# Comedians Whose Popularity You Can't Understand (No Recent Ones, Please) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234 "2003-11-09T14:50:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/41 "2003-11-10T16:47:21Z")
Sam Kinison doesn’t age well for me. I loved him as a kid, but now I find him annoying shouter whos laughs at his own stuff for no reason (but that could have been the drugs affecting him) and his acting gigs show his limits when he had to do anything other than bellow and rage. You know the old saying about " a comedian says funny things, a comic says things funny." Kinison was definitely a comic. I love surreal, absurdist, and scatalogical humor (Marx Bros., Python, Milligan/Goons, Steven Wright, Kovacs, etc.) usually but most of my exposure to the Firesign Theatre has bored me senseless. I guess it helps to be “chemically enhanced” for listening like with Cheech and Chong. Speaking of C&C, who I liked when I first heard them since I thought I was getting away with hearing something I shouldn’t (I was 10 at the time), It was the appeal of the forbidden, but they got left in the dust the instant I heard Richard Pryor. I can’t sit through an entire episode of _I Love Lucy_ (too telegraphed, the build up was usually better than the payoff, and too whiney as others have noted) or _The Honeymooners_ (stagey dull hijinks with a braying bully, his shrew wife, a doofus neighbor, and his bland wife, to me anyway). I love Jackie Gleason except for that show and his The Poor Soul routines (I loathe mawkish sweet pantomime “storytelling”). Chris Farley - a fat sweaty drunk and drug addict shouting and falling down or jiggling in place. Butt crack humor, nothing more. Steve Martin - nearly anything of his, although _Bowfinger_ had its moments, most belonging to Eddie Murphy. When I was a kid I loved his “wild and crazy guy” stuff and wondered why my dad, who had a great sense of humor, just rolled his eyes when Martin turned up on TV, once I got older I got it. I hate his movies, his smarmy SNL and interview appearances, the “humorous” essays, his attempts to be serious or dramatic, and you could pay me to try one of his novels. He’s too mannered in everything he does, like even he doesn’t think it’s funny. If I said he’s like a failed version of Bill Murray, who came after him I know, would that make any sense? I said it long ago in a thread on a top 20 list of comedians, for my sense of humor I should hate Red Skelton, but I enjoy him. His background as a clown shows with his characters yet he still holds up for me. I agree his ad libs were pretty good, although I wonder if all the mistakes in his show were legit. He’s the rare cornball comedian I like. ---
**Author:** ![patchbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@patchbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/patchbunny)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/42 "2003-11-10T17:04:55Z")
Lenny Bruce. What I’ve seen of him has been amazingly unfunny, including his “Mask Man”(?) cartoon. Always did like Red Skelton. –Patch Two seagulls are flying over a ship. One turns to the other and says, “There goes the Ship of Fools.” “How can you tell?” “They’re looking up.” —Red Skelton ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/43 "2003-11-10T17:31:20Z")
Howie Mandell, was big in the 80’s, now has faded back into obscurity. **GOOD.** “Hey, heehee. They said this tower was the only building in Chicago that didn’t burn down during the big fire, heehee. Watch me try to burn it down now, heehee. Hey, it’s not burning, heehee. I’m gonna try another match, heehee. Still not burning, heehee. Hey, maybe this match will work, heehee.” ---
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/44 "2003-11-10T18:01:56Z")
an additional vote for sending Benny Hill back overseas. i can’t even blame it on not being able to “get” Brit humor, since i usually thought Monty Python had some pretty good spots. but Benny Hill… oogling scantily-clad females and acting like an utter @$$hole are the only things that come to mind when he gets mentioned. Sam Kinison – the sooner forgotten, the better. is Tom Green’s career dead enough to qualify? how the HELL did he ever rate a TV program? and don’t you be dissing Red Skelton. he had an amazing range, from slapstick to pathos. i’ll never forget his “Seven Ages of Man” skits… ran from giggles to tears. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/45 "2003-11-10T18:40:39Z")
For surreal (well, as surreal as the rest of the movie, I guess), check out Benny Hill as the Tyrolean toymaker in _Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang_. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/46 "2003-11-10T19:40:53Z")
Andrew Dice Clay…At least Lenny Bruce had a purpose for his “shock value”. Andrew just tried to be disgusting. Sam Kinneson ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/47 "2003-11-10T21:40:59Z")
We also have the advantage these days of watching an entertainer’s entire career pretty much any time we want. Much of early tv is just gone. The Tonight Show tapes and kinescopes of Steve Allen, Jack Paar and the first several years of Johnny Carson were destroyed to save warehouse space. Lenny Bruce was almost never recorded in concert until his last and sadly unfunny days. Most 50s comedies are between difficult and impossible to get if they are all in black and white. There are hundreds of other such cases. We don’t have a good sampling of a full career to judge by in way too many cases. We’re using memories instead - and every time I go back and watch something I haven’t seen in decades I see how faulty those memories are. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/48 "2003-11-11T00:21:29Z")
