Some people have made millions in their extremely successful careers as comedians and never once made me crack a smile. Some of these guys make me cringe when I hear the punchlines. The biggest example of this is :
Jay Leno! This mamoth-chinned numbskull is simply pathetic. It’s depressing seeing somebody bomb so bad, night after night. I bet he’s still cracking Lewinsky jokes, but I don’t tune in to find out.
Other examples include :
Martin Lawrence. His show was awful, his stand up is sickening. Most of his characters play off of tired black stereotypes. Whenever he’s bombing, he can always say “WAZZUP?” in a crazy voice and still manage to get laughs. How? I don’t know.
Then there was that deaf comedienne who made the rounds on the comedy shows a few years back. I can’t recall her name, but she was profoundly unfunny.
I could name a dozen more, but it’s time for lunch. McRibs rule!
Any comedian who relies on their race to get laughs. Margaret Cho,
most black comedians (Chris Rock is an exception in that some of his stuff is actually funny)
Hated him on SNL. Hated him in Adam Sandler movies. Hated him in the previews for Dirty Work and that other one he was in (never went to see them, I just cringed at the trailers). Hated him in The Norm Show the one time I watched it. I can’t listen to a word come out of his mouth without shuddering.
Lool down at your watch, Norm. You have approximately 3 seconds left on your fifteen minutes.
My 9 year old daughter watches The Facts of Life on Nickleodeon and the other night they had as a character the with Downs Syndrome who made a living as a comedian for a few weeks in the early 80’s. People with handicaps making fun of themselves for a laugh - and this was PC back then! I seem to recall a few others, too - the blind man mentioned above was profoundly unfunny. I remember feeling very uncomfortable seeing the audience laughing at these people. Very wierd.
Another vote for Benny Hill–I cringe every time the commercial for his video collection comes on while I’m watching Comedy Central (they play it about every half-hour or so). What was so funny about a leering, dirty old man ogling scantily dressed women? Am I missing something?
Thing is–my boyfriend loves Benny Hill and he always lets out a little chuckle when he sees those commercials… sigh…
Andy Kaufman, hands down.
What people saw in him I will never know.
“But it’s conceptual. He was making fun of the whole concept of comedy.” Yeah, you sit through his boring, interminable act. I’ll take Bill Cosby anyday. Call me a Philistine if you want, but being boring is, for an entertainer, the worst sin.
A note about a couple of the entries - Jay Leno was very, very funny as a standup comedian - he is very UNfunny as the host of the Leno Show. Norm Mcdonald was one of my favorite standup comedians - his movie and televison stuff is agreeably flat, however.
My vote is for Robin Williams. The guy’s standup act is just not that funny.
The one from The Facts of Life has Cerebral Palsy and her name is Jeri… something. I think Robin Williams is hilarious, don’t like Carrot Top. I don’t really enjoy Don Rickles or Rich Little. I think a lot of the onlder comedians have lost their touch, not all of them, just a lot of them.
Her name is Geri Jewell, and it wasn’t Down’s Syndrome, but cerebral palsy. Apparently she’s still going, represented by a company called DBA which specializes in getting celebrities/speakers for your every need. If you’re really that interested you can read about her here, just scroll down to the middle of the page.
[minor hijack]
It’s wonderful that people can use their abilities and disabilities to help and inspire others. Really. I do. I want that made clear. Absolutely. But. (Just knew that was coming, didn’t you?) When you lump someone like Bruce Jenner in there because he has dyslexia, then I start wondering just how bad ole Bruce needs that next cheeseburger.
[/minor hijack]
Oh, and Geri’s comedy sucks rocks.
(Just to get back on topic)
Raymond, from "Everybody loves Raymond. I’ve never understood why anyone would like to sit through an hour of his barely comprehensible mutterings.