Who is the funniest stand-up comedian ever?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

Gotta go with Richard Pryor

[SteppingRazor]

1. The only one I've seen live who left me absolutely breathless, shaking with laughter...

was Jerry Seinfeld.

[asthmaticeog]

2. Huh? Richard Pryor isn't Jewish.

:shrug:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

3. no

no he isn't

[Squatch]

4. Robin Williams or Eddie Izzard

[pokerfan]

39. Robin Williams, Bill Hicks, George Carlin

Robin Williams on golf:
http://www.youtube.com/v/0FXsK8r_wc8

[ironflange]

5. Dave Coulier

Oops, sorry, wrong thread!

[Blue-Jay]

8. You oughtta know...

better.

[ironflange]

I apologize

This was for the Unfunniest thread. I gotta admit, though, he does a great impression.

[ghostsofgiants]

34. That was funnier than anything Coulier has ever done.

[ronnykmarshall]

6. I'll go w/ Margret Cho

[terrya]

7. I'll agree with that.

Margaret Cho is fearless AND funny.

[idgiehkt]

9. yes, Cho, Mo'Nique, Sommore, also Lea Delaria is hysterical.

it's usually females for me for some reason. The males I like are always off kilter like Stephen Wright or Mitch Hedburg.

The funniest thing I've ever seen is that "Queens of Comedy" DVD that includes the last two women I mentioned and two others. I've seen it about 15 times and everytime I see it I laugh until I cry.

[ScreamingMeemie]

10. Paula Poundstone.

Well, one of them. She's hysterical. My favorite bit she did was when she took an audience member's cellphone, called her room mate and had a conversation with her.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

13. I dig her

I love when she''s on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me

[idgiehkt]

17. I saw her on tv recently

and she got heckled by some guy and based the whole second half of the show on it. It was hysterical.

[Bake]

11. GOT TO BE PRYOR!

Sorry for the shouting. Richard Pryor was and will always be the funniest human being ever to do standup. His stuff is STILL funny, decades later. Never outdated.

Anybody thinks otherwise, just gots no sensayuma.

Bake

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

12. Bill Hicks

[PVnRT]

14. The only correct answer

n/t

[Fuzz]

22. Agreed!!

[opiate69]

45. Thirded!

[Initech]

53. And he is avaliable for children's parties, by the way...

[usaftmo]

15. Carlos Mencia

Not only does he make a lot of jokes against his ethnicity, but he throws in a few Spanish words in with his jokes. Even if you don't understand Spanish at all, it doesn't take away from the joke. That versatility (sp.?) is why I'm such a fan.

Honorable Mention: Sam Kinison (rest in peace)

[SKKY]

18. And I love how he uses the name "Jonathan" for every white man..

...just perfect! His "Mencia Minute" about Boy George was pure genius.

Honorable Mention: Steven Wright

[ghostsofgiants]

23. ...

[SKKY]

29. Very funny. And point taken...

...but I think there's a little bit more to him than that. Go to the link below, and watch his video about Boy George, and tell me you don't think this is funny...

http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/mind_of_mencia/videos/mencia_minute/index.jhtml

[ghostsofgiants]

30. Actually I didn't find that funny at all.

:shrug:

[Dervill Crow]

48. Not funny at all. Is that "guy" humor? I have to ask my sons and husband.

Okay, polled one son and he said no, not funny. Of course it could be because he's 21 years old and has no idea who Boy George is.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

38. Carlos Mencia in a nutshell.

Plus he steals his act. Not just single jokes, whole acts.

[GirlinContempt]

42. Speaking spanish is not versatility

having more than one joke might be, and on that he gets a F-.

[ghostsofgiants]

44. Can you be my professor? If you're THAT generous a marker, I'd be getting A+++++++++++++++++'s

[usaftmo]

59. I've never come across anyone else who regularly

inserts words of another language into his or her jokes. His current show Mind of Mencia gets somewhat stale at times, but I feel he has a lot of variety in material(when prepared). Sometimes he does his homework before a routine, and sometimes he ad-libs it.

I'd take Mencia over any of the stuff from Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond guy, Leno, Letterman combined. Those guys are an F- in my book.

The divisive thing about comedians is what one person finds hilarious another person finds boring or irritating.

Now that I've had a while to think about the original question Bill Cosby comes to mind. A wide range of material without using racial slurs/stereotypes and without profanity. A rare thing these days!

