The Top 5 Standup Comedians of All-Time

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bryanb
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Re: The Top 5 Standup Comedians of All-Time

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My picks: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Mitch Hedberg, Stephen Lynch, Dave Chappelle

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Re: The Top 5 Standup Comedians of All-Time

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Think Pinback's approach of naming why the picks is the best approach.

Top 5:
- Pryor because obviously
- Eddie Murphy before he had kids (I still laugh at Raw and am amazed they haven't yet cancelled him for that though I guess Beverly Hills Cop 3 was his penance, SNL he was genius, Beverly Hills Cop one and 2 are still the best)
- Dave Chappele before he got famous though now he's still funny if you can get past his brag-complaining
- Bill Burr because his cynical screaming is exactly how I feel about so many things
- Bill Cosby and I don't give a goddamn that he drugged those women, most of whom still hung out with him because they were nothing but:
Bill Burr wrote:Gold Digging Whores
I think truly great comedians should be good as comedy actors too, which all these guys are. Norm's great but he's always Norm. Bill Hicks was funny and cynical the way I like but only did that one thing. Unfortunately, Carlin too, though I give him more credit than Pinback does. Carlin wasn't just clever, he was funny and pushed boundaries, and was great live. When I saw him at RIT he intentionally made a joke with the punchline, "What are you, fucking deaf?" and then stood there grinning at the half deaf crowd waiting for the laugh which he got. No, Pinback, Carlin was better than just clever.

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odyssia76
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Re: The Top 5 Standup Comedians of All-Time

Post by odyssia76 »

1) George Carlin
2) Steve Martin (can't believe no one mentioned him!)
3) Doug Stanhope
4) Eddie Izzard
5) Ricky Gervais
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Re: The Top 5 Standup Comedians of All-Time

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Stanhope looks promising, I'll have to check him out. I never thought of Steve Martin as a standup comedian, great skit guy and funny in movies but stage performance all I can think of is that banjo thing he does with Martin Short nowadays. Can you point me to some good standup he's done?

Also, what's up with the two british guys on the list of the top 5 of all time? Eddie Izzard was good in Hannibal tv series but I never got his comedy that much. I guess Ricky is good but haven't really given him much of a chance either. Pls to be telling us what's great about those guys.

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RealNC
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Re: The Top 5 Standup Comedians of All-Time

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Casual Observer wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 11:11 am Also, what's up with the two british guys on the list of the top 5 of all time? Eddie Izzard was good in Hannibal tv series but I never got his comedy that much.
I placed Izzard as nr 1 in my list. His shows are the most enjoyable to watch.

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odyssia76
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Re: The Top 5 Standup Comedians of All-Time

Post by odyssia76 »

Casual Observer wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 11:11 am Stanhope looks promising, I'll have to check him out. I never thought of Steve Martin as a standup comedian, great skit guy and funny in movies but stage performance all I can think of is that banjo thing he does with Martin Short nowadays. Can you point me to some good standup he's done?
Dude.... he made his start in standup and was one of the top comedians, with a bunch of bestselling albums. I guess back before the internet they sold record albums of comedian performances! It was only later he got into acting etc. He was a real trailblazer. My dad used to play me his stuff. His albums from the 70's are fucking hysterical. And there's tons of stuff on youtube also.

If you have never heard these albums you are not a comedy fan!

Comedy Is Not Pretty
A Wild And Crazy Guy
Let's Get Small
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Re: The Top 5 Standup Comedians of All-Time

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Ok, Stanhope's good I'll have to dig into what I can find online. He's brilliantly cynical, seems to have more material than Bill Hicks, much smarter than Bill Burr but I can't seem to watch him too long at a time though as some of his bits ramble. Watched the show online with Alex Jones coming onstage and thought Doug did a pretty mediocre job handling hecklers. I like him better young certainly, saw one bit where he was wearing some kind of disco pimp outfit reading out of his new book. I'm starting to hate most comedians when they get rich and famous because they can't help but talk about it. Chappelle and Kevin Hart do the same thing, complainbragging becoming a regular part of their jokes. I'll watch more Stanhope though, Odyssa what's his best era?

Watched some Steve Martin stand up from the 70's, was that the era you're speaking about? I can't tell any difference between his stand up routine back then and his latest comedy special with Martin Short, he literally hasn't grown or changed in 40 years. Apparently his album Lets Get Small went platinum so tried that first. He's weird and somewhat funny but still exactly the same.

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odyssia76
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Re: The Top 5 Standup Comedians of All-Time

Post by odyssia76 »

Casual Observer wrote: Fri Jun 04, 2021 5:04 pm Ok, Stanhope's good I'll have to dig into what I can find online. He's brilliantly cynical, seems to have more material than Bill Hicks, much smarter than Bill Burr but I can't seem to watch him too long at a time though as some of his bits ramble.
I love him because hes cynical, nihilistic, disrespectful, completely not PC, and tells the truth that everyone knows but doesn't want to say. I saw a performance of his in some foreign country, one of the nordic/scandinavian ones I think and it was brilliant.
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