Last night I caught the tail end of Sean Lock's 'Lockipedia' routine. I'm not a huge fan but he finished with a protracted Madonna joke that was sensational. Another recent effort that stands out is Rhod Gilbert's torch with the power of a million candles joke, which is sublime. My favourite stand-ups are Stewart Lee and Harry Hill (before he got carried away with the puppets..), I suppose, but neither are especially clip-friendly. Your favourite routines/ stand-ups?
My favorite was Bill Hicks. He was a genius and one of the few ones that's geniunly funny. Too many try too hard to be fun and overdo it, or they just suck. But Bill Hicks had a great thing going on. He was very controversial, yes, but if you got his humor, it was pure gold. And it sounded so natural, too. Bless that guy, he should have lived forever. Of the ones still alive, Chris Rock is my favorite. He's not quite as fun as Bill Hicks, but he's not far from either. Imagine those two on stage at once? That would be overkill. George W. Bush was also a very funny man with a lot of great jokes. Too bad they were unintentional and technically not stand-up comedy.
Adam Carolla is my favorite comedian. He does stand up occasionally, but he puts out a 1.5 hour podcast every day, and he always makes me laugh. As for more traditional stand up comedians, I really like: Mike Birbiglia, Lewis Black, Brian Regan, Josh Sneed (I saw him live last week), George Carlin, Richard Jeni, Daniel Tosh, and Patton Oswalt. Honorable mentions are Louis CK, Lynne Koplitz, Nick Swardson, Zach Galifinakis, and Demitri Martin, and Bo Burnham. I used to listen to stand-up routines on my iPod every night falling asleep --I have serious anxiety problems that interfered with my sleep; being able to focus on funny things and the cadence of someone's voice really helped me. So that's why I have so many favorites.
He's nicked Alan Lee's hair. Therefore, I don't like him - no other man should have Big Al's hair. I like Bill Bailey, and always have. His quirky, tangential, unorthodox humour just appeals to me. I always get the feeling that he'd fit right in to my circle of friends.
No idea who Alan Lee is. I like Bill Bailey too but I haven't seen him in stand up, just QI (and Black Books but he's not himself then obviously).
My favorite is Eddie Izzard. His "Dress to Kill" DVD is awesome. I think I have all of his stand-up shows in my collection by now.
I can't stand McIntyre. It's possibly because there was a protracted period when he was almost omnipresent. And I never liked him much to start with. I have a healthy respect for Eddie Izzard, as much for his politics as his comedy One of my favourite current comedian is John Bishop. His show "John Bishop's Britain" has had some cracking moments. I've also been overdosing on back episodes of Radio 4's "The Now Show", with Mitch Benn, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis.
I agree with the above posts. My favourite comedians are Chris Rock, Michael McIntyre, Bill Bailey too. I still laugh out loud when I think of a part of Bill Bailey's gig: 'Hey Asda....' (anyone seen Part Troll?)
I'm gonna go ahead and be unpopular and say that I like Russell Brand's standup. Also, Kat Williams. Love him. There are others already mentioned who I love, too--especially Bo Burnham.
I absolutely love Richard Pryor, Eddie Izzard, Bill Hicks, Billy Connolly. They are the greats. Other honourable mentions: Stewart Lee, Ed Byrne, Rich Hall, Lee Evans, Danny Bhoy, Frankie Boyle, Hugh Dennis, Alun Cochrane. There are so many more I can't think of at the moment. I'm dubious about Michael McIntyre and can't *stand* Jim Jefferies. If you think Frankie Boyle is foul, you need to check out Jefferies. (Btw, for UK members, there's a Bill Hicks night on BBC4 tonight. Best tv scheduling ever).
Am I really the first to mention the awesomeness that is Jack Dee? I loved it when he hosted Live at the Apollo. I also like Lead Balloon, though I guess that's a show that needs to grow on some. Other than that, I like McIntyre in small doses. He's so hyper, I get tired listening to him. My other favorites are Demetri Martin, Eddie Izzard and Louis CK. I must say the more recent Izzard stand-ups hasn't been as funny as the older stuff. I loved dress to kill. Edit: I also love Ellen Degeneres. Just felt I needed to add a woman to the mix. Her impersonation of a gold-fish makes me laugh every time I just think about it.
Favorite comedians have to be Freddy Soto, Dane Cook, Pablo Francisco and Russell Peters (in no particular order)...I actually had the pleasure of seeing Russell Peters live, hilarious.
Pablo Francisco.. yes, I concur. I also liked George Carlin, of course, he was classic. And, say what you will, but I actually like some of those blue collar comedy guys. Ron "Tater Salad" White oh and who's the puppet guy - Jeff Dunham? He's not bad, either. Oh and I've never seen Ellen do a full stand-up routine, but I love her and she's hilarious on her talk show.
No love for George Carlin? Really? Really? Him and Lewis Black. Gotta say they're my fav's... RIP Carlin... Dane Cook was good for a while...
At least three of her shows are on youtube. They are: The Beginning, One Night Stand and Here and Now <- my personal favorite.
Nobody has mentioned Steve Martin yet. Back in the 1970s, he was a brilliant stand-up comedian. He just seems to have decided that it's better to be a mediocre actor than to be a great stand-up. I mourn for what he could have been. And I'm also a fan of Lewis Black. He's wicked. I found Richard Jeni very funny, too, and it's a tragedy that he killed himself. A big loss to the comedy world.
I agree about Steve Martin's stand-up routine, saw a few of his from back in the day and he was very funny. Also Richard jenni was a very funny man, I remember a few of his routines. Tragic loss.
