Good one! Also Bobcat Goldthwait.
Bobcat Goldthwait did more than just scream. He had good material. One of his I remember:
“I took my mother to the gay freedom day parade, but I didn’t tell her it was a parade. ‘Gee, sure is crowded around here today, Ma!’”.
Back in the early 80s I was watching the Jerry Lewis telethon and for hours Jerry kept saying, “Coming up soon is the world’s funniest comedian.”
So I watched and waited for … I wasn’t sure. Steve Martin? Richard Pryor?
Nope. Turned out to be Charlie Callas, who did that “I Remember It Well” bit where he wears different hats and acts out both parts.
Every time I’ve ever seen him he’s done that bit.
And he ain’t the funniest comedian in the world, Jer.
Abbott and Costello, one-hit wonders? Are you kidding me?
A lot of the names in this thread might have routines that they’re best known for, but don’t suffer from a lack of material.
I think by definition he can’t be a one hit wonder.
The Three Stooges – the eye poking, head slapping thing.
There was one guy whose standup I remember, it must be 10 or 15 years ago now. He was youngish with bushy Tony Orlando hair, and he did the same routine over and over, and never seemed to come up with another one. He soon faded from view.
“I love my dawg!”
“I was feeding my dawg salsa sauce” with some bad effects I don’t remember, but I remember he always used the redundant “salsa sauce”.
And he always closed with the bit about getting up in the night to pee, and blotting his dick on the back of the guest towel so it wouldn’t be wet when he wanted to cuddle back up to his woman in bed.
Anyone remember that guy?
Roddy
The team of Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner for the 2000 Year Old Man.
Separately, of course, they have tons of other material, but together…
You are describing Bobby Collins. I’ve never heard that guest towel part.
I never thought much of Goldthwait. He had only ONE line I remember cracking me up.
“My life sucks. I just lost my job. I mean, I didn’t really LOSE my job. I still know where it is. Just whenever I go there, there’s this new guy doing it.”
Adolf Hitler and his ranting bit. Sure, he rants about different things, but they all sound the same.
We need a tangent thread that’s “(Comedian name)'s most famous routine is (routine x)”
Kip Addotta and his Wet Dream routine
Katt Williams.
It was something about “Nigger.”
Anyone heard that one?
Joe
I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that Kevin Meaney was just a one hit wonder. I had high hopes for him! I thought he was hilarious.
Andrew ‘Dice’ Clay tried to reinvent himself, but it just didn’t take. Another one that I was a little disappointed with. He was The Adventures of Ford Fairlane and also a failed sitcom if I remember correctly. He’s using the name Andrew Silverstein now.
Yes, this was a hit, but I’d hardly call George Carlin a one hit wonder. He had several albums that sold well, plus movies.
Actually, “Here come the judge” was David “Pigmeat” Markham’screation. Markham generally played the “chitlin circuit” and was largely unknown to white audiences before his appearances on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in.
Wow, there’s a lot of wrong in this thread. George Carlin? Abbot and Costello?
The problem with this question is that comedy isnt sold like music singles. You dont turn on the radio and listen to a 3 minute bit a million times over like you do a song. There really arent comedy ‘hits.’
That said, there are a lot of comedians with limited success. You can see them on specials on Comedy Central or HBO and never come back to TV or any national spotlight. Im not sure if that makes them one-hit comedians. Most comedians have a signature act/character/reoccuring theme just like any artist. That doesnt mean they’re one hit.
Bobby Collins still does standup, he was at a local club last month.