Last time I looked at Comedy Central’s website there was a listing of dozens (maybe hundreds) of stand-up comedians/comics (if there’s a distinction) working these days with Comedy Central spots.
They can’t all be funny and most of them are cookie-cutter imitations of some aspect of somebody else’s schtick or even material. As a regular weekly routine I check the On Demand offering from Comedy Central and will usually find from 5-20 spots for Stand-up material, a small percentage of which will be truly funny or unique.
I’m not necessarily looking for this thread to identify every working comic (including famous ones from the past) but I’m hoping we can do a sort of survey of which oines have put such a unique or personal stamp on the genre that when you mention Stand-Up Comedy, you have to think of them.
As a starter kit, here are some names whose twists and takes on the field are permanently etched on the stone of Comedy:
Jonathan Winters
Robin Williams
Steven Wright
Emo Phillips
Richard Pryor
Chris Rock
Red Skelton
Lenny Bruce
Mort Sahl
Sam Kinison
Jerry Seinfeld
Phyllis Diller
Paula Poundstone
Joan Rivers
Moms Mabley
Roseanne Barr
Rita Rudner
Ellen DeGeneres
Elaine Boosler
Now, if in addition to adding names to the list you can also include a phrase or sentence that indicates what NEW feature of comedy this person brought to the genre, thereby becoming a pacesetter or innovator, this thread might help bring some insight to the notion of Stand-Up Comedy and why not just everybody who can hold a mic can be funny.
I vote for Bill Hicks, whose unique approach of scathing and insightful social commentary mixed with raunchy adult themes, and promoting free thinking, revolutionized comedy at the time. He eschewed easy targets like making fun of politicians for example, and went for big targets like corporations, the media, anti-drug campaigns and the human condition. He would’ve been even more of a legend if his career hadn’t been cut short by an early demise (he was 33).
Yes, definitely Bill Hicks. By the same token: Mitch Hedberg. Both gone too soon.
I would like to say that Brother Dave Gardner established Southern comedy long before Jerry Clower, Jerry Reed, Ray Stevens and so many other followers of the style. Jeff Foxworthy has stepped away from that mold successfully. But I have yet to be able to recall who before Andy Griffith really should lay claim to the whole sub-genre’s birth. Anybody?
Bill Cosby: arguably the greatest-ever storyteller standup
Bob Newhart: His dry half-dialogues were once very hot, and as far as I know his own invention
Steve Martin: Took stand-up comedy to weird new places
Bob Hope: Known for his rapid delivery, his longevity, his entertaining the armed forces. Not particularly innovative or clever, perhaps, but ranks high for quantity of jokes told over the course of his career.
Johnny Carson: The big name in late-night comedy. Delivered a new monologue every night. A master at recovering when jokes bombed.
Don Rickles: The original insult comic. Somebody started an appreciation thread here a couple of days ago.
From the OP, it looks like you’re only looking for comics who work(ed) solo. If you expand it to comedy teams, there are more possibilities (e.g. Burns & Allen, Abbott & Costello, the Smothers Brothers, Edgar Bergen).
In fact, Bill Hicks directly influenced George Carlin, who really began to critique the culture just before Hicks died and continued after. I really think George Carlin deserves a ton of credit, along with Mort Sahl for changing stand-up comedy.
Mort was an early story telling comic, while George just contributed so much quality material over his entire adult life.
**Dennis Wolfberg. ** Amazing delivery that made his jokes even better. I miss him more than Bill Hicks, who never struck me as being any more than above average. As for Hicks influencing Carlin, the statement is laughable. Carlin’s act was set long before Hicks ever hit the stage.
The Amazing Jonathan for his ability to ad lib, as well as the Michael O’Donohue influenced over-the-top violence.
Give Albert Brooks a nod, too: his “Rewriting the National Anthem” alone would be enough. And Woody Allen, Alan King, even Jackie Mason and much of the Borscht Belt Alumni.
From the Paleozoic: Mark Twain, Artemis Ward, and later George Ade were giving humorous “lectures” that everyone knew were comedy shows. Later, people like Victor Borge and Professor Irwin Corey and candidate Pat Paulsen all took the whole thing in slightly different directions.
No Woody Allen on the OP’s list? :eek: He invented the nerdy dweeb thing and his album from the 60s cannot be beaten for sheer perfection in stand-up comedy.
Richard Pryor deserves credit for being brave in addressing issues of race, and for being (sorry if this is pretentious) fiercely, sometimes scarily honest about his real life and his flaws. Lots of guys did jokes about their wives, but I don’t think anybody else would have done his jokes about shooting the car or the ‘Richard Pryor running down the street’ bit.
George Carlin gets credit for a few very different things: his love of playing with language, which is absolutely unmatched by any other comedian I’ve ever heard, his attacks on social institutions, which at their best were unfliching and very funny, and for the focus he brought to everyday things. Carlin’s career also spans nearly the entire history of standup, which I think offers some insight into how it changed and developed.