Stand-Up Comics: The Best, The Good & The Awful
The ranking is very intentional and deliberate, starting with the very best, ending with the very worst.
Nevertheless, assigning each person a rating (good, bad, awful, whatever) isn't such a precise "science" because some comedians are very uneven, or some may be charismatic but with weak material, or unlikable but with OK material. The label/rating I give out is intended to be approximate rather than precise.
Very few are listed as "the best". That's because there are very few comics who fulfill all the criteria necessary to not make me switch them off after just a few minutes. My criteria used to be lower, which is when I sometimes had interest and patience in watching 30 minutes of an average comedian, but now only a few are deserving of my time; these few I can watch for over an hour without ever getting bored.
Criteria:
1. Charisma and an interesting personality. A comedian needs to be unique in some way otherwise he's just a random Joe Shmoe off the street telling (bad) jokes, and the moment a comic seems average he is automatically of no use, to me at least. Just as I don't listen to average music (except when checking out new stuff), I completely try to avoid comedic mediocrity: being bored AND annoyed is way too much. In fact, "comedians" such as Amy Schumer are so bad they are actually worse than a randomly picked pedestrian telling jokes. But nepotism will do that... She is the niece of a powerful Washington politician and she is also that other thing, so all doors to show-biz were open for her.
2. Courage to be politically incorrect - which is pretty much the same thing as being honest, as opposed to being an Establishment sycophant: a "minorities pleaser", in other words a devious, calculating liar who pretends to care so much for women, blacks and gays that he can't ever make "fun" of them. EVERYBODY should be made fun of. Life is absurd in all of its forms, and all of it contains comedic potential. No gender, race or religion can be exempt, for any reason. The moment you start censoring yourself to such an extent you're doomed - as a person as well as a comedian.
(Except invalids, that's where I draw the line. Jokes about the paraplegic and similar junk is ugly. But just because I draw the line there doesn't mean everybody else should: each person has their own tastes, limits, tolerance levels... We can't allow anyone - least of all hypocritical, dishonest liberals - to impose such Orwellian restrictions on us. Far from being "liberators" of society and mankind, they are in fact the biggest censors and freedom-of-speech opponents on the political spectrum. Liberalism is oppression, as all offshoots of Marxism are.)
Show some balls out there on stage, or go home and shut up. We have enough cowards in the media as it is - among actors, musicians, directors, athletes, political analysts, journalists, and authors - so we don't need liars and phonies in stand-up comedy too, which is (or should be) a special, unique arena which serves as the last refuge for Free And Open Speech. Once we allow Reds to destroy stand-up comedy as well as everything else they'd (nearly) destroyed, we will be one huge step closer to totalitarianism which Soros and his gang have been pushing for in the last few decades. (If this is news to you then know that you've been successfully brainwashed: it's not too late for you, but curing you will prove a difficult task, mostly because you'd been trained/programmed not to think for yourself, or not to think at all. Learning to think at an adult age can be a daunting task for the intellectually apathetic.)
Unfortunately, most comedians lack the balls to be honest. They just don't have it in them. Whether that's because they are privately dishonest too, or because they are afraid of "offending" someone, is irrelevant: the results are the same. Especially these days there is so much cowardice and so much obsequiousness, because truth and honesty are considered "racist, homophobic, misogynist, Islamophobic, transphobic" (by hypocrites and the New Moral Police) and whatever other dumb-phobic words these people had invented in the meantime while I was typing up this text. Dishonesty becomes obvious rather quickly in most comedy routines, within 5 minutes or even just 30 seconds: these types of pseudo-comedian con-artists are quickly identifiable and the moment I smell that stench of political correctness i.e. "playing it safe" I shut them off, forever. No second chances. Once a devious sell-out, always a devious sell-out.
Comedy has to be all-inclusive, which is something that - very ironically - liberals struggle to understand and accept. They allegedly want an "all-inclusive egalitarian" society, but with their ultra-biased non-inclusive routines Red comics prove that they have no interest in that: they actually want MORE EQUALITY for minorities and women than for example male Caucasians. Much more. They want white men to be relegated to the status of pariahs of society, to have their rights curtailed, and all in the name of virtue-signaling, just to satisfy their own narcissism (coz narcissists want constant acceptance and praise, and they will always seek it among those who offer more of it i.e. to the highest bidder, and liberals just happen to be currently the highest bidders), but more importantly to have more job security in a media landscape dominated by the Left, which doesn't care who is funny, just who is politically compliant. So much black-listing is going on behind the curtains, not "just" people getting "cancelled" which is done out in the open - as warning to anyone else who wants to "step out of line" and dare question the Grand New Liberal Status Quo.
Extreme bias is ugly and malicious, can be a sign of low intelligence too, besides which it makes a comic very predictable and boring, plus makes him out to be a calculated d****e as opposed to a genuine, frank character who lets it all hang, who takes risks, doesn't play it safe for fear of offending some minority of uptight lunatics who can't take a joke. Cowardice isn't funny in a comedian. Balls are. Comedians are funny when they are brave, not when they are compliant. Nobody wants to hear a routine consisting only of G-rated humour.
This means that if you make fun of men, make fun of women too. If you make fun of "rednecks", then make fun of blacks and Orientals as well. If you constantly ridicule moderate Christians then at least have the decency to poke fun at Islamic extremism as well (if you dare). If you make fun of the Right, mock the Left too. Be "all-inclusive", since that is what our Marxist Overlords allegedly want...
Especially mock the Left. Because they are the ones in power, dominating nearly all discourse and propaganda, and because we've been fighting them in recent decades. They are the spoil-sports, the NWO Moral Police, the screaming righteous street preachers, the fanatically aggressive lynch mobs, the zealous regressive hypocrites, the narcissists who loathe the world because it isn't exactly to their liking. What was that last movement that so fanatically tried to "mold" the world to their own liking? The Nazis, who else. National-socialists. Not a coincidence, at all.
3. A good sense of humour. This may seem bleedin' obvious, but it's hardly a given. Most comics are mediocre or even pitifully unfunny; they go for the cheap, obvious stuff and they do it in ways that are off-putting, boring, cringy, or their personality just isn't up to scratch. Not EVERY confident person seeking laughs can just hop on a stage and be funny. You can give a talented comedian weak material and they might be able to save face to some extent on account of their other strengths, but give average material to a hack with a mediocre personality/charisma and/or low comedic instincts and the jokes have absolutely no chance, they will bomb like a Chevy Chase TV show. Evidently, gifted comics very rarely use weak/average material, so this was just a hypothetical thing...
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The list might change, because I might add a few names I'd omitted, or that I checked out for the first time recently.
Many big names are missing, such as Lenny Bruce or Don Rickles, because while I know (some of) them from movies I'm not familiar with their stand-up stuff.
I don't pretend that I am an expert on stand-up comedy, I am not. I haven't watched numerous stand-up comics as some other people have done. This is hence not a comprehensive list by a long shot - but it does contain a lot of the very best ever, that much I am certain of. Besides, my lists always give you some information/descriptions unlike most other lists that are cobbled up in 5 minutes. I may not have everyone here, but at least there are (accurate, brilliant) descriptions of the ones that are here.
Nevertheless, assigning each person a rating (good, bad, awful, whatever) isn't such a precise "science" because some comedians are very uneven, or some may be charismatic but with weak material, or unlikable but with OK material. The label/rating I give out is intended to be approximate rather than precise.
Very few are listed as "the best". That's because there are very few comics who fulfill all the criteria necessary to not make me switch them off after just a few minutes. My criteria used to be lower, which is when I sometimes had interest and patience in watching 30 minutes of an average comedian, but now only a few are deserving of my time; these few I can watch for over an hour without ever getting bored.
Criteria:
1. Charisma and an interesting personality. A comedian needs to be unique in some way otherwise he's just a random Joe Shmoe off the street telling (bad) jokes, and the moment a comic seems average he is automatically of no use, to me at least. Just as I don't listen to average music (except when checking out new stuff), I completely try to avoid comedic mediocrity: being bored AND annoyed is way too much. In fact, "comedians" such as Amy Schumer are so bad they are actually worse than a randomly picked pedestrian telling jokes. But nepotism will do that... She is the niece of a powerful Washington politician and she is also that other thing, so all doors to show-biz were open for her.
2. Courage to be politically incorrect - which is pretty much the same thing as being honest, as opposed to being an Establishment sycophant: a "minorities pleaser", in other words a devious, calculating liar who pretends to care so much for women, blacks and gays that he can't ever make "fun" of them. EVERYBODY should be made fun of. Life is absurd in all of its forms, and all of it contains comedic potential. No gender, race or religion can be exempt, for any reason. The moment you start censoring yourself to such an extent you're doomed - as a person as well as a comedian.
(Except invalids, that's where I draw the line. Jokes about the paraplegic and similar junk is ugly. But just because I draw the line there doesn't mean everybody else should: each person has their own tastes, limits, tolerance levels... We can't allow anyone - least of all hypocritical, dishonest liberals - to impose such Orwellian restrictions on us. Far from being "liberators" of society and mankind, they are in fact the biggest censors and freedom-of-speech opponents on the political spectrum. Liberalism is oppression, as all offshoots of Marxism are.)
Show some balls out there on stage, or go home and shut up. We have enough cowards in the media as it is - among actors, musicians, directors, athletes, political analysts, journalists, and authors - so we don't need liars and phonies in stand-up comedy too, which is (or should be) a special, unique arena which serves as the last refuge for Free And Open Speech. Once we allow Reds to destroy stand-up comedy as well as everything else they'd (nearly) destroyed, we will be one huge step closer to totalitarianism which Soros and his gang have been pushing for in the last few decades. (If this is news to you then know that you've been successfully brainwashed: it's not too late for you, but curing you will prove a difficult task, mostly because you'd been trained/programmed not to think for yourself, or not to think at all. Learning to think at an adult age can be a daunting task for the intellectually apathetic.)
Unfortunately, most comedians lack the balls to be honest. They just don't have it in them. Whether that's because they are privately dishonest too, or because they are afraid of "offending" someone, is irrelevant: the results are the same. Especially these days there is so much cowardice and so much obsequiousness, because truth and honesty are considered "racist, homophobic, misogynist, Islamophobic, transphobic" (by hypocrites and the New Moral Police) and whatever other dumb-phobic words these people had invented in the meantime while I was typing up this text. Dishonesty becomes obvious rather quickly in most comedy routines, within 5 minutes or even just 30 seconds: these types of pseudo-comedian con-artists are quickly identifiable and the moment I smell that stench of political correctness i.e. "playing it safe" I shut them off, forever. No second chances. Once a devious sell-out, always a devious sell-out.
Comedy has to be all-inclusive, which is something that - very ironically - liberals struggle to understand and accept. They allegedly want an "all-inclusive egalitarian" society, but with their ultra-biased non-inclusive routines Red comics prove that they have no interest in that: they actually want MORE EQUALITY for minorities and women than for example male Caucasians. Much more. They want white men to be relegated to the status of pariahs of society, to have their rights curtailed, and all in the name of virtue-signaling, just to satisfy their own narcissism (coz narcissists want constant acceptance and praise, and they will always seek it among those who offer more of it i.e. to the highest bidder, and liberals just happen to be currently the highest bidders), but more importantly to have more job security in a media landscape dominated by the Left, which doesn't care who is funny, just who is politically compliant. So much black-listing is going on behind the curtains, not "just" people getting "cancelled" which is done out in the open - as warning to anyone else who wants to "step out of line" and dare question the Grand New Liberal Status Quo.
Extreme bias is ugly and malicious, can be a sign of low intelligence too, besides which it makes a comic very predictable and boring, plus makes him out to be a calculated d****e as opposed to a genuine, frank character who lets it all hang, who takes risks, doesn't play it safe for fear of offending some minority of uptight lunatics who can't take a joke. Cowardice isn't funny in a comedian. Balls are. Comedians are funny when they are brave, not when they are compliant. Nobody wants to hear a routine consisting only of G-rated humour.
This means that if you make fun of men, make fun of women too. If you make fun of "rednecks", then make fun of blacks and Orientals as well. If you constantly ridicule moderate Christians then at least have the decency to poke fun at Islamic extremism as well (if you dare). If you make fun of the Right, mock the Left too. Be "all-inclusive", since that is what our Marxist Overlords allegedly want...
Especially mock the Left. Because they are the ones in power, dominating nearly all discourse and propaganda, and because we've been fighting them in recent decades. They are the spoil-sports, the NWO Moral Police, the screaming righteous street preachers, the fanatically aggressive lynch mobs, the zealous regressive hypocrites, the narcissists who loathe the world because it isn't exactly to their liking. What was that last movement that so fanatically tried to "mold" the world to their own liking? The Nazis, who else. National-socialists. Not a coincidence, at all.
3. A good sense of humour. This may seem bleedin' obvious, but it's hardly a given. Most comics are mediocre or even pitifully unfunny; they go for the cheap, obvious stuff and they do it in ways that are off-putting, boring, cringy, or their personality just isn't up to scratch. Not EVERY confident person seeking laughs can just hop on a stage and be funny. You can give a talented comedian weak material and they might be able to save face to some extent on account of their other strengths, but give average material to a hack with a mediocre personality/charisma and/or low comedic instincts and the jokes have absolutely no chance, they will bomb like a Chevy Chase TV show. Evidently, gifted comics very rarely use weak/average material, so this was just a hypothetical thing...
------------------------------------------------------------------
The list might change, because I might add a few names I'd omitted, or that I checked out for the first time recently.
Many big names are missing, such as Lenny Bruce or Don Rickles, because while I know (some of) them from movies I'm not familiar with their stand-up stuff.
I don't pretend that I am an expert on stand-up comedy, I am not. I haven't watched numerous stand-up comics as some other people have done. This is hence not a comprehensive list by a long shot - but it does contain a lot of the very best ever, that much I am certain of. Besides, my lists always give you some information/descriptions unlike most other lists that are cobbled up in 5 minutes. I may not have everyone here, but at least there are (accurate, brilliant) descriptions of the ones that are here.
