Bill Engvall keeps his comedy relatively clean (relatively!) and I appreciate that. I know that a lot of folks don’t care, but frankly, I think it takes a lot more cleverness to maintain that kind of humor. It’s all too easy to be “funny” when somebody resorts to dirty jokes or toilet humor.
Well then you should like Brian Regan, it is one of the things I do like about his show. I feel I could take my teen daughter to his shows, which I couldn’t say for a lot of comedians! But Brian Regan’s stuff is pretty clean and everyday kind of activities and he does a good job with it.
I don’t think we can be friends any more.
Jesus, how could I forget about him. He’s fantastic. And I had no idea he’d recorded a new show so thanks a lot for that.
I don’t think they’ve been mentioned, but as for comics in the vein of the OP, I’d recommend David Cross, Mark Maron, Bobcat Goldthwait, and a ton others mentioned, especially Patton Oswalt and Doug Stanhope.
I’ll add Katt Williams. He swears A LOT but he is funny as hell.
Friends with Shaq
and Poor Little Tink Tink
Jeremy Hotz
Jake Johansen (I haven’t seen him in years, but he was awesome)
Daniel Tosh
Second David Cross
I recently saw Dan Telfer open for Patton Oswalt, and he just slayed me. His act is a very nerdy, science-oriented comedy. I think Dopers would probably really appreciate it.
Victoria Wood
Jo Brand
Jimmy Carr
Russell Howard
Lee Evans
David O’Doherty
Sarah Millican
Some material may offend. YMMV.
Oh man I remember him. I love him. I was curious so I looked up his wiki page, which is fairly short, and it says he still does stand-up and headlines an annual comedy festival in Iowa.
For my money, Louis C.K. and Patton Oswalt are the best comics around today, but since were mentioned within the first three posts:
Hannibal Buress didn’t appeal to me at first, but once I got accustomed to his delivery style, I liked him a lot. He’s one of the hotter rising stars today, I believe.
Greg Warren deserves more attention than he apparently gets. I love his “one-star people” schtick.
And probably no one will agree with me on this, but I think Neil Hamburger has the best delivery of just about any comic I’ve seen. His jokes aren’t even funny, he’s all delivery. Amazing.
I’m going to third David Cross here. He, Patton Oswalt and Louis C.K. are my trifecta of comedy. They all consistently make me laugh to the point where I can’t breathe anymore.
Also, for you Patton Oswalt fans out there, I highly recommend checking out the audiobook of his new book, “Zombie Spaceship Wasteland.” It’s both hilarious and thought provoking.
A few other great ones that I haven’t seen mentioned.
Dana Gould - Absolutely hilarious. Would probably break into that trifecta (fourfecta?), expect he’s mainly a writer and doesn’t have a lot of stand-up out there. He was bigger in the 90s but he’s making a comeback. But if you have Netflix, I highly recommend checking out Let Me Put MY Thoughts In You. It starts out kinda lame relationship humor, but then it takes a hilarious dark turn 12 minutes in and it never goes back.
Maria Bamford- My number 5 comedian. Easily the funniest female comedian out there. In fact, I don’t even like saying that because she transcends the traditional label of “Female comedian.”
Brian Posehn - Great nerd humor. Along with Patton Oswalt and Maria Bamford, he’s part of the Comedians of Comedy. They had a movie (also on Netflix, check it out!), a tv show, and several specials. Previously mentioned (and always hilarious) Zach Galifinakis was kind of the “Shemp” of the group, he’s since been replaced by
Eugene Mirman- I don’t know how to describe this guy. One of the most alternative “alternative comics” out there. Best known as the landlord on Flight of the Conchords, also featuring
Rhys Darby - Hilarious. Kiwi. Robot Noises. Rounding out the FotC alums we have
Kristen Schaal and Arj Barker who was in the marijuana-logues with
Doug Benson - You don’t have to be a pot smoker to enjoy him. He’s hilarious no matter what. I have no segue for
Jon Mulany - New young comedian. I can’t wait to see where he might go, because he is hilarious.
Jimmy Pardo - One of the most “skilled” comedians I’ve ever seen. He’s the opening comedian for Conan, has his own podcast “Never Not Funny” and he tours. I saw him twice in two months and he had completely different material each time.
There’s more, but I’ve been looking up comedians for 45 minutes now and I should stop.
OP: I really don’t like Joe Rogan but Louis C.K. is definitely a good one.
You absolutely must watch Norm MacDonald’s special “Me Doing Stand-Up”
Marc Maron’s albums can be tough because they’re so raw, but as far as sheer talent goes, no living comic compares to him.
Also:
Bill Hicks
Mitch Hedberg
Lenny Bruce
Steve Martin
Richard Pryor
Sarah Silverman
Maria Bamford
Zach Galifianakis
Patton Oswalt
Brian Posehn
Doug Benson
Paul F. Tompkins
Dana Gould
Hannibal Buress
Junior Stopka
Duncan Trussell
Natasha Leggero
Chelsea Peretti
Tig Notaro
Eddie Pepitone
Patrice Oneal
Alternatively, just watch a whole bunch of episodes of Comedy Central Presents and figure out which ones you like most.
Thanks for that. I needed it. Great stuff.
I’ve quoted a line of his a few times, from his bit about being on a nude beach in France: “There’s a fine line between rubbing lotion on yourself, and rubbing yourself with lotion.” hehehe
There’s also Frank Caliendo. He pretty much just does impressions but he does a lot of different ones.
