Stand up comedians are all well and good, I guess, but they’ve never really made me laugh. Scripted comedy routines always seemed really stilted and artificial to me, although some improv is really funny. So for funniest man alive, I’m going to have to go with Seanbaby (of http://www.seanbaby.com fame), well known for his large collection of Hostess fruit pie/twinkies/cupcakes comic book ads (my favorite is probably Green Lantern in “The Fruit Pie Scene”) as well as his hair, which is pink.
On the unintentional humor front, I will go with Fred Phelps and Jack Chick. What can I say? I’m sick that way.
Oh, and I vote that the Armand Tanserian (however you spell that) episode be stricken from the record. That one just plain sucked.
“When I grow up, I want to be the principal. Or a caterpillar! I love you, Principal Skinner!”
-the immortal Ralph Wiggum
EDDIE IZZARD is incredibly funny. You have to watch him to understand. He is a lot like Dennis Miller except not so dry or angry. He is definitely a must see kinda person.
I also have to agree with whoever(s) nominated Rowan Atkinson. Black Adder and his comic routines are very hilarious. Never much cared for mister bean, but his impersonation of Satan welcoming people to Hell is one of the best skits I have ever seen.
As for a writer, I must go with Patrick F. McManus…his nature humor is usually enough to make me nearly wet myself. Very funny man, I strongly suggest you read one of his books. Drew Carey’s book is pretty damned funny too.
Billy Connolly’s early stuff is superb, not the more recent “Hey I’m a bigshot living in LA” crap. Richard Pryor at his peak was unbeatable. You might have spotted a guy called Lee Evans in There’s Something About Mary. His turn in that film sucked but his stand-up has to be seen to be believed. Agree with a couple of posters above, Bill Hicks is the funniest dead guy.
Jonathan Winters. Give the guy a hat, and he can create a hilarious character off the top of his head. Not that ‘didja ever notice’ crap that passes for comedy nowadays. I’d like to see JW beat Seinfeld to death with a small mallet of some sort.
How about Bob Newhart? He’s not what most people would consider a stand-up comedian, but I don’t think anyone else’s routines have made me laugh as hard as his.
Old anecdote: When asked if the ROlling Stones really were (as their slogan went) “the world’s greatest rock and roll band,” Keith RIchards answered “The best rock and roll band in the world right now is some band you’ve never heard of, playing in a bar somewhere. And tomorrow night, it’ll be some OTHER band.”
I have never believed this theory where music is concerned, but it strikes me as dead-on with regard to comedy. I can think of many examples of comedians, sketch companies, or comedy series that had me in hysterics one time… and one time only!
The first time I ever saw “The Kids in the Hall,” I was in stitches. Every sketch was utterly hilarious. But the next episode I saw had exactly one funny sketch. And I haven’t laughed at ALL, the last 4 or 5 times I caught their show. The same was true of the Ben Stiller SHow on Fox- the first epsiode I saw was one of the funniest TV shows I’ve ever seen. I urged friends to watch it with me the following week… and sure enough, it was a stiff! None of us laughed, not even once.
Am I insulting Dave Foley or Ben Stiller? Not at all- I merely say that maintaining a level of comic brilliance is very difficult. I thank them sincerely for the uncontrollable laughter they gave me once, but I don’t expect either will do it again.
So… I’d say the funniest man on earth changes constantly. It’s the guy who cracks you up right this moment- never mind whether he could ever do it again.
Why aren’t we allowed to nominate Gallagher? There’s no other human being that I know of who is consistently capable of getting me rolling in the aisles like him.
What? No Dana Gould? Hilarious guy. Hasn’t recieved half the acclaim he should. Speaks from the point of the guy who’s been through hell, relationship wise.Currently writes for Simpsons as well. Eddie Izzard of course…
Not to mention Jonathan Winters and Richard Pryor. And while so extremely over exposed, Jerry Seinfeld has to be recognized. Bobcat Goldthwait, who has done some of the worse movies/TV shows (though I loved Shakes The Clown!)is absolutely briliant live and improvising and not doing his screaming lunatic shtick. Jon Stewart is the current king of talkshow tv as far as I’m concerned. Really has come into his own as of late…
One axe to grind though is with the former Pythoners.
Seeing the old skits redone just seems painful now. I remember seeing the Parot sketch on SNL a few years ago and was just mortified. They seemed to be hating every moment of it while they did it. Either that or they both had mono at the time. Still brilliant in their prime.
When I hear “funniest man” I automatically think of standup, so I cast my vote for George Carlin. He has been cracking me up for 25 years and shows no signs of slowing down.
I do like P.J. O’Rourke but I would pick Carl Haiisen over Dave Barry any day.