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- Podcaster
- Actor
- Producer
Bill Burr is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and podcaster. He is best known for playing Patrick Kuby in the crime drama series Breaking Bad (2008), and creating and starring in the Netflix animated sitcom F Is for Family (2015).
In 2008, Burr's voice was featured in the game Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) as Jason Michaels of the biker gang The Lost MC in the mission "No Love Lost." In 2009, he reprised his role in the game's expansion pack Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned (2009).THE BEST
Strengths: Imitations of various demographics (which are spot on), descriptions of childhood and private life, willingness to mock himself in a way that isn't phony, the courage to call out women on bad logic/egotism/hypocrisy, great analogies, being natural on stage, the balls to discuss racial issues in a way that doesn't exempt minorities from ridicule.
Weaknesses: Despite being very perceptive, he is also of low education, so occasionally makes observations based on disinformation, propaganda or other nonsense. Comedy generally only works to its full effect when it's rooted in reality, so when it isn't then it has low(er) chances of success. Fortunately, this rarely happens because he is intelligent enough to usually detect bullshit.
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In rare instances he tends to feel the need to over-compensate when he feels he'd gone too un-PC, by going the other way but without rooting the jokes in facts or reality. There is no question that even the bravest of comics sometimes feel the heat, i.e. feel the pressure to curb their honesty by going with the flow i.e. saying what the Establishment and the NWO Police want to hear. He seemed to stray somewhat that way (roughly) around the mid-10s, but fortunately seems to feel more at ease lately again to say what he really wants to say. Not WHATEVER he wants, because even he can't do that, but as much as is humanly possibly in this moronic, restrictive, decadent, dumb era.
Style: Brutal observational comedy, self-deprecating, gender-focused, honest, stories, many F bombs, lengthy anecdotes, anti-religious but not atheistic, racial humour.
Recommended: All of his stand-up shows (altogether 8 or 9), his YT channels, his American tour-guide clips (YT), even his appearances on talk-shows (though I generally dislike it when comedians chat with these hosts).
Avoid: "Bill Burr - Friends That Kill"- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Ricky Dene Gervais was born in a suburb of Reading, Berkshire, to Eva Sophia (House) and Lawrence Raymond Gervais, who was a hod carrier and labourer. His father was born in Ontario, Canada, of French-Canadian descent, and his mother was English. He was educated at Ashmead Comprehensive School and went on to study at University College, London, where he gained a degree in Philosophy.
After university, Gervais attempted to pursue a pop career with Seona Dancing, a duo he formed with a fellow student. Similar to many groups in the early 1980s, they were a synth-pop act with a somewhat pretentious name and exhibiting a strong musical influence by David Bowie. Gervais adopted a vocal style that has often been compared to Bowie; comedian Paul Merton would later joke that Bowie nicked their music. Seona Dancing were briefly signed to a recording contract and released two singles, "More to Lose" and "Bitter Heart". The latter was slightly reminiscent of Queen's "Body Language" from a year earlier, featuring a similar synthesizer riff. The act failed to breach the UK top 75 and earn a place in the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles, but clips have survived and they have been frequently used to tease Gervais in interviews. Despite his own lack of success, Gervais stayed within the music industry for a while and even spent time as the manager of Suede.
Gervais had to wait a long time before achieving the fame he had hoped would come with a pop career. In the 1990s he formed a writing partnership with Stephen Merchant. In 2000, he landed his own comedy chat show on Channel 4, Meet Ricky Gervais (2000), which attracted legendary guests such as Jimmy Savile, Michael Winner, Paul Daniels, Peter Purves, Stefanie Powers, Jim Bowen and Midge Ure. The series only ran for six episodes but a year later greater stardom came for Gervais with the debut of BBC comedy The Office (2001). Although it was not initially received to great acclaim or viewing figures, it is now often cited as one of the greatest comedy series of all time and has been credited with reinventing the sitcom. Gervais starred as the obnoxious and embarrassing office manager David Brent, who has since been voted in various polls one of the greatest comic characters. It also prompted an American remake, The Office (2005). Gervais had further success with another sitcom, Extras (2005), which attracted a series of celebrity guests, including Ben Stiller, Samuel L. Jackson and his musical idol David Bowie. It served as a satire on the entertainment industry and leading stars were happy to play along by performing exaggerated versions of themselves.
Gervais has become one of the most popular and omnipresent comedy performers of the 21st century, hosting the Golden Globe awards, lending his talent to films, becoming a voice artist and appearing on numerous talk shows. He has become one of the best known British comedy figures in America. He is also regularly the subject of controversy due to his dark comedy. Some critics have called him insensitive and outrageous. Gervais has responded by saying "offense is the collateral damage of free speech", he has said that he doesn't aim for a mass audience, he's just pleased he's managed to get one, and he has compared his style of comedy and the audience he has acquired with being Iggy Pop in preference to being Phil Collins.THE BEST
Strengths: Perfect timing, natural, total confidence, goes un-PC often, a very diverse range of topics, great at making faces, imitations of stereotypes and animals, pretending to be a narcissist asshole, originality.
Weaknesses: By far his biggest weakness is the need to indirectly apologize for his un-PC jokes, by explaining before or usually after the joke why it should be acceptable that he make such a scandalous joke. This is somewhat annoying because it sounds like he is patronizing his audience, plus makes it seem like he wants to have it both ways - be PC and un-PC at the same time. By rationalizing his own right to tell a certain extreme joke, he is in effect seeking acceptance or even to a lesser extent begging forgiveness for being so non-PC. He should never do this, because Lenny Bruce I believe never (?) apologized, so why should he? Either you do or not do the damn joke: leave it up to the audience to decide whether you're out of line or not.
The other major weakness is his bad habit of trying to "educate" an audience in how to appreciate humour or to preach even about tolerance or whatever rubbish. Nobody sane wants to be moralized to at a stand-up gig. I don't know whether Gervais is aware that he is doing this, but it comes off as if he is constantly apologizing for his material, out of fear that it might be construed as racist or whatever. REALISTICALLY, the Left should hate him for the stuff he says, but he probably appeases a bunch of them with his numerous excuses/"instructions" how to interpret/listen to his jokes. If he took out these needless moments of "I'm a good guy despite these crude jokes" his routine would be flawless. At an older gig he once mentioned Marxism, almost reverently, then FAILED to make any jokes about it. That was unforgivable too. Maybe he just failed all his History exams as a kid...
Admittedly, despite being a left-winger he has come out publicly against the PC Police on several occasions, even during his recent shows.
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Gervais is a natural. There is no forced BS to his comedy, the jokes flow very well, and he has good diction i.e. is understandable.
Style: Stories as well as brief jokes, anecdotes, observational comedy, satire, political/social commentary, lots of references to animals and biology, atheistic perspective.
Recommended: All of his stand-up shows (around 7), Golden Globe host clips, anything involving Karl Pilkington (especially the travelogue "An Idiot Abroad" and the animated podcasts "Ricky Gervais Show" - both very highly recommended), "The Invention Of Lying".
Optional: "The Office", "Extras", "Derek".
Avoid: "Life Is Short", "David Brent - Life On the Road", "Special Correspondents".- Additional Crew
- Writer
- Producer
Jimmy Carr is an award-winning comedian, writer and television host.
Among the most-respected and best-loved comedians working in Britain today, Jimmy is one of the biggest selling live acts in UK comedy, consistently performing to sell-out crowds across the country and around the world.
His television credits include hosting some of the UK's longest running panel shows such as 8 Out Of 10 Cats, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Channel 4's Big Fat Quiz Of The Year and Big Fat Quiz Of Everything. Jimmy also hosts Roast Battle on Comedy Central in the UK and The Fix which airs on Netflix.
Jimmy has also regularly appeared on shows such as QI and A League Of Their Own, was one of the stars of Channel 4's 10 O'Clock Live and has been a guest on chat shows such as The Jonathan Ross Show, Graham Norton and Alan Carr: Chatty Man.
Jimmy has eight live DVD releases to his name: Live, Stand Up, Comedian, In Concert, Telling Jokes, Making People Laugh, Being Funny, Laughing & Joking and Funny Business. He has sold over 1.2 million copies to date. In 2015 Jimmy signed a stand-up special deal with US streaming behemoth Netflix, the first UK comedian to do so. Jimmy's Netflix special Funny Business was released in March 2016.
Jimmy's new Netflix special, The Best Of, Ultimate, Gold, Greatest Hits, will drop on March 12th 2019 and will be available to watch worldwide.THE VERY GOOD (though beware of his more recent appearances)
Strengths: Great diction, supremely confident, amazingly quick-witted, destroyer of hecklers, banter with the audience, absurdist humour, often un-PC, doesn't shy away from poking fun at Moslems and other "protected minorities".
Weaknesses: Overdoes it with the sexual humour, similarly to Gervais tends to sometimes explain the way comedy works while doing a routine which is pretty pointless. Don't "educate" us, just tell the jokes. Also, sold out to the Establishment somewhat in recent years. Clearly, he hasn't got the courage to risk losing some revenue by going against the incoming Marxist tides, the Communist Tsunami...
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Jimmy is possibly the crudest of the top comedians on this list, but gets away with it to the most part, because of his image as a clean-cut middle/upper-class banker. His appearance and what he says seem to be in strong contrast which helps him get away with some of his extremely raunchy material (not all), and which makes him unusual. If his explicit material were used by someone like Louis CK or Andrew Dice Clay it would come off as way too extreme, it wouldn't work.
I avoid his recent shows, i.e. the ones after he changed his face. What am I on about? Well, relatively recently (I don't when) he had several plastic surgeries done. It seems that at some point he must have gone mad, spontaneously/inexplicably morphed into a NY or L.A. yenta, then decided he needs to start looking like a cross between the Frankenstein monster, Roger Federer and GWAR's manager Sleazy D Martini. (Admittedly, he always looked like Federer, something he'd joked about on occasion.) His new face creeps me out, so no matter how funny he still may be, no thanks. It's like he's a different person but with the same voice and same style, which is too crazy... Besides, I hear he's sold out to the NWO mob, so no thanks...
Proof that even very intelligent people do incredibly stupid things. As if we needed any more proof for that though...
It's always disappointing when someone who appears to be intelligent DEVOLVES with age, instead of becoming even smarter and wiser. I never quite understood this.
Style: Very short jokes, rarely stories, play on words, absurdist humour, sexually very explicit, taboos, insult comedy, F bombs, less political than others, atheistic perspective, frequent interactions with the audience whereby he usually insults them.
Recommended: Stand-up shows until the early 10s.
Avoid: The most recent stuff.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
One of SNL's most talented alumni, comedian Dana Carvey reigned supreme during his six-season run creating some of the show's most memorable characters, including "Church Lady", "Garth" of Wayne & Garth fame, Grumpy Old Man and bodybuilding "Hans" of Hans & Franz notoriety. This sharp and witty writer, actor and impressionist went on to hatch a modestly successful comedy career in films along with some of his SNL cohorts -- Mike Myers, Adam Sandler and Chris Farley did.
The slightly-built, slightly dorky-looking funny guy was born on June 2, 1955 in Missoula, Montana, to Billie Dahl (McDonald) and Bud Carvey. He is of Norwegian, and smaller amounts of English, German, Swedish, and Irish, ancestry. Carvey was raised in San Carlos, California in typical middle class surroundings. His father taught high school business law and his mother, who was also a schoolteacher, had creative outlets as a painter and musician that inspired the young Dana. His gift for inducing laughter arrived at any early age. As young as 9 or 10, Dana was already mimicking characters he saw on TV, with one of his early icons being Jonathan Winters. His musical gifts came in the form of drums and guitar.
While majoring in Communication Arts at San Francisco State, Dana sought out the comedy stage doing standard impressions of well-known personalities such as John Wayne, Howard Cosell and James Stewart. Within a few months he was beginning to win stand-up comedy awards. In time, however, he replaced his impersonations with self-created characterizations and such ripe forms as the Church ("Isn't that special!") Lady were the result.
After playing various Bay Area comedy venues, Dana decided to relocate to Los Angeles in 1981 and give Hollywood a try. He quickly landed a development deal with NBC. While playing a straight foil to Mickey Rooney wasn't exactly his cup of tea, it did break him into series work as Rooney's grandson in the short-lived sitcom One of the Boys (1982). Mickey played a hip, energetic grandpa who is invited to move out of his retirement home and into the cool pad of his college-student grandson and his roommate (played by another up-and-comer, Nathan Lane).
Dana joined the repertory company of Saturday Night Live (1975) in 1986, and the result was spectacular, helping to reverse the show's disastrous decline in popularity at the time. With his sharp, quicksilver characters and uncanny ability to exaggerate dead-on impersonations of the rich and famous -- from politicos George Bush and Ross Perot to entertainment's Johnny Carson, Woody Allen and Regis Philbin, Dana became the darling of the SNL set for six solid seasons. He was nominated six times for an Emmy Award, finally winning in 1993 for "Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program", and also won multiple American Comedy Awards.
As expected, Dana began seeking comedy film vehicles to extend his stardom, following the pathway of many other successful post-SNL comics. In his first comedy vehicle Opportunity Knocks (1990), he unleashed his typical bag of tricks (dialects, impressions, etc.) in a tale about a con artist who falls for the daughter of one of his wealthy dupes. It was moderately received. His second, Clean Slate (1994), was merely a retread of Bill Murray's earlier Groundhog Day (1993) about a detective who awakens every morning without any recall. Given a thankless role in The Road to Wellville (1994), his third starring film comedy Trapped in Paradise (1994) this time had him joining former SNL alumnus Jon Lovitz. None kick-started movie stardom.
