Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy (or whatever he's called), though I kinda like that "Tater Salad" guy, and God help us, Gallagher and Carrot Top. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 468 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hicks, I guess. Don't get Eddie Izzard at all though. I love Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development. I get the DVDs because they show it too late on TV here. (Though I have been staying up til after midnight the last two Sundays to watch series 5 of Curb, and no doubt I will continue to do so). | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 623 Registered: 05-2005 |
Got to agree with the first 4 in Hardins list. Agree with Padraig about Eddie Izzard and have never heard of the last 5. Peter Cook could be a genius, or a cruel bully. I love Larry David, being a late convert I just saw the Tourettes episode of Curb last week - genius! Billy Connolly was great in the 70s, now he's too far up himself, although his documentaries when he travelled round the UK, and parts of Australia were quite entertaining. The current generation of British comedians are poor, at least what you see on TV. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 362 Registered: 08-2004 |
Jimmy Carr & Ricky Gervais' live stuff is brilliant. Thank god political correctness is over, offensive is back. Reeves & Mortimer have cracked me up with their various tv shows down the years. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 439 Registered: 04-2005 |
I tend to prefer comic actors to standups, so here's my list: Steve Coogan Steve Carell Larry David Jason Alexander (George Costanza, perhaps the greatest American sitcom character of all time) John Cleese Ricky Gervais Martin Short Christopher Guest Rowan Atkinson (for the Black Adder, not Mr. Bean) | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 527 Registered: 03-2006 |
Sounds like we all pretty much agree on Larry David...My fave, fairly recent episode was the one about Crazy Eyez Killa, where LD is asking the rapper if he's "his Caucasian"...funny funny stuff... I meant, also, to give props to Bill Maher, who is hilarious, and also, uses his standup to effectively make incisive social commentary...he also gets props for taking his lumps like a man, when stuff he's said has gotten him into trouble... What about Benny Hill? He doesn't tickle my funny bone at all...Do U.K. folks actually like him? Or is that all p.r. and moonshine? | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 364 Registered: 08-2004 |
Benny Hill was very popular in '70's Britain, then again so were power cuts & Showaddwaddy!!! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 639 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, Just watched this BBC programme on the history of comedy. I was surprised to see that early Benny Hill was being portrayed as some kind of comedy innovator, claiming that greats like Morcambe and Wise ripped off some of his sketches. Well I never!! This programme also had vintage footage of Lenny Bruce from 1964. Drunken English Heckler - " tell ush an englisshhh joke" Lenny Bruce - "You sir are an English joke" | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 534 Registered: 03-2006 |
Benny Hill never met a jiggling boob or bouncing booty that wasn't cause for great jubilation - that seems to be the essence of his humor, in a nutshell....maybe they meant he was an innovator in the field of ogling cleavage.... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 469 Registered: 05-2005 |
My mother used to send us to bed when Benny Hill came on. Then we'd hear her laughing uproariously at it. I wouldn't say my mother's taste in comedy was sophisticated... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 572 Registered: 05-2005 |
All of the above and Jason Byrne http://www.jasonbyrne.net/ Like Spike Milligan on amphetamines | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 573 Registered: 05-2005 |
oh check the public information film... http://www.jasonbyrne.net/audiovisual.html#box | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 574 Registered: 05-2005 |
sorry JASON BYRNESses NEWSses! is better | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 29 Registered: 09-2006 |
For me Pryor's the one, the only standup whose albums I've collected and still play regularly. No one else can simultaneously illuminate an extremely uncomfortable truth and have me laughing uncontrollably. Second and third place goes to non-standup troupes: Firesign and Python. Least favorite trend in standup: taking on the persona of a loudmouthed, PI asshole to supposedly illuminate extremely uncomfortable truths, though it's really just an excuse for assholish behavior. It does indirectly illuminate the fact that political incorrectness is just as much a one-sided crock as PC ever was. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 824 Registered: 03-2006 |
He and Lenny Bruce, for me, completely took standup to another level, made it an art form... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 773 Registered: 05-2005 |
"Ball, cup, cup ball!!" TOMMY COOPER FOR EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |