I thought it would be interesting to put this out there as an accompaniment to the other recent stand-up polls and discussions. These names are off the top of my head, chosen based on my perception that each could conceivably be considered annoying or unfunny by many (I actually like a select few listed here). With that in mind, feel free to add your own.
mmm
There’s also…
Lenny Shultz
Spectacularly un-funny hack. He does an act sort of like Carrot Top, but lacks the cleverness and charm.
Where did this random list come from?
The poll isn’t multiple choice, BTW. You might have a mod fix that.
In the meantime, I’ll cast 50 votes for Richard Lewis.
Norm Macdonald
You and I are no longer best friends.
Howie Mandel.
I don’t think we change the poll from single choice to multiple choice. But I’ll ask around. For now I’ll leave this open.
I can’t come up with a most annoying/unfunny, so I’ll give you my top 5 in no particular order:
Dennis Miller - I selected him in the poll because not only is he unfunny, he’s a smarmy jerk.
Robin Williams - He sucks the life out of anything comedic he tries. Absolutely horrible.
Richard Lewis - He’s a dink; a pretentious, unfunny dink.
Bob Saget - So unfunny he makes me want to throw my TV through a wall.
Bob Goldthwait - I don’t get what makes animalistic whining funny.
I never thought Sam Kinneson (sp?) was a good comedian, but he did make me laugh, so he wouldn’t go on my list, even though he was annoying and the screaming schtick got old quick.
You forgot Paul Riser. He’s a comedian, isn’t he? Or am I mistaken? Anyway, he’s terrible, absolutely terrible.
Yeah, I don’t see a way to do it either. Sorry.
He’s actually pretty witty, if caustic. That whole screaming schtick he did has pretty much been over with for the last decade or two - but when he was doing it … yeah, it was painful.
For this poll, I chose Larry the Cable Guy, because even if his material were funny, he still sucks at delivery. And his material sucks. But I was hoping to vote for – damn, I can’t remember his name – that Fluffy guy. Someone name-checked him as one of the favorite comics in another thread and I nearly choked. Funny sounds, squealy voices, and hackneyed material - if you can even call it material.
If I never have to suffer through that loser’s comedy again, it will be too soon.
Since I would like to vote my multiple choice, here are the ones I would have picked:
Louie Anderson
Roseanne Barr
Milton Berle
Carrot Top
Dane Cook
Gallagher
Bobcat Goldthwait
Gilbert Gottfried
Andy Kaufman
Larry the Cable Guy
Lisa Lampanelli
Richard Lewis
George Lopez
Dennis Miller
Don Rickles
Joan Rivers
Ray Romano
Bob Saget
Adam Sandler
Henny Youngman
For varying reasons I believe these people would do better in some other line of work.
If I had to limit my vote to one it would be Joan Rivers, but God that would hurt because there are so many close behind her.
Least offensive to me might be Gallagher, but I believe this is funnier than his schtick: - YouTube
Gabriel Iglesias.
Artie Lange.
Being an asshole throughout your entire act doesn’t make you funny…it makes you an asshole.
I also find George Lopez tremendously unfunny.
I’d defend him, but hell, Don Rickles is on the list too. I’d be here all day if I started doing that.
I do have to question the use of hackneyed, though. A lot of his material is pretty personal. Maybe it’s not all entirely true, but most of it is stories told from his personal perspective. I’ve seen a hell of a lot of comedians, and Iglesias has pretty unique material.
Now, if you don’t like his delivery, sure, I can see that.
Granted I haven’t caught that much of his act, because of the whole delivery issue, but from what I’ve seen the material exists just as an excuse to go “floooopy – wheeeeee – snargle snargle — whooop” so maybe ‘hackneyed’ isn’t quite right. Possibly superfluous.
Joan Rivers is powerfully unfunny, but gets extra points for being so hateful and vile. It’s the little extras like that that push her over the top.
No Carlos Mencia?
Roseanne
Whoopi
Cosby (was hilarious until the mid-late 70’s, when he became angry and bitter)
Gallagher
Belzer