Dana's best results on film came in tandem with Mike Myers in which the duo recreated their memorable "party-on" dudes Wayne and Garth from the famous SNL sketches. Wayne's World (1992) and its sequel Wayne's World 2 (1993) were box-office smashes, but it strangely did not further Dana's film career. He had hopes that a self-titled TV comedy series, The Dana Carvey Show (1996) would connect with audiences but it faltered. As its host, he reprised a number of his popular characters and introduced a slew of future comedians, including Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert. The show was deemed too offensive and was canceled after only six airings.
Into the millennium, Dana's starred in one last comedy vehicle to date. The Master of Disguise (2002), which he co-wrote and was executive-produced by Adam Sandler. Here he played a klutzy Italian waiter who inherits the familial power of disguise. As before, it was a letdown and did little to advance his movie career. Since then he has been seen as a featured player and has appeared in three of Adam Sandler's comedy vehicles (Little Nicky (2000), Jack and Jill (2011) and Sandy Wexler (2017)). He has also been utilized in animated films, voicing such projects as Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015), Ankomsten (1982) and its sequel The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019).
Dana's true brilliance is captured best on the live comedy stage and, in particular, his numerous TV cable specials and stand-up concert appearances. To see Dana perform live is to witness an ideal blend of wit, style, personality and unrestrained, racy humor, something he has not been afforded to do on film. He lives with second wife Paula in Southern California. They have two children.THE VERY GOOD
It would be false to judge Carvey based on his movie appearances which were never particularly good. He'd never made a good movie, basically. His stand-up stuff however was among the very best in the 90s, and he was known for his excellent impersonations.
I haven't watched his routine for decades, so I have no idea what his exact status would be now. I gave him the benefit of the doubt with the high ranking. In that sense a similar case to Eddie Murphy.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Born of a prominent Irish journalist in Dublin, Ireland, Dave Allen started out working and touring through English theatres and night clubs. Only occasionally working on radio, he made his first TV appearance on the BBC's "New Faces." He managed to tour with The Beatles while they were still starting out and soon managed to get an eight-month TV engagement called Tonight with Dave Allen (1967), which ended as still one of the most successful shows in Australia. During 1969, he turned from comedy to making documentaries, but then in 1971, he returned to BBC television for Dave Allen at Large (1971), another top-rated show. In 1972, he lived out a lifetime ambition to do plays, soon playing both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook in "Peter Pan" for the London Coliseum. He followed up with two more TV specials in Australia. Floating between stage, television, and more documentaries, he premiered in America in 1981 with "An Evening With Dave Allen." He died suddenly in March 2005.THE VERY GOOD
"Some people think Dave was anti-religion. Actually, he wasn't, he had huge respect for religion, he just didn't like being told what to think, he didn't like brainwashing." - his 2nd wife
Sound familiar? How can this be applied to current times, I wonder...
"... And he didn't like a sort of prescribed guilt [coming from the Catholic Church]."
Guilt? Sound familiar? White guilt, maybe? Just substitute the Catholic Church of that era with today's Church of Cultural Marxism. Has anything really changed in this sense? How are liberals "progressive" when they actually copy-paste the bad behaviours of the past? And from religion, which they allegedly despise...
"People were outraged, his TV show was banned in Ireland after a sketch [with the Pope doing strip-tease in front of a bunch of cardinals]. Women wrote angry letters to the BBC, complaining about his jokes about the Church."
Sound familiar? Could this possibly have any parallels with today's PC Left, its Twitter karens, and how they try to cancel comedians and Free Speech?... I wonder...
Fun fact: the very Marxist I.R.A. (so popular among Hollywood's liberals) threatened to kill Dave Allen over his jokes about the Catholic Church.
Strengths: Excellent imitations (especially involving anger and imbeciles), great grimaces, perceptiveness, originality.
Weaknesses: The sketches were often not good. They were usually combined with his sit-down routine. (He didn't usually stand, he spoke from a chair.)
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The reason most of his sketches ridiculed the Catholic Church is very simple: as a boy he was routinely tortured and screamed at by nuns at his Catholic School, an upbringing that helped define him.
As for his stand-up, it wasn't classic stand-up as we know it, usually it was in a studio with him sitting in a chair.
One of the best of the old guard, though unlike some of his contemporaries he didn't have to resort to the F word to be funny. (He used it once late in his career and got a backlash from prissy, hypocritical BBC.) Allen loved to bend logic in order to draw absurd conclusions, to feign ignorance in order to make a ridiculous joke. He toyed around with logic and words. Allen's attitude was never vile or aggressive, even as he mocked clergy he did it in a way that wasn't loaded with negative energy or any kind of below-the-surface sense of righteousness.
Fanatical, righteous humour very rarely works, because pure anger is a negative energy that most people don't want in comedy. At least mentally stable audiences don't.
His earlier TV shows aren't nearly as good as his much later specials.
Style: Raconteur, observational comedy, anecdotes, anti-religion (specifically Catholicism), usually sits on a chair, no F bombs or only very rarely (in his latter shows), atheistic perspective.
Recommended: The more recent the better - a very simple rule.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Highly influential, and always controversial, African-American actor/comedian who was equally well known for his colorful language during his live comedy shows, as for his fast paced life, multiple marriages and battles with drug addiction. He has been acknowledged by many modern comic artist's as a key influence on their careers, and Pryor's observational humor on African-American life in the USA during the 1970s was razor sharp brilliance.
He was born Richard Franklin Lennox Pryor III on December 1, 1940, in Peoria, Illinois, the son of Gertrude L. (Thomas) and LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor. His mother, a prostitute, abandoned him when he was ten years of age, after which he was raised in his grandmother's brothel. Unfortunately, Pryor was molested at the age of six by a teenage neighbor, and later by a neighborhood preacher. To escape this troubled life, the young Pryor was an avid movie fan and a regular visitor to local movie theaters in Peoria. After numerous jobs, including truck driver and meat packer, the young Pryor did a stint in the US Army between 1958 & 1960 in which he performed in amateur theater shows. After he left the services in 1960, Pryor started singing in small clubs, but inadvertently found that humor was his real forte.
Pryor spent time in both New York & Las Vegas, honing his comic craft. However, his unconventional approach to humor sometimes made bookings difficult to come by and this eventually saw Pryor heading to Los Angeles. He first broke into films with minor roles in The Busy Body (1967) and Wild in the Streets (1968). However, his performance as a drug addicted piano player in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), really got the attention of fans and film critics alike.
He made his first appearance with Gene Wilder in the very popular action/comedy Silver Streak (1976), played three different characters in Which Way Is Up? (1977) and portrayed real-life stock-car driver "Wendell Scott" in Greased Lightning (1977). Proving he was more than just a comedian, Pryor wowed audiences as a disenchanted auto worker who is seduced into betraying his friends and easy money in the Paul Schrader working class drama Blue Collar (1978), also starring Yaphet Kotto and Harvey Keitel. Always a strong advocate of African-American talent, Pryor next took a key role in The Wiz (1978), starring an all African-American cast, including Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, retelling the story of The Wizard of Oz (1939). His next four screen roles were primarily cameos in California Suite (1978); The Muppet Movie (1979); Wholly Moses! (1980) and In God We Trust (or Gimme That Prime Time Religion) (1980). However, Pryor teamed up with Gene Wilder once more for the prison comedy Stir Crazy (1980), which did strong box office business.
His next few films were a mixed bag of material, often inhibiting Pryor's talent, with equally mixed returns at the box office. Pryor then scored second billing to Christopher Reeve in the big budget Superman III (1983), and starred alongside fellow funny man John Candy in Brewster's Millions (1985) before revealing his inner self in the autobiographical Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986). Again, Pryor was somewhat hampered by poor material in his following film ventures. However, he did turn up again in See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) with Gene Wilder, but the final product was not as sharp as their previous pairings. Pryor then partnered on-screen with two other very popular African-American comic's. The legendary Redd Foxx and 1980s comic newcomer Eddie Murphy starred with Pryor in the gangster film Harlem Nights (1989) which was also directed by Eddie Murphy. Having contracted multiple sclerosis in 1986, Pryor's remaining film appearances were primarily cameos apart from his fourth and final outing with Gene Wilder in the lukewarm Another You (1991), and his final appearance in a film production was a small role in the David Lynch road flick Lost Highway (1997).
Fans of this outrageous comic genius are encouraged to see his live specials Richard Pryor: Live and Smokin' (1971); the dynamic Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979); Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) and Richard Pryor... Here and Now (1983). In addition, The Richard Pryor Show (1977) is a must-have for any Richard Pryor fans' DVD collection.
Unknown to many, Pryor was a long time advocate against animal cruelty, and he campaigned against fast food chains and circus shows to address issues of animal welfare. He was married a total of seven times, and fathered eight children.
After long battles with ill health, Richard Pryor passed away on December 10th, 2005.THE VERY GOOD
I've known Pryor from his comedies since I was a kid, but only recently watched his stand-up routine. I knew he was famous for it because Eddie Murphy impersonated him in his own routine in the 80s, and I knew of his legendary status, but didn't know what to expect because so many "legends" turn out to be overrated, whether in music, literature, comics, cinema or whatever else.
I was pleasantly surprised how original, funny, and above all how natural he was. A terrific impersonator. The 1979 show is very good, and it was great to sort of experience again the 70s through it, to get away from the 00s and 10s, when most of the other stand-up DVDs were filmed. A much more relaxed atmosphere reigned in the 70s, before you-know-whos took over and poisoned everyone with lies and hatred.
He did lots of racial humour but his topics were diverse, not limited to just that. When Pryor mocked whites it wasn't mean-spirited the way some other black comics are/were. His humour comes from a genuine, very silly place, without nastiness - at least that's how he appears. Privately, he definitely harboured some racism toward whites, but it was never on farrakhian levels, or I don't believe it was. It'd be pretty hypocritical if it was, because he preferred dating and marrying white women.
Born to a pimp father, a prostitute mother, and a madame grandmother, his biography is absolutely nuts. He probably lead the craziest life of all the people on this list, and that's saying something.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Edward Regan Murphy was born April 3, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York, to Lillian Lynch (born: Lillian Laney), a telephone operator, and Charles Edward Murphy, a transit police officer who was also an amateur comedian and actor. After his father died, his mother married Vernon Lynch, a foreman at a Breyer's Ice Cream plant. His brothers are Charlie Murphy & Vernon Lynch Jr. Eddie had aspirations of being in show business since he was a child. A bright kid growing up in the streets of New York, Murphy spent a great deal of time on impressions and comedy stand-up routines rather than academics. His sense of humor and wit made him a stand out amongst his classmates at Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School. By the time he was fifteen, Murphy worked as a stand-up comic on the lower part of New York, wooing audiences with his dead-on impressions of celebrities and outlooks on life.
In the early 1980s, at the age of 19, Murphy was offered a contract for the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players of Saturday Night Live (1975), where Murphy exercised his comedic abilities in impersonating African American figures and originating some of the show's most memorable characters: Velvet Jones, Mr. Robinson, and a disgruntled and angry Gumby. Murphy made his feature film debut in 48 Hrs. (1982), alongside Nick Nolte. The two's comedic and antagonistic chemistry, alongside Murphy's believable performance as a streetwise convict aiding a bitter, aging cop, won over critics and audiences. The next year, Murphy went two for two, with another hit, pairing him with John Landis, who later became a frequent collaborator with Murphy in Coming to America (1988) and Beverly Hills Cop III (1994). Beverly Hills Cop (1984) was the film that made Murphy a box-office superstar and most notably made him a celebrity worldwide, and it remains one of the all-time biggest domestic blockbusters in motion-picture history. Murphy's performance as a young Detroit cop in pursuit of his friend's murderers earned him a third consecutive Golden Globe nomination. Axel Foley became one of Murphy's signature characters. On top of his game, Murphy was unfazed by his success, that is until his box office appeal and choices in scripts resulted into a spotty mix of hits and misses into the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Films like The Golden Child (1986) and Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) were critically panned but were still massive draws at the box office. In 1989, Murphy, coming off another hit, Coming to America (1988), found failure with his directorial debut, Harlem Nights (1989). Another 48 Hrs. (1990), his turn as a hopeless romantic in Boomerang (1992) and as a suave vampire in Vampire In Brooklyn did little to resuscitate his career. However, his remake of Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor (1996) brought Murphy's drawing power back into fruition. From there, Murphy rebounded with occasional hits and misses but has long proven himself as a skilled comedic actor with laudable range pertaining to characterizations and mannerisms. Though he has grown up a lot since his fast-lane rise as a superstar in the 1980s, Murphy has lived the Hollywood lifestyle with controversy, criticism, scandal, and the admiration of millions worldwide for his talents. As Murphy had matured throughout the years, learning many lessons about the Hollywood game in the process, he settled down with more family-oriented humor with Doctor Dolittle (1998), Mulan (1998), Bowfinger (1999), and the animated smash Shrek (2001), in a supporting role that showcased Murphy's comedic personality and charm. Throughout the 2000s, he further starred in the hits The Haunted Mansion (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), Dreamgirls (2006) (for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar), Norbit (2007), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010).
Murphy was married to Nicole Mitchell Murphy from 1993 to 2006. Murphy has ten children.THE VERY GOOD
He made me laugh when I was a teen with his two legendary comedy gigs which must have sold really well on VHS, but now I'm not so sure I'd enjoy it nearly as much. Still, very talented and irreverent back in the day.
Some of his racial routines would probably be banned today, especially the stuff about Italians and the Chinese. The 80s and 90s were more relaxed about these things, when things weren't anywhere nearly as uptight and insane as they are now, with the Far Left running everything (into the ground).