Jerry Lewis. WTF is up with him, anyways? He’s NOT funny, in fact, he’s painful to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/49 "2003-11-11T01:42:01Z")
I disagree with a few (Lenny Bruce and Steve Martin are two of my all-time favorites, and I enjoy Cheech & Chong despite never having toked up) and agree with many others (Chris Farley, Sam Kinison, Andrew Dice Clay). I think Abbot & Costello’s “Who’s on First?” routine is hilarious, but when I listened to the rest of the skit around it, I was amazed at how absolutely unfunny it was. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Futile Gesture_ > > - Benny Hill. The 'merkins seemed to love him, but it was the same joke repeated for 30 years. Was that show really running for 30 years? I always thought it was a little one-season skit comedy from the 60’s that happened to pick up a cult following somehow. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/50 "2003-11-11T02:14:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Antiochus \* > \*\*There are folks here who can watch Abbott and Costello do “Who’s on First.” and NOT laugh? \*\* “NOT laugh” is an understatement. Aristophanes. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/51 "2003-11-11T03:44:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\* > Was that show really running for 30 years? I always thought it was a little one-season skit comedy from the 60’s that happened to pick up a cult following somehow. \*\* Benny Hill made around 6 specials a year for Thames Television (one of the components of ITV) between the late 1960’s and 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/52 "2003-11-11T04:33:54Z")
Pauley Shore Gilbert Godfried ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/53 "2003-11-11T05:22:58Z")
On occasion, every comedian listed in this thread has made me laugh. I think some of you are philistines because you don’t get the funny people you have listed. That being said… What is the point of a thread like this? Humor is extremely personal. Virtually every comedian listed as utterly unfunny on this thread could have been listed as the funniest ever on some other thread. Humor is also linked very closely with _the moment_. It’s funny if you’re in it. Looking back, it can be hard to understand… Edgar Allan Poe, for instance, was the preeminent humorist of his day, but you’d never know it now. But some of you people, I just don’t know. Based on what you DON’T find funny, I have to wonder what you DO find funny. Perhaps this explains why _Full House_ ran as long as it did. My contribution: Paul Reiser. Not funny. ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/54 "2003-11-11T14:43:28Z")
Don Rickles was never insulting/funny, he was always insulting/annoying. Calling somebody “hockey puck” just never was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/55 "2003-11-11T15:58:46Z")
CARROT TOP MUST DIE He is so unfunny and I cringe even looking at his odd features. He often works out at the local gym here and he thinks he is hot stuff! What an ego! DAT PHAN MUST TAKE A HIKE Remember he won off the comedy show? His humor is awful. I never even cracked a smile at his act. I know he is not an old comic but he is worn out! ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/56 "2003-11-11T16:05:33Z")
CARROT TOP MUST DIE He is so unfunny and I cringe even looking at his odd features. He often works out at the local gym here and he thinks he is hot stuff! What an ego! DAT PHAN MUST TAKE A HIKE Remember he won off the comedy show? His humor is awful. I never even cracked a smile at his act. I know he is not an old comic but he is worn out! ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/57 "2003-11-11T16:18:04Z")
CARROT TOP MUST DIE He is so unfunny and I cringe even looking at his odd features. He often works out at the local gym here and he thinks he is hot stuff! What an ego! DAT PHAN MUST TAKE A HIKE Remember he won off the comedy show? His humor is awful. I never even cracked a smile at his act. I know he is not an old comic but he is worn out! ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/58 "2003-11-11T16:37:18Z")
CARROT TOP MUST DIE He is so unfunny and I cringe even looking at his odd features. He often works out at the local gym here and he thinks he is hot stuff! What an ego! DAT PHAN MUST TAKE A HIKE Remember he won off the comedy show? His humor is awful. I never even cracked a smile at his act. I know he is not an old comic but he is worn out! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/59 "2003-11-11T17:08:48Z")
So, **Isabelle** , how do you really feel about Carrot Top? I sense you’re holding back… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234/60 "2003-11-11T21:50:19Z")
George Carlin. I loved his early stuff (70’s) but in the last 15 years or so…ech. What a grump old grouch. I absolutly HATED his “Brain Droppings” book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedians-whose-popularity-you-cant-understand-no-recent-ones-please/212234.md?page=4)