How do you start with "Genius of his day" and then include Eddie Murphy on your "current list"? Are you just excluding dead comedians?
Top 5 comedians
- Thread starter CentralPoke
- Start date
Why is this discussion on Sutton Court? Someone with the power should move it to the non-sport board. I come for basketball news and don’t give a flip about this topic.
Because I have the whole first page of threads marked read which makes the Sutton court listing marked read - I have read 3-4 entries in this, otherwise I just scroll to bottom to get it cleared. Regardless - it still does not belong here - that is what the non-sports page is for.
Although I responded in this thread, I also wondered why it was posted here as opposed to the non-sports board. That board needs serious injection of content, so why not post it there?
No dead comedians, otherwise Don Rickles would be at the top of my list.
More than anything else this is a matter of personal preference and taste. My list based primarily on standup.
Hall of Fame (mostly dead, way past prime or whatever Cosby is)
George Garlin
Richard Pryor
Don Rickles
Eddie Murphy (Had ten great years and ran out of material?)
Robin Willimas
Bill Cosby (was great until he started taking himself too seriously and then the rest)
Bob Newhart
Current
Ron White
Dave Chappelle (the tranny thing is killing my interest. Not offended just don't care)
John Mulaney
Nate Bargatze
Taylor Tomlinson - kind of a hidden gem
No sure what it says about me or them but with the exception of Newhart just about everybody on that list has had a pretty wheels-off life. Rickles also pretty normal as far as I know.
Hall of Fame (mostly dead, way past prime or whatever Cosby is)
George Garlin
Richard Pryor
Don Rickles
Eddie Murphy (Had ten great years and ran out of material?)
Robin Willimas
Bill Cosby (was great until he started taking himself too seriously and then the rest)
Bob Newhart
Current
Ron White
Dave Chappelle (the tranny thing is killing my interest. Not offended just don't care)
John Mulaney
Nate Bargatze
Taylor Tomlinson - kind of a hidden gem
No sure what it says about me or them but with the exception of Newhart just about everybody on that list has had a pretty wheels-off life. Rickles also pretty normal as far as I know.
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Current
Robert Kelly
Bert Kreischer
Tom Segura
Tony Hinchcliffe
John Mulaney
Robert Kelly
Bert Kreischer
Tom Segura
Tony Hinchcliffe
John Mulaney
In no particular order:
Dave Chapelle
Robin Williams
Eddie Murphy
George Carlin
Not who else I'd put in there. Gabriel Iglesias, Bill Burr, and Daniel Tosh all come to mind.
Dave Chapelle
Robin Williams
Eddie Murphy
George Carlin
Not who else I'd put in there. Gabriel Iglesias, Bill Burr, and Daniel Tosh all come to mind.
Great topic.
I used to work at a comedy club and have seen a ton. The one guy that made me laugh the most and was the absolute killer was Dave Attell. Have seen him at least 10 times. So much different material especially when he closes the last set on Monday nights at the Comedy Cellar in NY.
The comedians I always enjoyed live....
Dave Attell
Pablo Francisco
Brian Regan
Cedric/Entertainer
Orny Adams
I used to work at a comedy club and have seen a ton. The one guy that made me laugh the most and was the absolute killer was Dave Attell. Have seen him at least 10 times. So much different material especially when he closes the last set on Monday nights at the Comedy Cellar in NY.
The comedians I always enjoyed live....
Dave Attell
Pablo Francisco
Brian Regan
Cedric/Entertainer
Orny Adams
Did you ever see Norm live?
He did a show at Winstar Casino in 2019 with Dennis Miller and David Spade. Terrific show. Norm slayed, of course. Afterwards, they all did a Q & A and you could easily see how much Miller adored Norm.
I think that show was the last time Miller and Spade saw Norm in person. They still talk about that 'Oklahoma show' on podcasts.
Saw David Spade live a couple of years before his SNL days (at a show in OKC). He was so good. My buddy and I knew he was going to be a comedy star.
I went to the filming of the new Bert Kreischer Netflix special a few weeks ago. It was so good, can't wait to watch it on tv.
The finale had me all teary eyed and laughing like a madman at the same time. Very sad and funny stuff that will effect everyone who is a pet owner.
The finale had me all teary eyed and laughing like a madman at the same time. Very sad and funny stuff that will effect everyone who is a pet owner.
Finally, someone included Red Skeleton! I've always heard it's a whole lot harder to be funny without profanity and suggestive content. Red is a legend. Others may be funny but many won't stand the test of time. Now jumping of the clean act band wagon (but not too bad) Rodney Dangerfield is a top contender too.
I've known Bert Kreischer for over 20 years, in the last couple of years I handled his trademarks.
I knew his wife, LeeAnne (nee Kemp) before I knew Bert, I did her trademarks as well.
They are an interesting couple. Richlawyers son and Tampa Jesuit grad married to a very backwoods Alabama girl.
She really takes some hits in new special.
Did you onow his dad once did some work for L Ron Hubbard?
Lee Ann is whip-smart (smarter than Bert) and was quite a hottie when they met.
Outside of her dialect (southern drawl) you would never guess her to be from Alabama. I met her in L.A. and my law firm tried to recruit her for a non-legal management position at one point. (The office manager met her when he leased my apt from her prior to my arrival.)
BTW, it just occurred to me, she's not from Alabama, but rather from Georgia. She went to U of G and their oldest daughter is named Georgia.
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I found it interesting that Keenan Ivory Wayans allegedly wrote some of the material for Eddie Murphy's Raw, and Kevin Hart was called out for using writers or at least having people help him write. It's interesting that if a musician performs someone else's song, we call it a cover and sometimes applaud it. But if Kevin Hart did Ron White's "tater salad" bit, even if giving full credit, I'd find it weird. I have no real point to make, just an observation about how the standard I hold (and I assume others) for originality is different between comedians and other performers, though I find it difficult to pin down why. I guess the next test will be an AI comedian, can't be too far off.
Candy and Farley may have done some stand up but they are known for being comedic actors.
- Dave Chappelle
- Richard Pryor
- Jim Gaffigan
- Chris Rock
- Robert Klein
If they don’t qualify then the next 3 are definitely there. Pryor, Hicks and Carlin. When I’m in the mood, Hicks and Carlin might even be up there in my Top 3 but they’re dark which is ok in doses
Klein was maybe the first comedian to have a stand up special on HBO, in the very early days of HBO; mid 70’s. Very NY. In the wave of comics after Lenny Bruce, Rodney Damgerfield. Seinfeld has cited Robert Klein as his biggest influence as a young comedian.
Looked up his more recent stuff on HBO. I’ll definitely check out his older stuff. Thanks for the rec
Maybe it’s a nostalgia factor. But my top 2 comedy things to anyone are 1) Norm: Hitler’s Dog and 2) Him doing Roast of Bob Saget
Rickles and Newhart were life-long friends and often vacationed together with their spouses.