Not too crazy about him as an actor though, a very mixed bag with too much snickering.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Denis Leary was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Nora (Sullivan) and John Leary, Irish immigrants who had grown up together. His mother was a maid and his father was an auto mechanic. After a childhood in the 1960s, Leary went to Emerson College in Boston, where he tried his hand at acting and writing. He was a charter member of Emerson's Comedy Workshop, and taught at the college for five years after graduating. By that point, he had written several pieces for magazines and had worked at stand-up comedy for a time. In 1990, he and his wife, Ann Leary, flew to London to perform in the BBC's Paramount City. That weekend, Ann's water broke. Their planned weekend trip became a stay of months, and Denis, with not a whole lot to do in London, wrote a one-man comedy act. He brought friends in from the States, and they wrote songs to perform on stage. Leary, with Chris Phillips and Adam Roth on guitar, performed "No Cure For Cancer" at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival in Scotland. Despite some protests about the title, the show won the Critic's Award and the BBC Festival Recommendation. The next year, the show was moved to America, and it was eventually taped and broadcast on Showtime (Denis Leary: No Cure for Cancer (1993)). The show spawned a book, CD, cassette, and a videotape. It also started Leary's movie career. Since then, he has starred in several films and has had two of his own TV series.THE VERY GOOD
Same as Dana Carvey. Been a very long while.
Benefit of a doubt ranking.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Christopher Julius Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of Rosalie (Tingman), a teacher and social worker for the mentally handicapped, and Julius Rock, a truck driver and newspaper deliveryman, whose own father was a preacher.
Rock has been in stand-up comedy for several decades. He made his big screen debut in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and spent three years on the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975). He does commercials for 1-800 Collect and Nike and covered the presidential campaign for the show Politically Incorrect (1993). He lives in Alpine, New Jersey.THE VERY GOOD (WHO IS OCCASIONAL QUITE MEDIOCRE)
Can be great, some top material, but also occasionally quite unfunny because full of s*** which is when the comedy suffers - because it has no truth at its foundation. And considering that he does lots of political/social commentary he (as all such comics) needs to do proper research i.e. needs to understand the situation on each issue REALLY WELL in order to joke about in a way that reflects reality as opposed to someone's fantasy or sponged propaganda. He understands the gender stuff very well, he's as clever as a shrink, but when it comes to politics and social issues he bases his jokes on complete fabrications and lies. Sort of like making a joke centered around the perceived truth that Italians are introvert and quiet: such a routine would never work because the crowd would be totally confused. "What's he talking about? Italians aren't introvert and quiet." (This could work only as absurdist humour used ironically, but that's not what I am referring to here.) Sometimes he nails it (but only gender relations and stuff that doesn't require research i.e. stuff he can pick up from personal experience), but sometimes he just goes into outer space and bases the jokes on total baloney, which is the political stuff that he knows absolutely nothing about. He is one of those "headline readers". They understand 5% of an issue but feel as if they know 90% of it.
Basically, he is one of those intelligent people who are too lazy to better themselves. Such people have great observation skills in terms of personal experience i.e. they can excel only at things they have close and direct contact with (i.e. women i.e. his great understanding of the genders), i.e. stuff that doesn't require extraneous effort, but he's completely hopeless with the stuff that requires study, lots of reading, and deep analysis. Such people let the media and their schools do ALL of their thinking for them, which is why 95% of all people are zombies essentially...
For example, his slavery jokes often bomb because it simply isn't true that blacks were the only slaves and that whites were never slaves themselves. He clearly knows zero about the history of slavery - a trait he shares with 90% of the American/Western populations... You gotta root your comedy in reality, especially observational comedy, otherwise you can only make equally clueless people laugh.
But that's why great stand-ups are so rare. Not only do they have to fulfill the various high standards required to be funny and likable, they also have to be educated and intelligent enough to base their social humour on facts, not fiction. Chris Rock is severely under-educated and under-informed hence nearly all of his political humour is idiotic.
His "racism" doesn't help either. I'm not saying he hates white people, but does he like them? Certainly a question mark there. Someone this biased should not be doing racial humour. In the 90s his racial stuff was much better than it's been recently, and was incomparably funnier. Lately he's been sounding like a bitter old racist (I'm not saying he is, just saying how he comes off), and even the blacks in his audiences aren't laughing nearly as much because they can tell that he's going too far, and that the "points" he is making are far-fetched and fallacious. In the show "Tamborine" he sounds like a mini-Farrakhan. If a white person talked about blacks the way he does about whites in that show they'd be crucified, jailed, perhaps even threatened.
On that same DVD he states that "only in America is the legal system unjust". That is typical American-centric imbecility that one only hears from totally clueless Americans who seem oblivious of the fact that there are 200 other countries out there, and that the majority of them are far worse off than even the poorest regions in the States. But he can't know that, because he only reads headlines and has never spent any significant amount of time abroad. The "ghetto" and Hollywood is all he really knows, and those are very niche. To even suggest that America is the most corrupt country in the world is amazingly cretinous, but to actually say it - without joking - is a sign of extreme naivety and very poor education. Stupid he certainly isn't, but if he passed 5th grade it would only be because they let him slip through.
In "Never Scared" he actually says "drugs will never be legalized in America because then the white man can't make money from putting brothers and sistaz in jail". Now, how the hell does anyone make money off holding all these people in prison? If all American prisoners worked in labour camps and actually produced something in factories doing 12-hour shifts, I might even semi-agree, but they produce almost nothing (on average), but instead cost the state (hence the taxpayers) huge amounts of money. (Chris probably thinks prisons cost nothing, he has no clue how the world really works, he is rather paranoid and preoccupied with the "white threat".) The gov't would much rather prefer that the "brothers and sistaz" were all free and employed, rather than being on welfare or in prison - because that costs the state money, it's a huge burden on the system. Besides, if drugs were legalized then EVERYBODY would be in on the cocaine and heroin trade, hence blacks (who Chris implies are the main dealers) would no longer hold a monopoly on that (new) industry.
Furthermore, in that same show Chris goes on an incredibly silly rant about a white conspiracy to keep "brown countries" poor on purpose. This was so idiotic that I found myself smiling at the very idea, because it's such a typically anti-white dumb racist conspiracy. But don't think he was saying it for a laugh, he wasn't: he was using this as the TRUTH onto which he'd string jokes. (Modern stand-up comedy has as much MORALIZING as actually humour, jokes.) That show is generally completely off the charts crazy in terms of its "logic", as if Rock were himself high on crack which he's advocating should be legalized. There's some great material in that show too, but ALL of the political stuff in it is so utterly illogical, and so rooted in racist fantasy that most of it fails to be funny. Because, as I said numerous times, satire and parody are funny only if they are rooted in reality. If they are based on a fictionalized version of some quasi-reality then the routine makes no sense and has no point to make. Hence not funny, but pointless and random instead.
Then he goes on a rant about Affirmative Action, giving us a Mickey Mouse version of the history of slavery, all sorts of nonsense that liberals use as an excuse to keep the status of blacks as a "special minority", even decades after AA was started. (AA will be in place even in 100 years, and they will still be making excuses for it.) He makes a few good jokes, but most of this bit fails because it's rooted in nonsense. When you joke about fantasy you end up with jokes about a non-existent fantasy world, which is bewildering and confusing rather than funny. The crowd, despite being at least 50% black in this venue, was noticeably quieter during these bizarre segments than during the first 15-20 minutes which were quite funny. Evidently, even his hardcore fans were a little confused by these theories.
Make no mistake though, the first 20 and the last 20 minutes of that show are great, it's just all the middle stuff that's quite bad.
He too like Chapelle seems obsessed with scandal comedy based on racial themes, which is sometimes corny and can become overbearing. When done right racial humour can be great (Russell Peters), but it needs to be balanced AND rooted in reality otherwise it won't work. I am anyway wary of black comedians doing racial humour because they by default have the "upper hand" (in America) hence can abuse this unfair advantage as a minority bestowed upon them by Cultural Marxism - which they sometimes do, such as what Chris did in "Never Scared". To Rock's credit though, he does lots of balanced racial humour, i.e. isn't afraid to spill the beans on black vices as well, which he does more of in some of his earlier shows, when he was younger, less known hence braver (because less dependent on the left-wing entertainment industry on whose support he relies to stay wealthy - plus it was a much more free era). After all, black audiences enjoy laughing at themselves as all normal people do - something liberals don't seem to understand because they never bothered to get any black friends, or pretend not to comprehend because that wouldn't suit their agenda (which is to "protect" black people from those horrible horrible evil white people). Most crowds on his DVD gigs are black, and they absolutely lose their minds laughing whenever he jokes about the foibles of the black culture. They CAN laugh at themselves and they DO enjoy it... all ye liberals ought to know this.
He may be a bit too PC for me, though, sometimes, though that all depends on the gig. Certainly his Oscars clips hold zero value for me. I don't need to watch them to know he plays it safe with the trickiest issues. The fact that he got to host the Oscars in recent times is a strong indication that he is willing to bend over for his Overlords, which by default means he doesn't mind straying into PC territory - for that extra cash. In recent decades NONE of the other Oscars hosts were non-PC so this sends a clear message about Chris's integrity. He will "ho" himself (as he puts it) for money and prestige, something Ricky Gervais wouldn't. Ricky, despite being a liberal just like Chris, willfully provokes the ire of the entire American show-biz industry (which is 95% communist), best exemplified by his Golden Globe appearances as host. Needless to say, Ricky will NEVER be asked to host the Oscars. They prefer the likes of Amy Schumer and Jon Stewart who far more accurately represent what Hollywood stands for now: elitism, privilege, hate, bias, lies, non-talent, political compliance, ethnic preference and nepotism.
Yup, integrity. Whereas I can choose to ignore an actor's political stances, because a movie is not his own product and films are a huge team effort - and may not even be a political film at all, stand-up comedy is far more personal: there's literally just one personal in charge, hence this person's political attitudes and personality are of paramount importance, defining the entire tone and attitude of the show. I can completely ignore a singer's political orientation - or even their extreme criminal record - but I can do no such thing for a comic. I have to like and respect a comic as a person (at least to some extent) in order to listen to his routine, and if his integrity is void then there's no respect and no likability... Very simple.
What Rock is far better at than political issues (which he doesn't understand) is gender comedy, this he excels at. Only Burr is as good at understanding and relaying male-female relationships as Chris is. These two are the best at it, no question, because both have great instincts about human behaviour and they are brutally honest in exposing the foibles of both genders - especially women whom they understand far better than the average guy (who is by all accounts a totally dumb simp in this regard; guys need to watch Alexander Grace more to learn what it's really all about). I would even go as far as to say that no comic understands the female psyche as well as Chris does. Neither of them are too savvy about political issues but when it comes to day-to-day real human issues they are great. It shows that they are very intelligent, but lack the education to extend that intelligence to the more complex issues that require a lot more reading than merely personal experience which is easily acquired, with less effort.
Rock has some great material, but a thing he'd need to fix is his delivery, his style. It's over-the-top black preacher stuff: shouting, repeating SEVERAL TIMES what you just said, making bezoomny faces, the whole lot. The older he gets the more pronounced this over-theatrical delivery becomes. Just like a cliche of a black Southern priest - which unfortunately he does not do ironically. He'd be (much) funnier being more himself (advice I'd give to most comics - except the ey-holes), rather than play up the "ghetto stereotype" that is expected from black comics. (God forbid any of them "act white" (whatever that means, because not all white ethnicities act or speak the same at all), because then they run the risk of becoming the laughing stock of many in the black community who expect everyone to say YO in every sentence (which, hilariously/ironically, many white people do too, in their lame attempts to sound street-smart). Nowhere is it written how a black American man must speak: they should be able to speak in any way they choose, but are constrained by their own prejudices and deeply ingrained habits of what's acceptable and what's not.) Chris talked normally when he was starting out as a comic. When he was 21 there was none of that theatrical crap in his speaking. Now he jumps around the stage like a preacher begging for donations.
Chris does lots of non-PC material, but similarly to Gervais he feels the need to occasionally "remind" the crowd that he "supports" social justice and all that stuff. Comics should NEVER have to apologize for their material, and if they feel they must do it (i.e. are pressured by their sponsors, corporations, the media and all the other virtue-signaling hypocrites), they should apologize AFTER a gig or tour in interviews, or on their Twitter accounts... Because there is a difference between unconditional courage (which gets my maximum respect) and conditional courage (which doesn't get my full respect). And they should NEVER praise themselves during gigs about how socially aware they are, which Chris did on several DVDs. Nobody (aside from fools) wants to listen to anyone praise themselves - much less a comic doing a routine that's supposed to be FUNNY as opposed to a public test of his morality.- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Jerry Seinfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Betty (Hesney) and Kalman Seinfeld. His father was of Hungarian Jewish descent, while Jerry's maternal grandparents, Salha and Selim Hosni, were Syrian Jewish immigrants (from Aleppo). He moved with his family, including sister Carolyn, to suburban Massepequa, Long Island, at a young age. Jerry's dad, who had a terrific sense of humor, was a commercial sign maker.
Jerry attended Oswego College in upstate New York however transferred to Queens College back in New York City. Developed an interest in stand-up comedy after brief stints in college productions. Went straight from college graduation to amateur night tryout at New York's Catch a Rising Star, 1976.
Continued to perform in local clubs and Catskill Mountain resorts until his career was boosted by an appearance on a Rodney Dangerfield HBO special, 1976. Career took off after first successful spot on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), May 1981, at age 27. Appearances on [error] and The Merv Griffin Show (1962) followed. Also appeared four times as Frankie on Benson (1979) sitcom. After he was abruptly fired from the show, he swore never to do another sitcom unless he had greater control. This opportunity emerged when he was invited to create a sitcom for NBC in 1989 and teamed with one-time stand-up colleague Larry David.
Progression of "The Seinfeld Chronicles" into the long-running Seinfeld (1989) series phenomenon was ended by its co-creator and co-executive producer, Larry David. Still unmarried, he moved back to New York City into a new multimillion-dollar, multilevel apartment on Central Park West just down the street from his small bachelor studio on West 81st.THE GOOD
By no means a great stand-up comedian, but very solid observational comedy, and keeps it old-school by not getting too political, nor does he need F words. At least not in the 80s/90s, I have no idea what he's like now.
