# One Hit Wonder comedians **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746 "2010-01-28T07:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/1 "2010-01-28T07:26:46Z")
Sure, these guys were known for lots of other good humor, but I can guarantee that 99% of a casual humor fan will name that ONE routine when asked about them, and many probably couldn’t even name another one. Lets start a list. Abbott & Costello - Who’s On First Jeff Foxworthy - You Might Be a Redneck ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/2 "2010-01-28T09:04:32Z")
I was watching something the other day…totally forget what it was. Some sort of clip show with a bunch of talking head comedians. Maybe it was the Lewis Black New Year’s special. Anyway, [John Pinette](http://www.johnpinette.com/) was on and at the end of the program they showed clips of the comedians goofing around with the interviewers. Pinette broke in to a bit of his Chinese buffet routine… You know the one - “You go now! You here four hour!” [a clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdwuiyO7hOU) I remember seeing him do that _ages_ ago, on that stand-up TV show that was popular in the 90s. I checked out his stuff that’s available on YouTube and even his home site, and it seems that his entire career has been jokes about buffets. Still pretty funny, tho 😛 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/3 "2010-01-28T09:55:13Z")
Vaughn Meader was really a one-hit wonder. He was a comedian/impersonator who was hugely famous for a 1962 album called The First Family, in which he made fun of JFK and his family. It was the fastest-selling record in the history of the US and sold over 7.5 million copies. But after the Kennedy assassination the next year, his career virtually ended - all his records were pulled from stores, and he couldn’t get work again, being so closely associated with JFK. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/4 "2010-01-28T09:56:20Z")
Carrot Top and that one joke he did with the props. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/5 "2010-01-28T10:04:44Z")
No one is ever gonna to “Well you can call me Ray or you can call me Jay or you…But you doesn’t have to call me Mr Johnson” ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/6 "2010-01-28T10:09:52Z")
Gallagher, smashing watermelons with a sledgehammer. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/7 "2010-01-28T10:20:55Z")
“In Soviet Russia, comedians laugh at you!” ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/8 "2010-01-28T10:44:48Z")
[That’s not riiiiggghttt!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Meaney) ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/9 "2010-01-28T10:46:17Z")
Andrew Dice Clay - Dirty Nursery Rhymes. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/10 "2010-01-28T11:40:19Z")
I love Steven Wright, and his jokes do vary, but his shtick is always the same. > [@EvilTOJ](#): > > Carrot Top and that one joke he did with the props. His new face could be considered comical, in a creepy way. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/11 "2010-01-28T12:06:38Z")
Silence! I keel you! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Elk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Anne\_Elk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Elk)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/12 "2010-01-28T12:59:33Z")
Howie Mandel, when I hear his name the first image my mind paints is Howie putting a condom on his head and inflating it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/13 "2010-01-28T13:44:13Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I was watching something the other day…totally forget what it was. Some sort of clip show with a bunch of talking head comedians. Maybe it was the Lewis Black New Year’s special. > > Anyway, [John Pinette](http://www.johnpinette.com/) was on and at the end of the program they showed clips of the comedians goofing around with the interviewers. Pinette broke in to a bit of his Chinese buffet routine… > > You know the one - “You go now! You here four hour!” [a clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdwuiyO7hOU) > > I remember seeing him do that _ages_ ago, on that stand-up TV show that was popular in the 90s. I checked out his stuff that’s available on YouTube and even his home site, and it seems that his entire career has been jokes about buffets. No, that’s just the one on youtube. One of his funniest was when they tried to get him on a roller coaster (Pinette, for obvious reasons, tells a lot of jokes pertaining to his weight). There was also a funny bit about his being cast for **Hairspray** (he played Edna on Broadway). Modern comedians need to come up with new material constantly; it’s the vaudeville ones who used to be able to stick to one routine for years (Even Jeff Foxworthy’s “You Might be a Redneck” slowly changes as he adds new jokes and drops others, though they all have the same punchine). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/14 "2010-01-28T14:10:58Z")
George Carlin–Seven words you cannot say in television. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/15 "2010-01-28T14:37:47Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > His new face could be considered comical, in a creepy way. The Nightmare on Elm Street movies had one-liners, too, but that didn’t make them comedies… ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/16 "2010-01-28T14:42:53Z")
“Here’s your sign.” Bill Engvall, although I had to look up his name. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/17 "2010-01-28T14:57:05Z")
Abbott and Costello a “One Hit Wonder” with “Who’s on First”??? That’s like calling Groucho Marx a One Hit Wonder with “I Shot an Elephant in my Pajamas”. If they’re seen that way today it’s because of the lack of need of indie stations, on-demand movie suppliers, and video sellers to market older movies. When the movies were new and for years afterwards peopole saw the Abott and Costello repertoire, and were familiar with Seven times Thirteen is 28 In Fifteen Years You’ll be Twice Her Age Slowly I Turned and others ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/18 "2010-01-28T15:06:55Z")
I agree that Abbott and Costello are definitely NOT one hit wonders. I always had a soft spot for “Lemon Stand”, “Strawberry Ice Cream,” and “Seven times Thirteen is 28” Of course my parents had a “Best of” VHS tape that we watched often, so I might be more familiar than most my age. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/19 "2010-01-28T15:24:29Z")
Yakov Smirnoff: “In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia… party finds you!” ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746/20 "2010-01-28T15:32:12Z")
If you mention Larry the Cable Guy to most people they will respond with “Oh yeah, he’s the ‘Git er Done!’ guy :rolleyes: I can’t stand him.” But they’ve never actually heard his stand-up which is pretty damn funny. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-wonder-comedians/526746.md?page=2)