# Who is the current elder statesman of standup? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980 "2017-04-07T14:56:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/1 "2017-04-07T14:56:51Z")
With Rickles gone, who inherits the throne? Once it might have been Cosby, but even though his influence is unquestionable he’s lost the love and respect the title requires. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/2 "2017-04-07T15:00:54Z")
I have always been a big fan of Bob Newhart. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/3 "2017-04-07T15:05:36Z")
He’s probably a kid compared to Rickles/Newhart, but Lewis Black seems a lot older than his 68 years. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/4 "2017-04-07T15:09:35Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > I have always been a big fan of Bob Newhart. Bob’s a few years older and definitely not as left-of-center, but Dick Gregory’s still around also. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/5 "2017-04-07T15:23:26Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > He’s probably a kid compared to Rickles/Newhart, but Lewis Black seems a lot older than his 68 years. Does he seem as old as Steve Martin? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/6 "2017-04-07T15:23:38Z")
He may not be the oldest, but Robert Klein seems the most active of the Senior Circuit. And he still can’t stop his leg. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/7 "2017-04-07T16:51:35Z")
It depends on if you are talking about fans or other comics. It’s widely overshadowed by his film work but I’ve heard comics talk with deep respect for Woody Allen’s stand up. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/8 "2017-04-07T16:57:46Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > Bob’s a few years older and definitely not as left-of-center, but Dick Gregory’s still around also. I think at this point being a comic is maybe the 5th thing you think about when you think of Dick Gregory. He took himself out of the running long ago. If we are just going by age and not necessarily influence how about Mort Sahl, Shecky Greene and Jackie Mason? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/9 "2017-04-07T16:59:22Z")
Does it have to be someone who’s still active as a comedian? ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/10 "2017-04-07T17:25:51Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > It depends on if you are talking about fans or other comics. It’s widely overshadowed by his film work but I’ve heard comics talk with deep respect for Woody Allen’s stand up. I was thinking other comics. And most likely someone still active, who continues to show new comics “how it’s done”. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/11 "2017-04-07T17:34:22Z")
Richard Lewis. Was this a trick question? Yes. Just kidding. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/12 "2017-04-07T17:36:13Z")
By age and current activity, I’d give it to 75-year-old Robert Klein. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/13 "2017-04-07T17:37:26Z")
Standup only or comedy as a whole? I’d say Mel Brooks if you include writers and such. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/14 "2017-04-07T17:46:12Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > Standup only or comedy as a whole? I’d say Mel Brooks if you include writers and such. …and/or Carl Reiner. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/15 "2017-04-07T18:04:32Z")
For Stand up maybe Robert Klein? ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/16 "2017-04-07T20:26:57Z")
Robert Klein is almost a full generation younger than Don Rickles. Maybe because Rickles seemed old when I was a kid, he struck me as ancient. Robert Klein doesn’t. Without looking up birthdates, it seems to me that people of the same generation and similar stature to Rickles include people like Jerry Lewis, Tim Conway, and maybe Bob Newhart. Is Bob still active? I believe Tim Conway is; at least, he was in _The Aristocrats_, which at my age still seems recent. Jerry Lewis definitely is still active, but I don’t know if he’s respected by his peers the way other famous comedians are, and I understand he’s basically devolved to just shouting at his audience and insulting them, but without any of the charm or wit of Don Rickles. Still, his fans love him, and he was undeniably influential on the generation that came after him, even if they don’t like him because he’s a jerk. Full disclosure: I almost included Rodney Dangerfield as the closest thing to a living Don Rickles, but I checked, and he died a dozen years ago. I’d have probably put Joan Rivers in there too if she were still with us, largely on the strength of her turn on _Louie_ a few years ago, where she was cast in exactly the role of an elder statesperson of stand-up comedy. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/17 "2017-04-08T00:57:52Z")
Another vote for Klein. He was on Colbert a week ago and he still has “it”. Lots of impromptu jokes. Unfortunately buried as the 3rd guest and so not given enough time. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/18 "2017-04-08T01:57:22Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Robert Klein is almost a full generation younger than Don Rickles. Maybe because Rickles seemed old when I was a kid, he struck me as ancient. Robert Klein doesn’t. Without looking up birthdates, it seems to me that people of the same generation and similar stature to Rickles include people like Jerry Lewis, Tim Conway, and maybe Bob Newhart. Is Bob still active? Neither Lewis nor Conway are standups, so they don’t count for this thread. (And neither do Brooks or Reiner.) I had thought that Newhart had stopped touring, but nope, he’s out there now. And he’s 87. So he’s the top banana. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/19 "2017-04-08T02:17:26Z")
Mel Brooks’ talk show appearances are pretty close to [a standup routine sitting down](https://youtu.be/IduplxTfx7A), so I’d still give the title to him. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980/20 "2017-04-08T02:24:39Z")
I agree with Robert Klein. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-current-elder-statesman-of-standup/783980.md?page=2)