Hence it is very telling that even Seinfeld had recently spoken out against PC lunacy, because of how his college campus crowds react to some of his older material. Seinfeld's material!!!!!!! Imagine how far gone this brainwashing is that even Jerry's fairly safe and tame comedy routine is deemed "offensive" by all these Zoomer snowflakes at red-infested colleges. All these completely dumbed-down kids trained not to think, only to obey, their minds and morals completely crushed by neo-Marxists hellbent on the destruction of everything and everyone they deem "not PC".
Speaking of those embarrassing yet ultra-expensive institutions, WHY would any sane American spend any money on "educating" their kids in American universities? US colleges have become IDIOT FACTORIES in recent decades, breeding grounds for extremists and dummies, they are no longer places of intellectual development they once were, they're the exact opposite. You actually exit a university with a NARROWER intellectual horizon than what you entered with, not broader. This applies to top British universities as well: recently Oxford's "smart new kids" had drawn up a manifesto of all sorts of things that comedy should NOT contain. Imagine what kind of a future awaits us when these Orwellian morons take up residence at Downing Street 10.
Here's what Cleese said about comedy being scrutinized by these lunatics:
“PCness starts as a half way decent idea and then it goes completely wrong and is taken ad absurdum... You can make jokes about Swedes and Germans and French and English and Canadians and Americans, why can't we make jokes about Mexicans? Is it because they are so feeble that they can't look after themselves? It's very very condescending there.”
Not only is it condescending, it is actually downright racist. The great irony that I always try to explain to people is that liberals who feel they are "the guardians of minorities and the Third World" are the biggest racists of all, because they treat all these demographics as children, or as idiots that need THEIR protection. By treating them as children - and by appointing themselves as their saviours - liberals exhibit not only racism but their own immense narcissism. Unfortunately, too few smart people are out there to understand what the hell I'm even talking about...
When even Cleese, a left-winger, starts complaining then you know things have gone very extreme indeed.- Actor
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Russell Peters was born on 29 September 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Source Code (2011), New Year's Eve (2011) and Hip-Hop Evolution (2016).THE GOOD
I'd never heard of him until after I started this list. He is a Canadian born to Anglo-Indian parents (which I assume means both are part-British), yet they immigrated directly from India not from Britain, so already his background is very unusual.
True to his bio and very suitably, almost his entire routine (in certain shows not the case) is based on racial humour and cultural observation comedy, which he does in a way that is friendly, non-hateful and non-aggressive hence why he isn't pelted with food at his shows. He gives off somewhat A-holish vibes, in fact I suspect he might be unlikable in private, but his routine is entertaining and chill. Unlike some other "race comics" he creates a friendly environment, not a lynching mob mood with racist overtones. A lot of his ethnic imitations are very funny, especially when he does his fellow Indians, or the Chinese. Not often hilarious, but different from other comics, because he relies more on improvisation than most. He involves himself in even more banter with the crowd than Jimmy Carr, and that's saying something. You need to have balls to stray so often from your material by talking to the audience, especially at large venues filmed for a DVD. Or you need to have low criteria, however you wanna interpret it...
The great thing about his routine is that he makes it very international, poking fun at foibles from nations that NEVER get discussed by other comics, such as the Lebanese or Filipinos for example. He doesn't bore us by doing the umpteenth impression of a Texan hillbilly or an angry Scotsman, instead he does impressions of Saudis, the Chinese, the Poles, which is much more original hence more interesting. After all, the world doesn't only consist of North American culture, there are numerous other regions to explore, analyze and mock too...
It does help that he'd apparently traveled a lot which gives him first-hand insights or at least impressions, unlike typical UK and US comics for whom America and the UK are the entire world. Chris Rock, for example, once said (in earnest) that "everybody hates America because our god is money" - which is a very idiotic thing to say as the entire world revolves around money, and always did, always will. Nor does "everyone" hate Americans, that is also baloney that he was taught by Chomsky and the like. But Chris had probably rarely ventured outside the States or read anything substantial about the rest of the world to know this... Which is why comics unfamiliar with history and other cultures should stay away from overly political comedy: they usually embarrass themselves by revealing their ignorance and their overly US-centric attitudes.
Still, despite his travels he sometimes makes gaffs such as referring to "the English accent", as if there was just one. Of course, he meant the BBC English, the Queen's English, but being Indian and an accent impersonator he ought to know that English accent come in a wide variety. It's possible that he does know this but chose to simplify the truth jut to get a joke out of it.
When he strays away from racial humour he sometimes does well, but sometimes goes overboard, such as his sexual humour which gets cringy at times.
He is the ONLY comedian who stated a very obvious truth about white Americans, paraphrasing: "I feel sorry for the white people, they'd been made to believe that they are the biggest racists - when in fact Orientals and Indians, us Asians are the biggest racists by far."
It takes balls to say that, though I suspect he wouldn't say it NOW, not in this decade...
He also once mocked American whites for being so afraid of being accused of racism that they even pretend not to notice when a person is black. He did this in one show and it was very clever. He is practically the only comedian who clearly named the elephant in the room, by discussing how cornered white westerners have become in terms of this type of "reverse-racist bullying". If anyone was going to do it, certainly it wouldn't be a white comedian because he'd be afraid (ironically) of being labeled racist, and it wouldn't be a black comedian because they hardly ever give white people slack, so I suppose it makes sense that it took an Indian comedian to openly talk about this. And I'm pretty sure the Overlords weren't too happy that he did this... because white Americans aren't "supposed" to find out, i.e. not supposed to realize how they'd been blackmailed and cornered by their own liberal insanity.
And because he goes in detail about various races/ethnicities/cultures, you also get to learn something, which is extremely rare to get from a stand-up routine. There is never a sense that he is trying to pit the races against each other. Rather, he uses racial and cultural differences to make everyone laugh at each other - and at themselves - in a way that is non-toxic and amiable. I suppose certain black comedians (and a few white ones) could take notes from this. But then again, why would they? Controversy sells better, and extremism and bias pay off more. Though only the Left type of extremism.
His imitations are very good, sometimes top-notch, both of "stereotypes" and random individuals. He does a variety of accents really well.
As I said, 95% of his stuff is racial/cultural, but one of his funniest bits is the breakdance story. His bit about the need to hit one's children is great too: very un-PC, brave, funny.
I prefer Russell's earlier stuff, from the 00s, for example "Outsourced". But you can pick almost any show. "Notorious" is weaker though, pick that only if you liked all the others.- Actor
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Jim Carrey, Canadian-born and a U.S. citizen since 2004, is an actor and producer famous for his rubbery body movements and flexible facial expressions. The two-time Golden Globe-winner rose to fame as a cast member of the Fox sketch comedy In Living Color (1990) but leading roles in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994) and The Mask (1994) established him as a bankable comedy actor.
James Eugene Carrey was born on January 17, 1962 in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, and is the youngest of four children of Kathleen (Oram), a homemaker, and Percy Carrey, an accountant and jazz musician. The family surname was originally "Carré", and he has French-Canadian, Scottish, and Irish ancestry. Carrey was an incurable extrovert from day one. As a child, he performed constantly, for anyone who would watch, and even mailed his résumé to The Carol Burnett Show (1967) at age 10. In junior high, he was granted a few precious minutes at the end of each school day to do stand-up routines for his classmates (provided, of course, that he kept a lid on it the rest of the day).
Carrey's early adolescence took a turn for the tragic, however, when the family was forced to relocate from their cozy town of Newmarket to Scarborough (a Toronto suburb). They all took security and janitorial jobs in the Titan Wheels factory, Jim working 8-hour shifts after school let out (not surprisingly, his grades and morale both suffered). When they finally deserted the factory, the family lived out of a Volkswagen camper van until they could return to Toronto.
Carrey made his stand-up debut in Toronto after his parents and siblings got back on their feet. He made his (reportedly awful) professional stand-up debut at Yuk-Yuk's, one of the many local clubs that would serve as his training ground in the years to come. He dropped out of high school, worked on his celebrity impersonations (among them Michael Landon and James Stewart), and in 1979 worked up the nerve to move to Los Angeles. He finessed his way into a regular gig at The Comedy Store, where he impressed Rodney Dangerfield so much that the veteran comic signed him as an opening act for an entire season. During this period Carrey met and married waitress Melissa Womer, with whom he had a daughter (Jane). The couple would later go through a very messy divorce, freeing Carrey up for a brief second marriage to actress Lauren Holly. Wary of falling into the lounge act lifestyle, Carrey began to look around for other performance outlets. He landed a part as a novice cartoonist in the short-lived sitcom The Duck Factory (1984); while the show fell flat, the experience gave Carrey the confidence to pursue acting more vigorously.
Carrey also worked on breaking into film around this time. He scored the male lead in the ill-received Lauren Hutton vehicle Once Bitten (1985), and had a supporting role in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), before making a modest splash with his appearance as the alien Wiploc in Earth Girls Are Easy (1988). Impressed with Carrey's lunacy, fellow extraterrestrial Damon Wayans made a call to his brother, Keenen Ivory Wayans, who was in the process of putting together the sketch comedy show In Living Color (1990). Carrey joined the cast and quickly made a name for himself with outrageous acts (one of his most popular characters, psychotic Fire Marshall Bill, was attacked by watchdog groups for dispensing ill- advised safety tips).
Following his time on In Living Color (1990), Carrey's transformation from TV goofball to marquee headliner happened within the course of a single year. He opened 1994 with a starring turn in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), a film that cashed in on his extremely physical brand of humor (the character's trademark was talking out his derrière). Next up was the manic superhero movie The Mask (1994), which had audiences wondering just how far Carrey's features could stretch.
Finally, in December 1994, he hit theaters as a loveable dolt in the Farrelly brothers' Dumb and Dumber (1994) (his first multi-million dollar payday). Now a box-office staple, Carrey brought his manic antics onto the set of Batman Forever (1995), replacing Robin Williams as The Riddler. He also filmed the follow-up to his breakthrough, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), and inked a deal with Sony to star in The Cable Guy (1996) (replacing Chris Farley) for a cool $20 million--at the time, that was the biggest up-front sum that had been offered to any comic actor. The movie turned out to be a disappointment, both critically and financially, but Carrey bounced back the next year with the energetic hit Liar Liar (1997). Worried that his comic shtick would soon wear thin, Carrey decided to change course.
In 1998, he traded in the megabucks and silly grins to star in Peter Weir's The Truman Show (1998) playing a naive salesman who discovers that his entire life is the subject of a TV show, Carrey demonstrated an uncharacteristic sincerity that took moviegoers by surprise. He won a Golden Globe for the performance, and fans anticipated an Oscar nomination as well--when it didn't materialize, Carrey lashed out at Academy members for their narrow-minded selection process. Perhaps inspired by the snub, Carrey threw himself into his next role with abandon. After edging out a handful of other hopefuls (including Edward Norton) to play eccentric funnyman Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (1999), Carrey disappeared into the role, living as Kaufman -- and his blustery alter-ego Tony Clifton -- for months (Carrey even owned Kaufman's bongo drums, which he'd used during his audition for director Milos Forman). His sometimes uncanny impersonation was rewarded with another Golden Globe, but once again the Academy kept quiet.
An indignant Carrey next reprised his bankable mania for the Farrelly brothers in Me, Myself & Irene (2000), playing a state trooper whose Jekyll and Hyde personalities both fall in love with the same woman (Renée Zellweger). Carrey's real-life persona wound up falling for her too--a few months after the film wrapped, the pair announced they were officially a couple. By then, Carrey had already slipped into a furry green suit to play the stingy antihero of Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
Although Carrey maintains a foothold in the comedy world with films such as Bruce Almighty (2003) and Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), he is also capable of turning in nuanced dramatic performances, as demonstrated in films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and the drama/comedy Yes Man (2008). In 2013, he costars with Steve Carell in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013).
Carrey has one child with his first wife, Melissa Carrey, whom he divorced in 1995. He married actress Lauren Holly in 1996, but they split less than a year later.THE GOOD
I have seen only little from his stand-up stuff, but just to be on the safe side I gave him a decent rating because he's been very good in most of his comedies. His placement could change when/if I check out more clips.- Actor
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Steven Wright was born on 6 December 1955 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Natural Born Killers (1994), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) and Reservoir Dogs (1992).THE GOOD
One of the most unique comics with deliberately eccentric and absurdist humour, very laid back without ever raising his voice or overacting. Very low-key and different.- Actor
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George Denis Patrick Carlin was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, to Mary (Bearey), a secretary, and Patrick John Carlin, an advertising manager for The Sun; they had met while working in marketing. His father was from Donegal, Ireland, and his mother was Irish-American. His parents divorced when he was two months old, and he was raised by his mother. The long hours the mother worked left the young George by himself for long hours every day, providing him (in his own words), the time he needed to think about various subjects, listen to radio, and practice his impersonations, that where acclaimed by his mother and coworkers since an early age. Carlin started out as a conventional comedian and had achieved a fair degree of success as a Bill Cosby style raconteur in nightclubs and on TV until the late 1960s, when he radically overhauled his persona. His routines became more insightful, introducing more serious subjects. As he aged, he became more cynic and bitter, unintentionally changing his stage persona again in a radical way throughout the '90s. This new George Carlin, usually referred to as the late George Carlin, is one of the most acclaimed and enjoyed by the public and critics. Carlin's forte is Lenny Bruce-style social and political commentary, spiced with nihilistic observations about people and religion peppered with black humor. He is also noted for his masterful knowledge and use of the English language. Carlin's notorious "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine was part of a radio censorship case that made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1978.THE GOOD
I haven't watched as much from him as stand-up aficionados and his numerous fans, so I'm not an expert, but he appears to be more interesting than funny. I feel he's overrated, because many people consider him the very best. He's not though. In his special "Life's Worth Losing" he starts off with a boring fast-talking self-description that is impressive in terms of memory and speed - but isn't funny. And this goes on for 4-5 minutes. And it's all about HIM, which I'm not a fan of. When a comic says ME ME ME too often I start getting self-importance and narcissism vibes, which I am repelled by. It's perfectly legitimate and even advisable to use one's own private life as a source for comedy (gold), but this bit is just a narcissistic self-description to which my reaction was "who gives a s***?" And "this isn't funny, it's just like a rapper doing vocal acrobatics: I can respect the speed and the focus but I don't find it musical at all".
