Best stand up?

[Gamerforlife]

Well, I personally don't understand how anyone finds Dunham and his puppets NOT funny, but that's just my opinion. As for Cook being a joke stealer, this article puts an interesting spin on it

http://www.dead-frog.com/blog/entry/ste ... ve_martin/

I would add that Billy Connolly also did an itchy asshole joke once as part of a stand up act I have on my mp3 player

Bill Hicks and George Carlin were both brilliant. I just like Bill a little bit more is all

Guess I was wrong about Mitch being shy, which is cool. I always enjoyed his comedy.

I know we've mentioned Patton Oswalt already, but I just heard some of his stuff again recently. Damn, he's funny. His bit about travelling back in time to tell his younger self about the year 2009 is very funny.

[Luke]

... but Groucho Marx and Jack Benny are very funny as well.

I still think Julius "Groucho" Marx is the funniest man to ever walk the Earth.

[Luke]

Well, I personally don't understand how anyone finds Dunham and his puppets NOT funny, but that's just my opinion.

Yeah, we are just going to have to agree to disagree.

I could always be wrong about Mitch Hedberg too. I saw him one night, that's it. I could have just caught him in a great mood. I'm not one to ask for autographs or pictures with celebrities, but had I known that he would die in less than two months, I would have with him.

[fastbilly1]

I still think Julius "Groucho" Marx is the funniest man to ever walk the Earth.

Same here buddy, same here. The best description of him was: "His mind is like a panful of popcorn kernels with heat underneath: One ad-lib bursts, and the air is filled with popcorn..." I dont remember who said it but that sums him up.

The only other quote that comes close is: "I have only heard of these books. Groucho has read them, dissected them, and used them in his antics" which was by a writer talking about some Russian author.

[crux]

Steven Wright and Mitch Hedberg pretty much epitomize why I don't like the format of stand up. They're each funny in their own right, but gimmicky to the extreme. And very few stand up comedians are able to escape their gimmicks. (Seinfeld probably best epitomizes what I dislike about stand up, though only due to his notoriety.)

I do have admiration for a number of standups, however. Richard Pryor was so impressive with improv and was astoundingly influential, setting the stage for comedians like Eddie Murphy (who took Pryor's insensitivity's to the extreme). I also have an enormous debt of gratitude for the works of Lenny Bruce, who pushed boundaries and helped give comedians the freedoms they have today.

In recent years (meaning the past decade or more - I don't keep up) I've only seen a handful of shows I've enjoyed. Eddie Izzard's "Dress to Kill" was brilliant, despite the fact that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed the rest of his repertoire (including what I've seen in concert). I respect Chris Rock for his social commentary and awareness, though I think he plateaued with "Bigger & Blacker". Most recently, I found Louis C.K. to be pretty damn funny.

[aaron]

jeff dunham and his puppets are a very, very small step up from larry the cable guy. it's all just silly, obnoxious, obvious humor intended to pander to the lowest common denominator. it comes across as extremely forced, boring, and borderline offensive. not andrew "dice" clay offensive, but offensive in the way that he'll use racial and cultural stereotypes in COMPLETELY the wrong way and make jokes about them. his "akhmed" bit is the fucking worst.

and yes i realize that racial and cultural stereotypes are used very prominently throughout comedy, and usually it's funny, but watching jeff dunham make fun of "terrorists" and middle-eastern culture in general in front of a bunch of other white people is just about as funny to me as watching white people make nigger jokes. which isn't funny at all.

and so that's why i hate jeff dunham. i hate jim gaffigan because i just think he's annoying, but nothing else beyond that.