First I want to say I care about 3 things — comedy, movies, music.
I’ve seen hundreds of stand-up on TV, internet, and many live… I don’t want this just for me, so if everyone who wants to find more, list down your favorites, and maybe someone has good recommendations based on what you type?
I’ll even rate mine in order
Chris Porter
ETA: Ugly and Angry is genius from start to finish.
On an unrelated note, the Great Masturbator is apparently making a comeback. He’s a little creepy fuck, but good for him if he can sell his “funny” dreck to unsuspecting public. It’s the American way, I say and jacking off in front of groupies, who were willing to fuck him anyway definitely doesn’t put him in the same group of felonious shitheads like Cosby, Clinton or DeNiro.
This is not a perfect list. I’m sure after I do it I’ll think of comedians I love who I forgot.
In relatively accurate order of top ten.
I couldn’t decide between emo Philips or David cross for number ten. Jon Mulaney also deserves honorable mention.
I still like Louis ck. I’d go to his show if one was near me, his leaked set was hilarious.
David bowie used to have sex with teenage girls. So did a lot of musicians. People are dicks. Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy their art.
[Moderating]
If it’s an unrelated note, why bring it up? Do you just like talking about masturbation or something?
Mike Birbiglia is maybe more of a storyteller than a typical standup comedian, but either way, his material is a great mix of funny and poignant.
Uh… who doesn’t?
Related recent thread.
I’ll list the three I did in that thread: Kathleen Madigan, Lewis Black and Brad Williams.
No mention of Steven Wright!? Y’all know nothing about comedy.
I heard that leaked set… Maybe I should start my morning with a good laugh and listen to it again 
Cosby is/was one of the all-time great stand-up comedians. It’s too bad he turned out to be such a … felonious shithead. Before the revelations came out, he would have unquestionably been on my top ten list. So he still belongs there if I can separate his comedy from his private life and character.
No mention of Sam Kinison? Definitely offensive and non-PC, but he was one of the only comedians who actually made me laugh out loud (then look around to see if anyone noticed that I thought he was funny). Sadly, he went downhill quickly after the first few years.
I don’t see Steve Martin in there either. Most people know him now as an actor but he was dominating the stand-up scene until he took that turn to movie making.
I assume we are talking stand-up comics? If so…
[ol]
[li]George Carlin[/li][li]Mitch Hedberg[/li][li]Steven Wright[/li][li]Chris Rock[/li][li]Steve Martin[/li][li]Patton Oswalt[/li][li]Woody Allen[/li][li]Lenny Bruce[/li][li]Rodney Dangerfield[/li][li]Mike Birbiglia[/li][/ol]
Worth a mention: Robert Klein, Andy Kaufman, Albert Brooks, Bob Newhart, & Roseanne Barr
ETA: I overlooked Richard Pryor, guess he should be in there somewhere around the 4th or 5th slot
From across the Atlantic - I trust at least a few of these will be unknown to you. In no particular order (except that the first listed is my favourite ever):
Bill Hicks (your very own)
Caroline Aherne (best known for The Royle Family)
Dave Gorman (stand-up crossed with a powerpoint presentation)
Reginald D Hunter (US import)
Sara Pascoe
Sarah Millican
Stewart Lee
Kevin Bridges
Peter Cook
Victoria Wood
Other Honourable Mentions: Katherine Ryan (Irish Canadian import), Billy Connolly, Ricky Gervais, Aisling Bea (Irish import), Henning Wehn (German Import), Dave Allen (Irish import).
If you want a single recommendation that you may not know, as a tryout, look at Dave Gorman. His style is unique, and at his best he peels apart the layers of reality and lets you peek between them.
j
Good list of smart comedians who changed things:
I did like this record, probably the only time I liked impressions, but there’s some funny lines, too… “Pat, Pat (Nixon), close the door”… Gabe Kaplan even plays a character (not the funniest section, though)