Later, he goes into a political rant about America's Overlords, and almost nothing in that rant is comedic in nature: it is mostly just a guy making an impassioned political speech. In-between these two sections there was some genuinely funny stuff, no question, and he's interesting, but compared to "the best" from this list he isn't up there with them. He could have been very close if only he'd ease up on the preaching and the "educating" and remember to always have the jokes taking center stage. I perfectly understand his compulsion to say it all, because I rant all the time. But I'm not the one doing stand-up comedy; what he's doing should have been STAND-UP COMEDY, not STAND-UP PREACHING. This is where some comedians get lost somewhat and start overdoing it with the moral/political posturing. When a comedian gets lost in political/social commentating and forgets to add enough jokes, it makes him appear like he's bitter and angry and seeking a political platform, which is NOT a good look for comics. You want them to be above such "lowly" human emotions, you want them to be funny, not frustrated. You want them to MOCK zealous preachers, not to BECOME zealous preachers themselves.
Gervais NEVER appears angry or frustrated, for example. Bill Burr is angry, but it's anger with a smile, and it's a kind of "ridiculous" and amusing anger that he routinely mocks and exposes, gives examples of it and then admonishes himself for it or makes jokes at his own expense. All the best comics don't give off vibes of personal frustrations. They all must have some (to varying degrees) but they must bury them because a crowd doesn't show up at a comedy gig to listen to an angry bitter man rant. (Unless they're bitter communists and show up for a very bad Frankie Boyle show, for example...)
The 2nd half of that show isn't particularly good anyway. I couldn't even finish it, the last 10-minute bit being too uninteresting.- Actor
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Andrew Dice Clay was born on 29 September 1957 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990), Blue Jasmine (2013) and A Star Is Born (2018). He has been married to Valerie Silverstein since 14 February 2010. He was previously married to Kathleen Monica and Kathleen Swanson.THE GOOD
Enjoyable routines, but not great, and he's way too reliant on shock comedy and playing the jock. He may have really been the guy he "portrays" (?) but it comes off as too much, not grounded enough. Too much "act", not enough "real".
Still, he had his own thing going and he was rather solid at it.
Again, it's been a while, so this rating is unsure.- Producer
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Jay Leno began his career in night clubs, where he worked 300 nights a year before hitting it big in 1992 with his own late-night talk show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). By that time he had appeared on television, acted in a few films (American Hot Wax (1978)) but hit paydirt with his late-night television appearances (he made a record number of visits to [error]); for several years, he served as Johnny Carson's permanent guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). A big, sweet guy with a very good comedy routine, he vied with David Letterman to inherit Carson's seat when Johnny retired in 1992. His victory was well-publicized, but empty, though he did gain a measure of revenge when his show beat Letterman's for the Emmy in 1995. Though he consistently lost in the ratings to Letterman except on special occasions, like Hugh Grant's first TV appearance after his encounter with Divine Brown, he surged ahead in 1996, as CBS plunged further into oblivion.THE GOOD
A competent joke teller with a good speaking voice and timing, but you could tell that he was often phoning it in, i.e. being like a robot programmed to behave in very calculated ways. Even though very amiable, he wasn't as natural and spontaneous as I'd prefer. He is a dull interviewer, but that's well-known.
And I dislike phony laughter, even when it's not annoying.- Actor
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Jeff Ross is an actor, writer, director, producer, and comedian, originally from Newark, New Jersey. Despite being a shlub, Ross has accomplished a lot in his life. He's done everything from roasting almost dead guys at the Friars Club, to playing a dead guy on a 2003 episode of the smash hit TV show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000). As a stand-up comic, Jeff has appeared on dozens of TV shows including Late Show with David Letterman (1993), Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), The View (2001), Real Time with Bill Maher (2003), Celebrity Poker Showdown (2003), Dinner for Five (2001), Pet Star (2002) Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon (1966).
He recently directed his first film, 'Patriot Act: A Jeffrey Ross Home Movie (2005)' which chronicles his week-long trip entertaining U.S. soldiers stationed around Iraq's Sunni Triangle. The film has appeared at numerous festivals and won an honorable mention during the Hampton's International Film Festival's prestigious Films of Conflict and Resolution program.
His blistering performances at celebrity roasts for the likes of Hugh Hefner, Donald Trump, Jerry Stiller, Drew Carey, Shaquille O'Neal, New York Yankee's manager Joe Torre, Kelsey Grammer, and Rob Reiner, inspired New York Magazine to crown him The Meanest Man in Comedy.
Besides being a former board member of the Friars Club, Jeff has produced numerous celebrity roasts for Comedy Central and executive produced and hosted the highly rated and hilarious re-imagination of the roasts, MTV Bash: Carson Daly (2003) featuring stars Madonna, Eminem, Britney Spears, 'Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs', Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick, Kid Rock, and Nelly bashing the guest of honor for charity.
In addition to Jeff's 2003 dramatic turn on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000) he has appeared on Six Feet Under (2001) and in the films, Stuck on You (2003), Along Came Polly (2004), National Security (2003) and The Aristocrats (2005).
Jeff has also written for some cool shows including the MTV Video Music Awards for hosts Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock and The Oscars for host Billy Crystal. He's also helped write the first season of The Man Show (1999) on Comedy Central and punches up movies for big shots like The Farrelley Brothers and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Recent acting roles include Fox's one hour drama pilot "Boomerang", produced by John Wells. Jeff is the creator and star of "The Burn With Jeff Ross" on Comedy Central as well as a producer and star of that network's wildly popular celebrity roast franchise. Recent writing credits include the screenplay "The Comedian" (co-written with Art Linson) and the book, "I Only Roast The Ones I Love" published by Simon & Schuster. Jeff also tours the world performing live as "The Roastmaster General".Unfortunately, I couldn't find much stuff, aside from his insult shticks. I know him from several "Roast Specials" - while I was still somewhat interested in that stuff (I no longer am).
Jeff is a very typical Jewish comedian: likes to go too far, has quick wit, and has the right face for comedy. He has that Jewish shtick going, and in a good way. (Some lesser Jewish comedians desperately try to squeeze some laughs from their jewishness, but to no avail because they're simply not funny.)
Essentially, from what I gather, he only does insult comedy, hence all those roasts. I don't believe he does anything else.- Producer
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Bill Maher was born William Maher in New York City, New York, and grew up in River Vale, New Jersey. His father, William Aloysius Maher Jr., who was of Irish Catholic descent, was a radio announcer and news editor. His mother, Julie (Berman), was a nurse, who was of Jewish descent. Maher was raised in his father's Catholic faith. While attending Cornell University, he decided to try stand-up comedy. His first stand-up routine was in a Chinese restaurant on Route 17 in Paramus, New Jersey. He soon landed a regular gig at Catch a Rising Star in New York City. After a few years, he became a regular host at the club and was spotted by a scout for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). Maher made numerous appearances on the show, and Carson had been a hero of his since childhood, but he always felt constrained by the rules of network television. During this time, he appeared in films and made guest appearances on numerous sitcoms.
In 1993, Maher was offered his own talk show by Comedy Central. Maher developed the show as a round table discussion on current events. Politically Incorrect (1993) premiered to critical acclaim and attracted major celebrities as well as politicians and pundits. In 1997, the show moved to ABC where it aired to continued success. On September 17, 2001, Maher made controversial comments regarding the terrorists who orchestrated the September 11 attack on the US. Sponsors pulled their ads and affiliates refused to air the show. ABC canceled the show in 2002, citing "low ratings". Maher had been nominated for 11 Emmys for his work on the show. In 2003, he was able to continue his television work with a similar program on HBO titled Real Time with Bill Maher (2003). He remains single and lives in Los Angeles.THE GOOD
Was funnier as a stand-up than as the semi-righteous semi-grumpy host of the misleadingly titled "Politically Incorrect".
Has a great voice for comedy and a face that is both puncheable and good for comedy.- Actor
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Jim Breuer was born on 21 June 1967 in Valley Stream, Long Island, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Half Baked (1998), Titan A.E. (2000) and Zookeeper (2011). He has been married to Dee Breuer since 28 August 1993. They have three children.THE GOOD
It's been a while... I am not sure how to rate him.- Writer
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Tom Segura was born on 16 April 1979 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for Countdown (2019), Instant Family (2018) and Cutman (2009). He is married to Christina Pazsitzky.THE SOLID
Started out poorly, then got good around the early 10s, but gradually became a sell-out.
His material is better than his skill-set, i.e. it'd be better if he wrote for a more charismatic, more capable comic. His timing is good and his delivery solid, but it's his unlikability that makes his routine less than it could be. It is abundantly obvious that he is privately an unpleasant person. He has a face that just screams "dourness". The cliche of the "angry clown" i.e. the "bad-tempered comedian" might very well apply to him.
Not that he clowns around much, he doesn't. He is quite reserved and rarely goes to broad impersonations and excessive gestures.
The second big drawback is that he turned into a coward. His latest show (2018) has plenty of racial humour but it is all directed against whites, in the most NWO-pleasing way possible. Seriously, even Amy Schumer might consider this too blatantly biased and obsequious. Just to illustrate what a coward he is, in one sketch he used the Williams sisters as an example of how he'd like to die happy - as if he actually has any attraction toward them. He doesn't: he was merely virtue-signaling, playing it safe, trying to score points with the left-wing media and culture on whose acceptance his career and finances depend. Among tennis fans the Williams sisters had always been relatively unpopular, but this never stopped many of them from pretending to support them, because THAT'S how extreme virtue-signaling has become among white Americans. From all the celeb women to choose from, he picks those two? Total phony.
I dislike his fake grin, total d***** face.
Nevertheless, some of his routines are quite original.- Writer
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Dave Chappelle's career started while he was in high school at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC where he studied theatre arts. At the age of 14, he began performing stand-up comedy in nightclubs. Shortly after graduation, he moved to New York City where he quickly established himself as a major young talent. At the age of 19, Chappelle made his film debut in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). Chappelle then starred in the short-lived sitcom, Buddies (1996) and had a featured role in The Nutty Professor (1996).THE SOLID
Can be funny at times, but more amusing than hilarious. I am not a big fan of the way he talks, his voice, which seems too over-caricatured for what a stand-up comic should be doing - namely being themselves. (Some may not agree with this, which is fine. To each their own. I prefer stand-up comedy to come from a genuine, real place, not as an overly artificial "persona". But that's just a general rule, there are good comedians who had a fake persona.)
I don't like his over-focus on race and controversial issues, that's all he seems to be babbling about - which is too narrow in scope and tiresome. He seems to be a scandal-seeking type of comic who more-or-less avoids personal, grounded comedy. Then again, I'd need to check out more of his stuff to be sure, so take this with a grain of salt.
Not too charismatic, though unusual enough to have his own niche in the business. Appears somewhat unlikable, like he's hiding something, and I wouldn't be surprised if he were a ***** in private. Like Robin Williams, stems from a very privileged background, totally anti-ghetto, so this is a distinct possibility.
This wealthy upbringing makes his racial humour a bit dodgy, because he CANNOT speak from the point of view of a typical American black male who unlike him was NOT brought up in wealth and opportunity, yet he does this. (As Chris Rock once joked, "I may be rich but I identify as poor." Of course, Rock was born into the lower-class, unlike Chapelle who is practically upper-class.)- Actor
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O'Neal was born in New York in 1969, but moved to Boston when he was just 1 year old. He was educated at West Roxbury High School and went on to attend Northeastern University, both in Boston. After this, various jobs followed including a sausage cart vendor at a train station, flower seller and popcorn seller at the Boston Garden Arena.
In October 1992, O'Neal attended an open microphone comedy night. He heckled one of the comedians, who challenged O'Neal to perform himself at the next open mic night. He did just that and so began his comedy career. Over the next 6 years, O'Neal became a fixture on the Boston comedy circuit. He then relocated to New York, becoming a regular at Manhattan's Comedy Cellar. After this, O'Neal moved to Los Angeles and radio, television and film projects followed.
He appeared in various shows, both in acting roles and as himself. In 2005, he taped his own episode of One Night Stand (2005) and in 2011 he had his own Comedy Central special, 'Patrice O'Neal: Elephant in the Room'. As well as on-screen projects, O'Neal worked on radio and continued as a stand-up in clubs and theaters.
O'Neal's final screen appearance was in September 2011 when he took part in the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen (2011). On November 29, 2011, O'Neal, who suffered from diabetes, passed away, following complications from a stroke. He was 41 years old.THE SOLID
"They always want black people and white people to be at war, for some reason..."
Smartest thing he ever said, but I doubt many in the crowd took note of it.
His racial humour is very black i.e. almost openly racist, but unlike Chris Rock he doesn't have any mockery reserved toward black men, and only occasionally for black women. For racial humour to work i.e. not to be malignant hence repellent it needs to be somewhat balanced, which from what I know he didn't do. He was decent at it, and he didn't seem as genuinely angry as Rock is, but he also wasn't as funny.
His gender humour is sometimes amusing but mostly it is off, because he doesn't seem to understand women that well. Rock, again, has him beat by a long shot. Rock and Bill Burr are like expert shrinks, they recognized all the cons that popular culture throws at us, celebrating the imagined purity of women. They see through that BS and nail it every time. O'Neal however "fell" for the con hence his gender humour fails, at least when he's comparing men and women, because he was too naive. I can't laugh at jokes when they're based on a flawed premise.
