Greatest Comedian of All Time

Who do you think is the greatest comedian of all time and what is their best joke?

I'd say Eddie Izzard, with his best bit being this...


If a movie made any kind of business in America, Hollywood would remake it and it wouldn't be anything like the original.

It would be a Room with a View of HELL! Staircase of SATAN! Pond of DEATH! "What are ya doin' with the fuckin' matches! Always in here with the fuckin' matches!" "Hey, shut up! Hey, you fuck my wife? You fuck my wife? You fuck my wife?" "I *am* your wife." "Don't matter! Don't matter! You fuck my wife?" "Yes, I fucked your wife. I am your wife and I fucked her"

"Ahhhh... Oh no! Space Monkeys are attacking!" That's a part that wasn't in the original.
[mimes shooting guns that don't work, then dialing a phone]
"Jeanine, I love you, even though you fucked my wife." BWOOOOSH!


yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Is Izzard good? Sure. Greatest? Oh hell no.

There is Carlin, Bruce, Pryor, Rickles...

carlin is funny, so is andre dice clay.

Don Rickles is great, I loved his bits on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, and a few he had on the Dean Martin Show.

The greatest stand-up comedian's next HBO special is this Saturday. George Carlin.

Any comedian that stands up and tells jokes is NOT a comedian. He is simply a joke teller. Anyone can tell a joke and in my mind there's no room for it in stand up comedy. Leave it for the pubs.

Now those that can put humourous spins using observation, personal experience or complete surrealism are the true comedians. The true original alternative comedians, well in Britain anyway, are Billy Connolly and Jasper Carrott. Those guys are legends. A few of my personal favourites from more recently include: Paul Merton, Ross Noble, Noel Fielding, Frank Skinner (not as funny nowadays), Lee Evans (did lose it but is hilarious again) and Dave Gorman.

Certainly a worthy point Turi.

Of course, we've been naming STAND-UP comics. But comedians?

I would never discount Stand-up from regular comedy. Some of the best ever were famous for that aspect of comedy: Carlin, Pryor, Kinison, etc. It's not just going up and telling jokes. It's timing, working the audience, just like any other aspect of comedy, at least to me.

Others I forgot to mention: Groucho Marx, Woody Allen, Don Rickles, Red Foxx, Robert Schimmel.

Richard Pryor & Billy Connolly!

I havent seen many American comedians and I dont like the German comedians since they're all too "cold" IMO.
But there's one guy who has brought the MOST HILLARIOUS ISH Ive ever seen. Dave Chappelle! I LMAO everytime I see the second season of Chappelle's Show. His stand up comedy is hilarious too. I LOVE THAT GUY. my vote goes to him

Jasper Carrott and Ricky Gervais.

Dave Chappelle.

Killin' em Softly and For What it's Worth immortalize this guy as a stand up comedian.

John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, and Paris Hilton.

Rowan Atkinson
Lewis Black
Lenny Bruce
George Carlin
Johnny Carson
Dana Carvey
Dave Chappelle
Larry David
Will Ferrell
Glen Foster
Darrell Hammond
Benny Hill
Denis Leary
Jay Leno
David Letterman
Mike MacDonald
Norm MacDonald
Bill Maher
Dennis Miller
Eddie Murphy
Russell Peters
Richard Pryor
Chris Rock
Jerry Seinfeld
Jon Stewart

DVC, have you seen the Chappelle Show? The second season is even funnier than "Killin Them Softly". You HAVE to get that one. Sketches like "Black Bush", "Celebrity Trials", "Kneehigh Park", "N**** Family" etc. are instant CLASSICS!

Dave in the celebrity trials "Michael Jackson":

Man: What about Michael saying its OK that children sleep with him?
Dave: That dont mean anything. Im sure there is plenty of kids who sleep in bed with adults all the time, and nothing happens!
Man: So do you think Michael Jackson is guilty in the charges against him?
Dave: Nah man. He made thriller....THRILLER!
Man: So you'd like your children sleep with him?
Dave: FUCK NO!

Yeah I've seen all that. Dave is the greatest of all time!

When you say greatest of all time, you have to think of Carlin, Pryor, Williams, Eddie Murphy, and maybe a few others. However, there are some new comers that are taking standup into the next generation. Dane Cook really is a talented stand up, and if he stays on top then theres no reason he cant become one of the greats. Some other good ones are Patton Oswalt, Jim Norton, Kevin James, Jay Mohr, and Ron White. There is also some great underground comics that are starting to make their rise to fame. Brian Reagan is HILLARIOUS and one of my personal favorites. Nick Swordson, Nick Dipaolo, Greg Giraldo, Greg Rogell and Paul F. Thompkins are some other notable mentions.

