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Daily Featured Ranking Question for 2010-06-14

The Top 25 Stand-up Comedians of All Time by Mark D. Hauser

(To give your answer and view the results to this ranking question, go to: Stand-up Comedians: All Time.)

Now, before you get your personal laugh-o-meter in an uproar, as always, remember you get a vote too. That being said, allow me to more opinionated than I normally am (yes, it is possible). First of all -- the two spots are reserved for George Carlin and Richard Pryor � and they are not open for debate. So, if you feel differently, than, well, you are just plain wrong.

I am talking to everyone, but especially to Bill Hicks (#20 on my list) and Dave Chappelle (#21) fans, both of whom appear (from what I have read on the internet) to have a feverish cult following. Their fans all claim, that hands down, that their comedy idol is the greatest stand-up comedian of all time. Stop it � this is silly without being funny.

Hicks has become slightly overrated because he died young (at age 32), while Chappelle appears to have a young following. And I suspect that most of Chappelle�s fans never even heard Carlin�s groundbreaking Grammy Award winning albums from the 70�s (not to mention his 14 Emmy Award winning HBO specials), or Pryor�s 1979 stunningly brilliant, �Richard Pryor Live in Concert.� Don�t get me wrong � I think both of them are brilliant comics in their own right � after all, I did put them in my top 25.

While I enjoy Hick�s insightful social commentary, he sometimes gets wrapped up in all of that and forgets he is doing a comedy routine. Carlin will go off on a rampage, but never forgets to throw in a healthy dose of punch lines. Chappelle comes up a great concept, but unlike brilliant comics like Carlin, Pryor, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Richard Jeni, Bill Cosby, and Eddie Murphy, he does not always follow it up with enough funny lines related to his comedic idea. The DVD I saw, �For What it�s Worth� was very funny, but it left me slightly unfulfilled for that reason.

Unfortunately, it is hard to find live comedy performances of Lenny Bruce before he went off-the-deep-end due the obscenities charges levied against him. So, while he is very funny and maybe the most influential comic of all time, from what I have heard -- he is not as funny as Carlin or Pryor. Chris Rock, to me, now that Carlin and Pryor have both passed, is the greatest living stand-up and the funniest comedian over the last 20 years.

Artie Lange, from the Howard Stern Show, has quickly become one of my all time favorites. Richard Jeni was my favorite of the non-legendary stand-ups and Bobby Slayton is my favorite of the comics who are well known, but not superstars. His routine about ordering in a Chinese restaurant when the server speaks little or no English is one the funniest routines I have ever heard.

1: GEORGE CARLIN 2: RICHARD PRYOR 3: CHRIS ROCK 4: JERRY SEINFELD 5: RICHARD JENI 6: STEVEN WRIGHT 7: BILL COSBY 8: EDDIE MURPHY 9: DENNIS MILLER 10: LENNY BRUCE 11: ROBERT KLEIN 12: WOODY ALLEN 13: STEVE MARTIN 14: DON RICKLES 15: RODNEY DANGERFIELD 16: ROBIN WILLIAMS 17: BOB NEWHART 18: BOBBY SLAYTON 19: ARTIE LANGE 20: BILL HICKS 21: BILL MAHER 22: ROSEANNE BARR 23: ELLEN DEGENERES 24: JOHNNY CARSON 25: BOB HOPE

Honorable Mention: Red Foxx, Jay Leno, Bill Maher, Jim Carey, Bill Crystal, Mort Sahl, Flip Wilson, David Brenner, Jon Stewart, Gary Shandling, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, George Burns, Albert Brooks, Tim Allen, Lewis Black, Andrew "Dice" Clay, Richard Lewis, Mitch Hedberg, Freddie Prize, Alan King, Colin Quinn, Gilbet Gottfried, Jackie Mason, and Richard Belzer.

Comments

It kills me that I'm not familiar with many of the names of the comedians. I'm sure if I was familiar with most of the comedians I would be able to vote against your top 25. I do disagree with Roseanne being on the list at all. If you wanted to rank a female comdedian, I think Ellen Degeneres better suits that spot.
Posted by lmcmillian24

Past Featured Ranking Questions

The Top 10 Movie Directors of All Time by Mike Lombardo
The 25 Greatest Rock Bands of All Time by Mark D. Hauser
The Top 10 Funniest Stand-up VHS tapes/DVDs of All Time by Mark Hauser
The Top Acting Performance by Paul Newman by Mark D. Hauser
The Top 25 Movies of All Time by Mark D. Hauser
The Top 25 Stand-up Comedians of All Time by Mark D. Hauser

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