For example, "ask a woman on a lie detector test whether she'll leave you to be with Brad Pitt or Denzel, she'd pass it". This was intended to be interpreted as "she is loyal" not as "she lies like a psychopath". This is already so untrue, that whatever he says next is bound to fail, the whole joke fails (unless he can save it by introducing some great new angle). The vast majority of young women will leave their boyfriends in a flash, without a second of guilt or remorse, in order to be with someone of a higher status, not to mention someone connected to huge fame and money. Hypergamy is what young women are about, though unfortunately we are taught since childhood that women are morally upright romantics whereas men are sneaky opportunists, which is a huge left-wing fallacy. (Western neo-Marxism: always out to glorify "minorities" and urinate on (white) men.) This is why I enjoy comedians who are smart enough to cut through the BS, true freethinkers who can expose all the BS and mock it in a way that annihilates these absurd myths completely. O'Neal wasn't a particularly good observer - at least judging from his routine - hence some of his observational comedy doesn't work, no matter how he packaged it. Plus, all his nonsense about women falling deeply in love, which has also been disproven. How am I supposed to laugh at a routine based on women being romantic idealists? I can't, because it isn't true, hence whichever joke you drag out of this false idea is going to sound confusing hence unfunny.
Now comes the weird part. In private, O'Neal was perfectly aware of the existence of hypergamy. (You can find that interview on YT.) He clearly did understand women very well, but chose not to divulge his true non-PC opinions... His routine sent the opposite message, which was a pity, because if he'd had had more courage he would have written much better gender jokes. In interviews he comes off much smarter, and appears to have been very likable and down-to-Earth... as much as that is even possible with stand-up comics. (I believe most of them are ey-holes in real life.)
The main problem with his routine was a lack of discipline. He stopped mid-sentence far too often, he'd pause, he'd get distracted bantering with the audience, so his act tended to be too messy for my taste. I am listening to him, then he intrigues me with what he will say next, but he says nothing! He just skips to the next topic. Some would say this is "spontaneous" but to me it's a bit lazy. I don't mind spontaneity, that's always welcome, but you can't waste too much time bullshitting. Stick to your routine - unless you're brilliant enough to diverge from it in a way that is effective. I prefer quickness and efficiency, no lulls. An act is 70 minutes long (on average) so don't waste time. Keep it interesting. There's only one person on the stage so they'd better keep things moving.
The good thing is that he was more-or-less himself. He didn't fake a persona or talk in an overly "ghetto" way. He only talked "ghetto" when he impersonated certain black stereotypes.- Actor
- Writer
- Composer
Billy Connolly was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. He left school to work in the shipyards, becoming a welder, and joined the Territorial Army (in the parachute regiment) at around the same time. He developed an interest in folk music, eventually being an accomplished banjo player and a member of the band Humblebums with Gerry Rafferty (later of Baker Street fame). The jokes he told between songs eventually took over his act and he became a full-time comedian. Already a big star in Scotland, he became a household name in the UK after appearing on Parkinson (1971) in the early seventies. Billy has released many recordings and videos of his concert performances over the years. He has expanded his repertoire to include acting, appearing in a number of television dramas and films, most recently in the USA. In the 90s he made two documentary series for the BBC, about Scotland and Australia respectively, and in 1997 he starred in the award winning film Mrs. Brown (1997). He is one of the UK's top comedians.THE SOLID
He has tons of stuff, so I'd need to check out more of it to form a more accurate opinion. So far I get the impression he is quite uneven: some bits are quite good, some border on dull.
I never really liked him much. In the one or two movies I know him from he was OK, but not terribly interesting. Still, the stand-up turned out to quite alright, much better than I expected. He covers a very wide range of topics, unlike the black comedians for example who over-focus on racial humour, with occasionally original ideas, focusing on lengthy anecdotes which sometimes take a while to get to the punchline or funny bits.
I do believe that the heavy Scottish accent (obviously, there are much heavier ones than this: for one thing, he's understandable) benefits him greatly because the Scots, like the Irish, are "hip" in the media and among people. (As Russell Peters said, "everybody in the States claims they're Irish".) The English are considered prudish, cold and arrogant, while the Irish are allegedly jolly and friendly, and the Scots are dour but honourable - at least those are the approximate stereotypes. I believe these particular stereotypes are mostly rubbish, but hey, Hollywood and the media have hyped this nonsense for a century. I believe that at the root of this "northerly glorification" lies a left-wing willingness to hate on the successful and the rich, while glorifying the poorer. At least that's my take on it.
Personally, I find the Irish dialects far more likable and interesting to listen to than Scottish ones, but that's just me. Hence Billy's accent is not a bonus for me, perhaps even the opposite, a slight annoyance, because it sounds as if he's playing it up somewhat - which if he is I can't blame him for. If the masses like it, then play it up, obviously, make more money.
Showed that he has balls when he mocked suicide bombers and their "virgins in heaven" reward. Very few comedians go anywhere near ridiculing Moslems, because they know that mocking Christians is the safe - and PC - option.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Jim Jefferies was born on 4 February 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is a writer and producer, known for Legit (2013), Jim Jefferies: Freedumb (2016) and The Librarians (2014). He has been married to Tasie Lawrence since September 2020. They have one child.THE SOLID
Has some funny bits but is overall too dishonest and full of ****. Sold himself to his Overlords, which kills comedy, completely. When you sense that a comic is not being genuine and is only after money (willing to kiss ass of his masters) then that largely or totally neutralizes his comedy. If you can HIDE the fact that you're not genuine and are only after money then you can be funny (to me at least), but that requires intelligence and better acting skills than he has.
Wasted potential, because money is god... Spineless, no balls. A cowardly comic is like a castrated comic - losing 80% of his use.
But these days comedy is routinely killed i.e. castrated by political bullying. It is up to the comedian to fight against it or to cow-tow to it to avoid endangering their careers, or having them limited by the Overlords and their well-trained cancel-culture moron squads. Obviously, the less skilled a comedian is the more likely he is to sell out, to be PC, which is why we find that the most PC comedians are nearly always the least talented ones anyway.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Rodney Dangerfield was born Jacob Cohen on November 22, 1921 in Deer Park, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. He was the son of Dorothy "Dotty" (Teitelbaum) and Phillip Cohen, who performed in vaudeville under the name Phil Roy. His father was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents, and his mother was a Hungarian Jewish immigrant. Rodney began writing jokes at the age of fifteen, and started performing before he was 20. He took his act to the road for ten years, his stage name was "Jack Roy". While working as a struggling comedian, Rodney Dangerfield worked as a singing waiter. His first run at comedy was to no avail.
Rodney Dangerfield married Joyce Indig, in 1949 and had two children: Brian and Melanie. During the 1950s, Rodney was an aluminum siding salesman, living in New Jersey. The comedian made another attempt at stand-up comedy, this time as Rodney Dangerfield. In 1961, Rodney divorced from his wife.
When he appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)), Rodney Dangerfield made Ed Sullivan laugh. Few people ever provoked any kind of reaction out of the legendary Ed Sullivan. Dangerfield had the image of a lovable disgruntled every-man type that became a hit all across nightclubs in the 1960s. Dangerfield also made many appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) and The Dean Martin Show (1965) in the 1970s.
Rodney Dangerfield snatched a minor supporting part in the movie, The Projectionist (1970), in 1971. By the mid 1970s, he had cemented his image as a comedian constantly tugging at his red tie, always proclaiming he gets no respect. His big break came with many appearances on Saturday Night Live (1975), bringing himself to a much wider audience and proving hysterical on many occasions. In 1980, Dangerfield became a cornerstone of American comedy with the classic Caddyshack (1980).
Here, he played "Al Czervik", a rich golfer who was a basically nice guy who was extremely outspoken and very obnoxious. His character was often unhappy with the rich snobbery he was around, and he takes on the rich people that are so snobby to him.
The average guy that his character portrayed was an instant hit, and a formula that Dangerfield often stuck with. Also, in 1980, Rodney came out with a popular comedy album, "Rappin Rodney".
The album earned Dangerfield a Grammy for best comedy album. The next movie on Rodney's agenda was Easy Money (1983), a comedy that showed him as an insulting working class person who suddenly becomes a millionaire. The movie was also a big hit. Dangerfield became very sparse in his roles on TV and film about this time. The year 1986 saw the comedy, Back to School (1986), his biggest film to date. The comedy was one of the first to gross over 100 million. In 1994, Dangerfield starred in his first dramatic role in the successful Oliver Stone film, Natural Born Killers (1994).
He played an abusive father who drove one of the killers crazy. His part was critically-acclaimed. In 1995, Dangerfield entered the world of cyberspace, becoming the first entertainer to have a website on the world-wide web. In 1997, he starred in Meet Wally Sparks (1997), a political and talk show satire which was poorly received. In 2000, Dangerfield starred as "the Devil" in Little Nicky (2000). The movie was potentially a huge hit, but was a failure by most accounts. Dangerfield took a very small part, but was top-billed in the direct-to-video The Godson (1998), and starred in the direct-to-video link=tt0216930]. But it has not been all smooth sailing for this comedian. In 1997, he admitted to a lifelong bout with depression and, on his 80th birthday, had a mild heart attack. He has major fans from all kinds of people from all different backgrounds. Dangerfield had made a record 70 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), and had discovered many struggling comedians, including Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Roseanne Barr, Robert Townsend, Sam Kinison and Tim Allen.
The comedian owned a legendary nightclub in Manhattan called "Dangerfield's". In the 1990s, he made highly-publicized appearances on The Simpsons (1989), In Living Color (1990), Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (1995), Home Improvement (1991), Suddenly Susan (1996), among others.
In 1993, he married Joan Dangerfield (aka Joan Child), a woman thirty years younger than him, and a Mormon.
He died on October 5, 2004, after falling into a coma following heart surgery.THE SOLID
Likable, and his routine isn't bad at all, but he seems like a robot that you press the button for and he just does a shtick that appears to be too forced. I like his lack of PCness but it's just not my kind of comedy... Perhaps going "Back to School" is too old-school for me. I generally don't like old-school comedy i.e. the stuff from before the 70s, and I'm assuming he started in the 60s when stand-up humour was only starting to develop.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Steve Martin was born on August 14, 1945 in Waco, Texas, USA as Stephen Glenn Martin to Mary Lee (née Stewart; 1913-2002) and Glenn Vernon Martin (1914-1997), a real estate salesman and aspiring actor. He was raised in Inglewood and Garden Grove in California. In 1960, he got a job at the Magic shop of Disney's Fantasyland, and while there he learned magic, juggling, and creating balloon animals. At Santa Ana College, he took classes in drama and English poetry. He also took part in comedies and other productions at the Bird Cage Theatre, and joined a comedy troupe at Knott's Berry Farm. He attended California State University as a philosophy major, but in 1967 transferred to UCLA as a theatre major.
His writing career began on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967), winning him an Emmy Award. Between 1967 and 1973, he also wrote for many other shows, including The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969) and The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (1971). He also appeared on talk shows and comedy shows in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1972, he first appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), doing stand-up several times each year, and even guest hosting a few years later. In 1976, he served for the first time as guest-host on Saturday Night Live (1975). By 2016, he has guest-hosted 15 times, which is one less than Alec Baldwin's record, and also appeared 12 other times on SNL.
In 1977, he released his first comedy album, a platinum selling "Let's Get Small". He followed it with "A Wild and Crazy Guy" (1978), which sold more than a million copies. Both albums went on to win Grammys for Best Comedy Recording. This is when he performed in arenas in front of tens of thousands of people, and begun his movie career, which was always his goal. His first major role was in the short film, The Absent-Minded Waiter (1977), which he also wrote. His star value was established in The Jerk (1979), which was co-written by Martin, and directed by Carl Reiner. The film earned more than $100 million on a $4 million budget. He also starred in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), and All of Me (1984), all directed by Reiner. To avoid being typecast as a comedian, he wanted do more dramatic roles, starring in Pennies from Heaven (1981), a film remake of Dennis Potter's 1978 series. Unfortunately, it was a financial failure.
He also starred in John Landis's Three Amigos! (1986), co-written by himself, opposite Martin Short and Chevy Chase. That year, he also appeared in the musical horror comedy, Little Shop of Horrors (1986) opposite Rick Moranis. Next year, he starred in Roxanne (1987), co-written by himself, and in John Hughes' Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), opposite John Candy. His other films include Parenthood (1989) and My Blue Heaven (1990), both opposite Moranis. In 1991, he wrote and starred in L.A. Story (1991), about a weatherman who searches meaning in his life and love in Los Angeles. It also starred his then-wife, Victoria Tennant. Same year, Father of the Bride (1991) was so successful that a 1995 sequel followed.
During the 1990s, he continued to play more dramatic roles, in Grand Canyon (1991), playing a traumatized movie producer, in Leap of Faith (1992), playing a fake faith healer, in A Simple Twist of Fate (1994), playing a betrayed man adopting a baby, and in David Mamet's thriller The Spanish Prisoner (1997). Other, more comedic roles include in HouseSitter (1992) and The Out-of-Towners (1999), opposite Goldie Hawn, in Nora Ephron's Mixed Nuts (1994), and in Bowfinger (1999), written by himself and co-starring Eddie Murphy. After Bowfinger, he starred in Bringing Down the House (2003) and Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), both earning more than $130 million. He wrote and starred in Shopgirl (2005), and appeared in the sequel of Cheaper by the Dozen. After them, he appeared in The Pink Panther (2006) and The Pink Panther 2 (2009), which he both co-wrote, as Inspector Clouseau.