Suprised nobody even at least mentioned Jerry Lewis

Tommy de Vito was also funny...

Steve Martin


ds

You look like you're decorating a Christmas tree you fuckin prick...

WTF?!?! You do realize she isn't acting, she really is that fucking stupid...

I personally model my jokes and delivery after Jay Leno, so I have to give him a nod as one of the greats, but there are so many, I don't think we can determine who is the greatest.

Roy Chubby Brown and Billy Connerley are favs of mine

Eddie Murphy
Jerry Seinfeld
Larry David
Dave Chappelle
Richard Pryor
Chris Rock

Definitely!

Larry The Cable Guy :rolleyes:

The greatest comic actor ever was W.C. Fields. The standup comic I enjoyed most was Jonathan Winters.

Charlie Chaplin-(watch Modern Times)

W C Fields

Dennis Miller

John Cleese (or the entire Monty Python company)

The Three Stooges

The late Sam Kinnison (brilliant but plagued by demons)


I obviously like visual comedy except in the case of Dennis Miller's and Kinnison's commentaries on life.

In my opinion, the greatest of all was Totò. Probably you never heard of him,, so if you ever have the chance to watch a movie of his (e.g., "Big Deal", "The Band of Honest Men", "Totò, Peppino and the Wicked City Woman", "Cops and Robbers", "The Overtaxed", just to name a few, consider he made tons of movies, almost all extremely popular and successful here in Italy and just for having him playing in them), please, do it. If you like Italian actors, you'll love him for ever. I guarantee it to you!

Billy Connelly

An Impossible Miracle....or Larry the Cable Guy having his stand-up routine without uttering GET ER DONE! once.

WTF?!?! You do realize she isn't acting, she really is that fucking stupid... [/b][/quote]I do realize that...

Richard Pryor

I don't really think that he was the greatest of all time but I just can't let a discussion about the greatest comedians go without at least one mention of the late great Mitch Hedberg


There is also this guy I saw on an HBO special the other day ( I have HBO on demand so I have watched it about five times now) his name is Kevin Brennan, I'm not saying greatest but certainly someone I'm going to watch.


As for greatest of all time sure Pryor, Murphy (when he wasn't a family movie remake bitch), and Carlin. I might even go as far as to include Robin Williams in this list.

And Mista Mista my favorite joke of Izzard is either

"To my left you can see the Sea of Tranqulity and to my right...Oh my god it's a fucking monster"

or the whole cat,mouse,chair,table, monkey to France bit

*--------------*

- Chris Rock
- Larry David
- Eddie Murphy
- Jerry Seinfeld

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Conspicuous by his absence from anybody's list is Andy Kaufmann. Best ever? Probably not...but he was brilliant at times. And that's the curse of comedy.

Talk show hosts are a different breed. Many are funny on their own. But today, Stewart, Letterman, and Leno have a staff of writers providing material for them. With a staff of talented writers, and a little rehearsal, I'll bet any one on this board could end-up on our list.

How about Hudson & Landry? Bob Newhart? Ever hear tapes of Bob Crane (Hogan's Heroes) when he worked in radio? VERY funny and way ahead of his time. (most people are only familiar with his later work in film...nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?) Paul Frisbie? Chris Rush?

No women on the list? Why not? Rita Rudner? Margaret Cho? Judy "le petite fleur" Tenuta?

Many comics are one-trick ponies who have a savant-like comic moment for thirty minutes and never rebound with fresh material. Or they have one brilliant bit that defines them and they can never achieve the same level of funny after that.

I can only ever picture Andrew Dice Clay doing nursery rhymes -- "Hickory, dickory, dock. This chick was..." It's hilariously funny and absolutely NOTHING he does after that even comes close.

Better example...Abbott and Costello. Who's on First is arguably the gold standard for comedic writing and timing. It works no matter where they do the bit...live audience or recorded. But after that, there's nothing else they do as funny as Who's on First.

But they're regarded as great performers because of one brilliant moment...and sometimes it's your ability to milk that moment for as long as possible, and that's how you end up on a list like this!

tony b.

#-1 Is Richard Pryor The best (IMO)
Red Fox
George Carlin

How could I forget, Conan O'Brien deserves a mention.

Johnny Carson. Funny every night, and he got out while he was still on top.

Best Stand up is Carlin just cause he has hung in so long and continues to come up with new material.

Pryor was great, but didn't last long enough to make the top tier.