# Greatest comedy team of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2002, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475 "2002-11-19T05:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/21 "2002-11-19T16:18:10Z")
Even though I don’t speak Chinese, Stephen Chow and Ng Man-Tat are the funniest pair of guys I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/22 "2002-11-19T16:23:29Z")
Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin’s “Who’s being gassed on first” was one of the funniest bits I’ve ever heard. Right up there with Mao Tse Tung and Lenin’s “Dead Parrot and Everyone who disagrees with me is dead too” sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/23 "2002-11-19T16:24:36Z")
They were great individually, but their only teaming (_My Little Chickadee_) was a _huge_ disappointment. Oh! Nearly forgot Gallagher and Shean, Smith and Dale, and The Happiness Boys (Billy Jones and Ernie Hare)! ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/24 "2002-11-19T16:29:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by superbee \* > Wow…nobody’s mentioned Rod Hull and his emu yet? > > Sheesh… looks at location 😕 Did their fame spread to NC or are you an ex-pat? Have to go with Stan and Olie. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/25 "2002-11-19T16:38:48Z")
Jerry Jones and Barry Switzer ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/26 "2002-11-19T16:39:36Z")
He used to be on The Hudson Brothers show when I was a kid up in Ohio back in the 70’s… Still cracks me up thinking about it… ---
**Author:** ![PRNYouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PRNYouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PRNYouth)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/27 "2002-11-19T16:58:04Z")
I’m gonna be different and say Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. These two are hilarious. Their bits never fail to completely crack me up. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/28 "2002-11-19T18:08:10Z")
Probably not in the top ten, but I always found Burns and Schriber to be hilarious. Marx Brothers are high up on the list, Laurel and Hardy, Burns and Allen, Nichols and May, Bob Newhart and a telephone. ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Guest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Second\_Guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Guest)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/29 "2002-11-19T18:12:06Z")
**Bob Williams** and his dog **Louie**. Funniest animal act I’ve ever seen. (_“Heeeee’s thinkin’ about it!”_) As for all-human teams, I agree with a couple of the ones already mentioned: **Mike Nichols & Elaine May** **George Burns & Gracie Allen**. ---
**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 19, 2002, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/30 "2002-11-19T18:28:36Z")
Marx Brothers. Head and shoulders above everyone else. Monty Python as second place. If you ever get a chance, go see the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Their shows are as close as those of us living today will ever get to seeing the Marx Brothers live on Broadway. Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First” routine may be the single funniest bit ever done, though. It’s an absolute miracle of timing and inflection. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@Lady\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_Ice)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/31 "2002-11-19T18:44:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PRNYouth \* > \*\*I’m gonna be different and say Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. These two are hilarious. Their bits never fail to completely crack me up. \*\* I was going to mention Conway and Korman along with Carol Burnett and Vickie Lawrence as a complete set. Although I will agree that Conway and Korman were a great pair. It wasn’t a good piece unless Tim could get Harvey off his game. They were a riot. The gang on Rowan and Martins Laugh-In were good too. They got yanked to early IMHO. ---
**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 19, 2002, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/32 "2002-11-19T19:18:31Z")
Oh, man. I had to rush back to the keyboard because I couldn’t believe I forgot about these guys: The Firesign Theatre. For you younger Dopers who don’t remember the 60s, they had a radio show in L.A. but were best known for their incredible conceptual comedy albums, _How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You’re Not Anywhere At All?_ (introducing Nick Danger), and _Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers_, the best record album of all time. There was never anybody else like them, including their later selves, but at their best they could compete with any comedy troupe anywhere anytime. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_The\_Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/33 "2002-11-19T19:53:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*They were great individually, but their only teaming (_My Little Chickadee_) was a _huge_ disappointment. > \*\* I gotta disagree. That movie is my favorite Mae West film and second on my list of best W.C. Fields flicks. And another vote for The Three Stooges. ---
**Author:** ![Swede\_Hollow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Swede\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swede_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/34 "2002-11-20T01:37:58Z")
How about another W.C. Fields team up. He made a great foil to Charlie McCarthy (since Edgar Bergan/Charlie McCarthy can’t REALLY be called a team an their own). I agree with most of the others already listed (they are good for sound clips, but I’ve never really liked the Stooges). ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/35 "2002-11-20T01:46:34Z")
I couldn’t exactly call them the greatest, but **The Times Square Two** _never_ failed to make me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/36 "2002-11-20T02:13:05Z")
I’d like to mention the “Higgins Boys and Greuber” or however his name was spelled. For a long time the funniest thing on “The Comedy Channel.” Great call Exapno. “Shakespeare’s Lost Comedie” is on my funniest of all time list. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/37 "2002-11-20T02:19:59Z")
My Top Ten , in no particular order Marx Brothers Bob & Ray The (various) Three Stooges Peter Cook and Dudley Moore Burns and Schreiber Stiller and Meara Smothers Brothers Sid Ceasar and Imogene Coca Can I count Andy Griffith and Don Knotts? Nobody mentioned Franken & Davis yet? ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/38 "2002-11-20T02:46:26Z")
The Two Ronnies and I loved the Firesign Theatre, too. Also Harvey Korman and Tim Conway…well, the whole cast of the Carol Burnett show were so funny together that sometimes you could just tell that they were cracking each OTHER up so badly they could hardly get through the sketch. ---
**Author:** ![travebar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f9ae1b/32.png) [@travebar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/travebar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/39 "2002-12-19T05:29:42Z")
Morecambe and Wise…without a doubt:D 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475/40 "2002-12-19T05:50:24Z")
Burns and Allen, Bob and David, Cheech and Chong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-comedy-team-of-all-time/137475.md?page=3)