[Danger Mouse]

49. Carlos Mencia is the biggest no-talent assclown ever.

He's an unoriginal thief, and he's NOT EVEN A LATINO.
It's all bullshit, and he just swims in it.

[edbermac]

16. George Carlin

[Mojambo]

28. He's my pick, but I think Larry David's standup is HIGHLY underrated.

I'm also a big fan of Garry Shandling.

[BreweryYardRat]

55. Carlin.

Christopher Titus runs a close second, though.

[zonkers]

19. I dont think he's the funniest but I have been listening to Mike Bribiglia..he's pretty funny.

Anyone else know any newer funny guys/gals I should check out?

[ghostsofgiants]

20. Pryor was awesome, but Bill Hicks always gets my vote.

[underpants]

21. Jake Johanson

He has had me in absolute tears on several of his specials

[Courtesy Flush]

24. Thank god for youtube

Now I'm gonna be watching videos all night.

[pokerfan]

61. George Carlin on the Ten Commandments

"I got one more thing I gotta tell you about that bothers me, it's always kinda bugged the shit out of me: The Ten Commandments, you know? Yeah. Let me tell you, here's my problem..."

http://www.youtube.com/v/SWquwHlGXZE

Brilliant!

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

25. Dennis Wolfberg (unfortunately, now deceased)

He was hysterical, especially when talking about his days as a school teacher.

[renate]

32. aw... I didn't know he'd died

That's a shame.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

35. He had cancer

The good die young. :cry:

His obituary: http://www.finifter.com/quantum-leap/information/wolfberg.html

[Phillycat]

26. No, NO ONE, makes me laugh like Chris Rock.

Brilliant.

[Zavulon]

27. Bill Hicks is the funniest I've ever heard. (NT)

[jobycom]

31. The hardest I ever laughed was at a Buddy Hackett routine.

He's way before my time, but I saw him do a special on HBO (I think). I didn't have much hope for it, figuring he was an old guy in the Bob Hope tradition. He was outrageous, raunchy, way over the top... Brilliant show. He would take half the show to set up a joke, and other times he'd improvise with an audience member. He picked on some younger woman for some reason, and kept trying to get her to say "Fuck." A true master.

Aside from the one show, I gotta go with Richard Pryor, too, though I'll throw a nod at Lenny Bruce and Robin Williams. Bill Hicks... I guess I haven't seen his best stuff. He seems really good, but I don't quite get the worship. Too often comes across as glib,like Bill Maher or Dennis Miller. No, wait, nowhere near that bad, but still too glib. I've probably just not seen him at his best, though.

[rhiannon55]

33. Richard Pryor was a comic genius

I couldn't watch his stand-up routines without peeing my pants.:rofl:

[YankeyMCC]

36. I think I'll go with Pryor too

althought Mitch Heidelberg is damn close second

[Catfight]

37. Chris Rock cracks me up. nt

[Mz Pip]

40. Eddie Izzard

Dressed to Kill was hysterical.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Danger Mouse]

50. I hate Eddie Izzard. Most overrated comic EVER. nt

[Shakespeare]

56. Second that. Incredibly smart humor, hilariously delivered.

He's fucking brilliant.

[Redstone]

41. I have to go with Robin Williams on this one.

Redstone

[applegrove]

60. I'll agree with that.

[jane_pippin]

43. Out of loyalty to my dead, pretend boyfriend

I have to officially go with Bill Hicks.

But, I think Richard Pryor was a better storyteller.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

46. Christopher Titus. . .

Now that I know what his name is. . .

[Generic Brad]

47. Rodney Dangerfield

[Kutjara]

51. The names people are coming up with are very biased...

...toward comedians who've been around during the last fifty years or so. The OP said 'funniest...comedian ever,' though, so there is really only one man worthy of the title: Tharg the Lame.

Tharg toured the paeleolithic comedy circuit for years, playing small clubs and dive caves before graduating to the big time with his series of sold out "What The Hell Are These Rocks Supposed To Be For Again?" concerts at Stonehenge. He gave the world such timeless one-liners as "call that a mastodon?" and "my mother-in-law's so ugly the Neanderthals are suing her for identity theft."

Tharg is also reputed to be the first comedian in history to tell the "brazillion" joke.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

52. Billy Connolly.

[Initech]

54. George Carlin

[spacelady]

57. Carlin is the first that came to mind for me.

[XemaSab]

58. Michael Richards

:hide:

[Burma Jones]

62. Pryor, Duh.................

George Carlin too. Jonathan Winters also did some great standup. Woody Allen did some good standup too.