Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Favorite stand-up Comedians

Alright, time for a little change of pace. Who are your favorite stand-up comedians? This doesn't have to mean 'who are the best of all time', but rather who do YOU like the most. For instance, Richard Pryor is probably one of the "greatest" but I wouldn't put him in my personal top 5. Also, some people are really funny and have made great movies, but I wouldn't say they are great stand-up comedians (i.e. Adam Sandler/Chris Farley).

1) Dave Chappelle- I'm sure he is in everyone's top 5. He is the comedian of our generation IMO and is specifically great b/c he jokes the white and black race and no one gets offended....aka he says what everyone thinks.
2) Daniel Tosh- This guy is awesome; watch some of his acts on youtube if you haven't heard his stuff before.
3) Mitch Hedberg- He does one liners that can be cheesy, but I think his stuff is great. Too bad he died in '05.
4) Dimitri Martin- He also does one liners like Mitch. I don't know if that's just my favorite style, but he's really funny too.
5) Louis CK- I first heard of him through his HBO show, which by the way was hilarious. Then I started listening to his material online and they are equally as funny...very raunchy guy.

Funniest Female Stand-up: Ellen Degeneres...I've seen one of her stand-ups on HBO and it was really funny. I usually hate female comedians because all they do is joke about men and their relationships with men. However, her comedy was based on real life stuff and definitely the best from a woman I've ever watched.

**I didn't put Dane Cook up there b/c I've changed my perception of him after hearing how he ganks routines. His retaliation CD was awesome but what else has he done? Plus, some of his material from that CD was what he stole from other comedians.

Just Missed List- Bill Cosby, Chris Rock (his old material was hilarious like black people vs 'gros), Eddie Murphy, Charlie Murphy.

8 comments:

Staboski said...

I'll agree with your #1 Boon. And just for the record when reading my list keep in mind I'm not a big stand-up comic guy, I don't hate them but most I just can't get into. So here is mine:
#1 Dave Chappelle - see OP, 100% agree.
#2 Dave Attell - Made famous for Insomniac but his actual stand-ups were great. I saw him live with Lewis Black and the late Mitch Hedberg, more on them later.
#3 Katt Williams - Hes not done too much but his shit is soo funny.
#4 Dana Carvery - Choppin brocoli!
#5 Chris Rock - Still great

A few honorable mentioned: Robin Williams, Ellen, I'll get ragged for this but I like Kathy Griffin.

Now sorry Boon but I saw Mitch Hedberg and I had to say he sucked. Hova has tried to get me to watch him again and I just can't. Everyones like Mitch is soo funny. I just can't get into him. Another one I can't stand is Sarah Silverman. The wife likes her so I've seen a few with her and she crosses a line with certain jokes. I don't get that she is saying shit to be funny, I really think that is how she feels. She will rag on minorities and its not like Chappelle, Rock, or Williams...I really think she is a biggot and she uses the fact that shes a "comedian" to sheild herself.

Poorman said...

Definetly not a big fan of stand-ups either, I probably haven't even watched 5 actual stand-ups from start to finish, so my points will be brief.

I saw most of the Katt Williams Pimp Chronicles (2nd one I think) and that is the 2nd funniest I've seen to the classic chapelle one.

I was also going to mention Robin Williams which Bosk did, and I've seen some of George Lopez which I thought was funny.

And on Dane Cook, he is one person I have seen a whole stand-up from start to finish and I don't find him funny at all. And to close, Sarah Silverman is the worse. Not only not funny, but also very irritating (in movies as well as the brief minutes ive seen her in standups)

pex said...

My list is off the top of my dome at the moment, could change if i put more thought into it.

1. Dave Chappelle
2. Dane Cook
3. Bernie Mac
4. Chris Rock
5. Katt Williams

Honorable: Eddie Murphy, George Lopez, Cedric the Entertainer

The thing about Dane Cook, all of his stand ups I thought were funny. Yea there was the controversy, but that didnt truly make me dislike him. He may or may not have stolen some material, I dont think theres enough proof. And either way, most of it is in the delivery.

Mitch Hedberg can be hit or miss to me. I downloaded one of his cds and thought it was funny overall, but I dont know if one liners can really cut it for me.

And about Bernie Mac, the only standup I remember him doing was in original kings of comedy. Maybe its just nostalgia, but I remember that being one of the funniest stand ups ever.

I'll check into some of the people you posted boon, although you're probably just trying to be non conformist and stick to lesser known comedians.

pex said...

i've actually seen dimitri and daniel tosh before, didn't remember their names. the act i saw dimitri do was when he had drawings, kinda funny. daniel tosh is definitely funny but nowhere near top 5. has he done more than that 1 standup for comedy central? i mean televised stuff obviously

of course its a matter of opinion, but they dont beat out some of the bigger names

pex said...

oh yea and dane cook has done a lot more than the retaliation cd. he has a newer cd, hbo special, comedy central special, tourgasm series, probably more that i cant think of

booncakes said...

i know all the stuff dane has done. i asked it meaning what else has he done that was funny. tourgasm sucked, and it wasn't any new material from him- it was all from retaliation. the newer CD (full circle i think?) wasn't that funny to me...which was also his HBO special. so that's 4 things he has done, but really only 2 different materials...i'm sure i may be missing something too but that's all i can remember.

daniel tosh is definitely top 5. again, it's an opinion. his sarcastic approach is my favorite kind of humor. plus, i think you are underestimating Tosh's popularity. i think he is one of the most popular up-and-coming comedians in the business right now. you say bigger names, but i bet if you asked kids younger than us who they thought was funny i don't think a lot of them would say chris rock. a lot of people think he has a really annoying voice and his newer stuff isn't nearly as good as his old stuff. don't get me wrong, i mentioned chris rock b/c his "bigger and blacker" stand up (i think that's what it was called) was probably top 3 all time fav for me...i just didn't like his other stand-ups that much and his newer stuff i don't think is funny at all. as for mitch hedberg, you either love him or hate him.

i also think bernie mac is funny...but half b/c of his bulging eyes. his facial expressions (and voice) are perfect for his type of comedy. just picture his face when he talks about his kid getting in trouble or something...quality stuff.

pex said...

retaliation, his hbo special, and his new cd are different. he retells a few jokes for some odd reason, but most of it is new between the 3. i thought his new cd was funny, but i could see how it would be unfunny if you listened to it with a bias against him, similar to a lot of things

Staboski said...

I also forgot to add George Carlin, saw him live too, hes pretty funny.