# Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-centrals-100-greatest-stand-up-comics/241821 "2004-04-24T18:05:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-centrals-100-greatest-stand-up-comics/241821/1 "2004-04-24T18:05:58Z")
This is their list, which I have several disagreements with: 1. Gallagher 2. Janeane Garofalo 3. Louis CK 4. Sandra Bernhard 5. Joey Bishop 6. Andrew ‘Dice’ Clay 7. David Alan Grier 8. George Wallace 9. Louie Anderson 10. Jim Breuer 11. Dana Carvey 12. Kevin James 13. Paula Poundstone 14. Brett Butler 15. Jay Mohr 16. David Cross 17. Drew Carey 18. Norm MacDonald 19. Howie Mandel 20. Dick Gregory 21. Bobby Slayton 22. Dom Irrera 23. Sinbad 24. Paul Reiser 25. Robert Schimmel 26. Eddie Izzard 27. Paul Rodriguez 28. Billy Connolly 29. Bernie Mac 30. Red Buttons 31. Wanda Sykes 32. Pat Cooper 33. Dave Attell 34. Kevin Pollak 35. Shelley Berman 36. Cedrick the Enter. 37. Richard Belzer 38. Jackie Mason 39. Eddie Griffin 40. Bobcat Goldthwait 41. Jeff Foxworthy 42. Gilbert Gottfried 43. Larry Miller 44. Richard Jeni 45. Colin Quinn 46. Alan King 47. DL Hughley 48. David Brenner 49. Damon Wayans 50. Lewis Black 51. Denis Leary 52. Freddie Prinze 53. Tim Allen 54. Henny Youngman 55. Adam Sandler 56. Richard Lewis 57. Joan Rivers 58. Dave Chappelle 59. Flip Wilson 60. Jon Stewart 61. Mort Sahl 62. Billy Crystal 63. Bill Maher 64. Martin Lawrence 65. Jim Carrey 66. Phyllis Diller 67. Buddy Hackett 68. Andy Kaufman 69. Albert Brooks 70. George Burns 71. Garry Shandling 72. Milton Berle 73. Jack Benny 74. Jay Leno 75. Ray Romano 76. Bob Hope 77. Redd Foxx 78. Steven Wright 79. Robert Klein 80. Dennis Miller 81. Sam Kinison 82. Bill Hicks 83. Jonathan Winters 84. Don Rickles 85. Ellen DeGeneres 86. David Letterman 87. Bob Newhart 88. Robin Williams 89. Jerry Seinfeld 90. Johnny Carson 91. Eddie Murphy 92. Roseanne Barr 93. Bill Cosby 94. Rodney Dangerfield 95. Steve Martin 96. Chris Rock 97. Woody Allen 98. Lenny Bruce 99. George Carlin 100. Richard Pryor Of course, every cable channel and magazine make their own seemingly-arbitrary lists nowadays, and there’s bound to be controversy. But what are YOUR thoughts? Who did they do justice to? Who was ranked too high or too low? Who deserved to be on the list who was left off? These are the stand-up comics I like who got ranked: 1. Janeane Garofalo (one of my dream women) 2. Louis CK 3. Jay Mohr (although I like him better as an actor) 4. David Cross 5. Norm MacDonald 6. Eddie Izzard 7. Dave Attell 8. Kevin Pollak 9. Cedrick the Entertainer 10. Richard Belzer 11. Henny Youngman 12. Dave Chappelle 13. Jon Stewart 14. Steven Wright (my all-time favorite stand-up comic) 15. Bill Hicks 16. Robin Williams 17. Eddie Murphy 18. Steve Martin 19. Chris Rock 20. Woody Allen 21. George Carlin I was also annoyed to see Mitch Hedberg, Harland Williams, Wendy Liebman, and Margaret Cho left off the list. I think a lot of the people on there were just “household names” who are better-known for their later TV and movie careers (Sandler, Carrey, Romano), or necessary name-dropping for people who aren’t funny at all (I’ll NEVER understand the Sam Kinison appeal). I have seen George Carlin, Richard Jeni, Harland Williams, Howie Mandel, and Bill Cosby in concert, and I thought the latter two were TERRIBLE. But I’ve never been a Cosby fan. If the rules could be slightly amended to include monologuists and hosts of talk and variety shows, I definitely would have wanted to see Conan O’Brien and Henry Rollins included. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-centrals-100-greatest-stand-up-comics/241821/2 "2004-04-24T18:19:27Z")
I want to know whose crack Colin Quinn is slobbering on. NO WAY does he deserve on this list. I’d rather pound my nuts flat with a wooden hammer than listen to the man. And I’ve never thought that Dom Irerra was funny, either. Give me John Mendoza any day. ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-centrals-100-greatest-stand-up-comics/241821/3 "2004-04-24T18:45:51Z")
Please explain to me why Robin Williams is #13 and Roseanne Barr is #9. Is there really any comparison? ---
**Author:** ![Sandlegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@Sandlegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandlegs)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-centrals-100-greatest-stand-up-comics/241821/4 "2004-04-24T19:34:40Z")
I was really glad that Bill Hicks got in the top twenty, it surprised me actually. Most of the time when they have these top 100 of something shows everybody is going to disagree. But really…Colin Quinn? come on, give me a break. I heartily agree he should not be on the list. He is the most unfunny person that is supposed to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-centrals-100-greatest-stand-up-comics/241821/5 "2004-04-24T19:41:12Z")
> **[100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251454)** > > Did anyone catch this on Comedy Central this week? It ran all week, and today (Saturday) they’re repeating in as a ‘marathon’. They haven’t updated since the finale last night, but here’s the list from 100 up to 21: ... Just FYI. Can we combine the two threads? ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-centrals-100-greatest-stand-up-comics/241821/6 "2004-04-24T20:50:56Z")
Terribly sorry! I didn’t mean to start another thread, and I swear I never saw that first one. But if a kindly mod could combine our comments (rather than delete my thread altogether), that would be swell.