He continues to do movies, more recently appearing in The Big Year (2011), Home (2015), and Love the Coopers (2015). Besides aforementioned, he has been an avid art collector since 1968, written plays, written for The New Yorker, written a well-received memoir (Born Standing Up), written a novel (An Object of Beauty; 2010), hosted the Academy Awards three times, released a Grammy award winning music album (The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo; 2009), and another album (Love Has Come For You; 2013) with Edie Brickell. Since 2007, he has been married to Anne Stringfield, with whom he has a daughter.THE SOLID
I liked some of his film comedy (at least until the early 90s, before he completely lost it), but his stand-up from the 70s isn't great. It is interesting and unusual, but I'm not sure it ever made me laugh. I believe he could have had a great stand-up routine because he is very expressive and knows how to deliver a good line, but he'd always been a bit of a snob which is why "originality" was prioritized over being truly funny. It's as if at some early point in his life he started regarding comedy as an "art form" rather than just "making people laugh" which lead him astray and eventually to even losing interest in doing comedy. He turned very "serious", a bit of a "philosopher". Even his autobiography is rather sterile.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Jim Norton was born on 19 July 1968 in Bayonne, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Spider-Man (2002), Cop Out (2010) and Top Five (2014).THE OK
From what little I know from him, I get the sense that his material is better than his delivery i.e. he should be writing for other comics rather than doing the stuff himself.
He has some courage to criticize PCness, but he also makes sure that everybody knows that he supports gay marriage, which is the ultimate litmus test for courage among comics - in the sense that NONE of them dare to admit they're against it, or at least to admit they couldn't care less either way. Literally not one comic has ever dared say this, as far as I know. Which goes to show what an Orwellian world we already live in. EVERY comedian supports gay marriage or cares about it? Not a chance. I am convinced some of the most well-known comics are against it or don't give a damn either way, but don't dare say it
In fact, isn't that stance now punishable by death in the States? There is no death penalty in California anymore, but I do believe the exception is if you say you're against gay and lesbian marriage, then you get the chair within an hour, with no due process obviously. Because as a "racist Fascist homophobe psychopath" you deserve annihilation, or at least total cancellation.
Has too little charisma for this business. His material would have to be wildly brilliant and unique in order for him to be elevated to a higher level.- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Russell Brand was born on June 4, 1975, in Grays, Essex, England, the son of Barbara Elizabeth (Nichols) and Ronald Henry Brand, a photographer. An only child, his parents divorced when he was only six months old, and he was subsequently raised by his mother. Enduring a difficult childhood that saw him living with relatives while his mother was treated for cancer and only sporadically visited by his father, Brand left home at age 16. Accepted by the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in 1991, he was expelled during his first year for bad behaviour and drug use; by his own admission, he used a variety of illegal drugs and became addicted to heroin. After being expelled from the Chang-Ren Nian during his final term in 1995, he switched his focus primarily to comedy from acting.
Brand's first significant stand-up appearances came in 2000, the same year he also became a video journalist for MTV, a job which he was subsequently fired from. Continuing to work both in TV and stand-up, he debuted his one-man show Better Now, an account of his heroin addiction, at the Edinburgh Festival in 2004. Brand became a popular British television star by appearing on Big Brother and hosting his own talk show and numerous other series, and in 2008 shot to fame worldwide as the rocker Aldous Snow in the hit comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). After an appearance in the Adam Sandler comedy Bedtime Stories (2008), he reprised the character of Aldous in the comedy Get Him to the Greek (2010), opposite Jonah Hill.
Brand also starred in the remake Arthur (2011), opposite Helen Mirren, with whom he also starred in The Tempest (2010), and lent his voice to the Easter Bunny in Hop (2011) and to Dr. Nefario in the animated feature film Despicable Me (2010). He is reprising the role in Despicable Me 2 (2013), and will also co-star in a drama written and directed by Diablo Cody, starring alongside Julianne Hough and Holly Hunter. He also played Lonny in the all-star cast of the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages (2012).
Brand's writing debut, My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs, and Stand-Up, became a huge success in the United Kingdom. Subsequently published in the U.S. in 2009, it stayed on the New York Times' bestseller list for five weeks in a row. The follow up, My Booky Wook 2: This Time it's Personal, was published in October, 2010. In 2010, Brand received the British Comedy Award for Outstanding Contribution to Comedy and was honored in 2011 with the ShoWest Award for Comedy Star of the Year.
Brand married the pop star Katy Perry in 2010 in a traditional Hindu ceremony in Rajasthan, India; after 14 months, Brand filed for a divorce, which was officially granted in 2012.THE OK
The jury's still out on this one. I have contradictory impressions. Wildly uneven.
I like his energy, quick wit, plus he's eloquent for a comedian, but he is such an obvious narcissist, so in love with himself, a character trait that a comedian needs to hide REALLY WELL or else he is faced with plenty of hate, which he does get. It's one thing when Gervais pretends to be an egomaniac for laughs (which he very well may be, who knows), but it's a whole other ball-game when you listen to some self-loving brat whose personality is so obviously awful.
Hence it was downright laughable when Brand tried to portray himself as a "compassionate" person. Narcissists by definition have no empathy toward anybody. They don't even understand what it is.
He seems to have recently undergone a change, becoming one of those communists who are starting to share their worldview with conspiracy theorist right-wingers, a development that I could have predicted, maybe, because he clearly is intelligent. However, he is one of those bright people who don't bother to get properly informed but prefer instead to just read the headlines, then rely on what they perceive is "awesome intelligence" to make up for the gaps in knowledge. Unfortunately, that's how many intelligent people shoot themselves in the foot. They fail to reach their potential through sheer laziness borne out of arrogance - of which he has bundles. That's how "intellectual morons" are bred - or breed themselves.
In his show "Messiah Complex" he makes several key errors, all of which are the results of his narcissism, his arrogance, his laziness and him overrating his own intellect. Firstly, he wants to use a comedy show to indoctrinate people politically. That's not what stand-up is intended for. You wanna be a political rebel? Run for mayor or something. Secondly, he lampoons idol worship (to some extent) while secretly wishing he could be revered like Gandhi, Christ or Che. He jokes at his own expense once or twice, but it doesn't appear to be genuine and his narcissism is so strong that it always comes out as the primary force in his personality. Thirdly, by being PC he completely demolishes any semblance of rebellion he is fantasizing about: going after Tory politicians and the Daily Mail makes you a compliant sycophant, not a renegade freethinker.
I still have to complete that DVD. Might check out more later, or not...- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Lisa Lampenelli is one of the most high-profile insult comics. Though actually born in Connecticut, she is identified as a New Yorker, where she built up her career on the stand-up comic circuit. She is known for her outrageous pot shots at celebrities as well as references to her own weight and sexuality. Her acid wit and boisterous delivery has won many fans, some of whom had gravitated towards Andrew Dice Clay, and has won her the nickname "Comedy's Lovable Queen of Mean." She has been a regular at celebrity roasts on Comedy Central and has made a couple of television and film appearances. She has also been in negotiations for her own sitcom.THE AVERAGE
There's very little in her act that is funny, I never laughed. She can be mildly amusing, a tiny bit clever, and she can be interesting enough for me not to press the STOP button quickly, but that's the extent of it. The material is occasionally solid but her delivery ruins or lessens the potentially good jokes, because she isn't likable enough. She is mildly charismatic, but she doesn't have that natural talent to get the most out of a good line.
Being (presumably) a left-winger, and a woman, she gets away with outright racist material. Worse, she addresses her audience members with racial slurs which makes even me cringe a bit. A comic that wants to play around with these ultra-controversial monikers really needs to be smart about it, to try to do it in a way that is funny and makes it clear that "it's all in good fun". But she doesn't do that, she doesn't know how to use these slurs without embarrassing herself.
I'd never heard any other comic do this kind of blatantly racist shtick - especially no male comic. Because if a man did this, especially a white man, he'd be out of work, permanently. Perhaps he'd even be assaulted, murdered. By a gang of Antifa psychos, for example.
I don't blame Lampa Nelly for this though. It's not her fault that as a woman she is far more free to joke how she wants. She uses and abuses this privilege as many people do in her place and many who would given half a chance. What I do mind is that she can't make her racist act funny. She thinks that by using racial slurs she's somehow "edgy", but her act is just slurs, there's very little actual substance surrounding these slurs.
Her humour is mostly basic, almost predictable in a sense. There is very little originality in it, very few sudden surprises, no lateral thinking that defines some of the best comics. Her jokes are intended for a less intelligent audience and for lower-criteria crowds - which is pretty much the same damn thing anyway. Even that I wouldn't mind, if only she was funnier. She utilizes crude humour only, because she lacks the ingenuity of Gervais, the creativity of Burr, or the wit of Carr. I have a feeling like I could write a routine like that in a day. Her use of "don't" instead of "doesn't" i.e. her phony street-wise speak is slightly annoying because it sounds way too forced. You can tell that she's trying hard to be edgy and even "ghetto", and perhaps that's why she recently retired from stand-up, because she realized that she has no such credibility and standing among fans of comedy.
There's no way she would have retired if the money were pouring in for her shows... Stand-up is very lucrative if you're "killin' it", and it's great for the comic's ego, so few comedians give it up on a whim. They give it up for being too old, or for health reasons, or because they're blacklisted by liberals, or because their film career is doing very well - they never give it up to become a life coach, as she did.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford Motor Company executive from Indiana. Williams had English, German, French, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.
Robin briefly studied political science at Claremont Men's College and theater at College of Marin before enrolling at The Juilliard School to focus on theater. After leaving Juilliard, he performed in nightclubs where he was discovered for the role of "Mork, from Ork", in an episode of Happy Days (1974). The episode, My Favorite Orkan (1978), led to his famous spin-off weekly TV series, Mork & Mindy (1978). He made his feature starring debut playing the title role in Popeye (1980), directed by Robert Altman.
Williams' continuous comedies and wild comic talents involved a great deal of improvisation, following in the footsteps of his idol Jonathan Winters. Williams also proved to be an effective dramatic actor, receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), and The Fisher King (1991), before winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Good Will Hunting (1997).
During the 1990s, Williams became a beloved hero to children the world over for his roles in a string of hit family-oriented films, including Hook (1991), FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), Flubber (1997), and Bicentennial Man (1999). He continued entertaining children and families into the 21st century with his work in Robots (2005), Happy Feet (2006), Night at the Museum (2006), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Happy Feet Two (2011), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). Other more adult-oriented films for which Williams received acclaim include The World According to Garp (1982), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Awakenings (1990), The Birdcage (1996), Insomnia (2002), One Hour Photo (2002), World's Greatest Dad (2009), and Boulevard (2014).
On Monday, August 11th, 2014, Robin Williams was found dead at his home in Tiburon, California USA, the victim of an apparent suicide, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office. A 911 call was received at 11:55 a.m. PDT, firefighters and paramedics arrived at his home at 12:00 p.m. PDT, and he was pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m. PDT.THE MEDIOCRE
His routine was generally rather pathetic, with very rare moments of amusement. It's not that he wasn't gifted at all, he did have some ability, but his stage persona was FAKE. He was like an angry, frustrated clown on uppers, there was little to nothing genuine about him. Bill Burr is genuine, Gervais is genuine, Dave Allen is genuine - Robin Williams was an invention. He was a clown rather than a stand-up comic but he was a bad clown. Most clowns are bad so it's not as if he isn't in "good" company...
His face was always so SOUR, with an unnatural smile badly "disguising" the fake grin, like an angry frustrated little proto-SJW trying to be funny. This had always bothered me about him. When it later turned out that he was a severely depressed suicidal, I wasn't too surprised, even though they blamed it on Parkinson's or something else. In fact, he'd been alcoholic years earlier, which in Entertainese translates to "depressed celeb unable to cope with fame or life". There is no doubt that his disease made him more depressed hence suicidal, but I am convinced he'd always been somewhat depressed. It is this inherent glumness which he could never completely conceal that's part of why I never liked him much - especially not his stand-up act which is poor. He was better in movies. Some movies. He was quite bad in a number of them.
He did have some talent, could have been better if he'd been more confident and less bitter (about whatever). This undercurrent of ANGER that he dared not display (i.e. tried to hide) hurt his comedy too. Also, far too frantic, in a rush to cram as many jokes as could in rapid-fire style, which made him appear insecure, as if going at a slower tempo would make people realize just how mediocre he really was. He wouldn't even let a second of silence flow by - because he was fearful the crowd might catch on to him. Most (good) comics seem very confident, but Williams seemed anxious, nervous. More proof of this was his smile which was not genuine, it was so obviously fake, he didn't appear too relaxed, which is a big minus in stand-up comedy. He was hiding behind a mask that represented a successful happy comedian - which he probably never was. Just as most audiences failed to notice that awful fake smile on Will Smith, so did they with Williams too. Celeb phonies can fool a lot of the people all of the time. Everyone was shocked by Smith's psychopathic behaviour at the Oscars, but for me - who knew all along that he was a typical show-biz narcissist - it came as no surprise whatsoever. You can rarely run a fake smile by me and not have me notice it...
His 1986 "Live at the Met" gets tiresome rather quickly, the material very rarely being up to scratch: it's all rather average, bad even. Plus his timing is awful. Rushing through lines and punchlines as if he were on speed isn't my idea of funny, it's my definition of overacting and insecurity. Ironically, he does a routine on his cocaine addiction, though he never picks up on the irony that his entire routine is like that of a drug addict out of his mind. Some people found this style funny, I didn't. I watched that show 35 years ago and I re-visited it again recently, and it hasn't aged well. To illustrate just how bad it is, consider the fact that I'd completely forgotten that I'd watched this show, and only after 5 minutes did I realize that I know this gig. Or the fact that I was so bored I had to stop halfway through; I still haven't completed it.
Totally inferior to his contemporary Eddie Murphy, who would out-do him by a light-year. Just as it is inferior to all good comedians that currently do stand-up now.
Stems from a very privileged background, which is why he very predictably went the liberal route, because if there's anything rich (show-biz) people have learned it's that pretending to care for the underprivileged makes most people forget about your own privilege... Though the funny side is that his great-great-grandfather was a Democrat Senator who curtailed the rights of blacks. There was nothing funny about that at all, just as there wasn't that much funny about Williams. Irony is a bitch. I wonder why he never joked about this distant ancestor... Or maybe he did?
Robin's appearances on talk-shows were generally just as cringe as his live act. The phony frantic grin was always there, the fast jabbering, and the average material.- Actor
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Jason Rouse is an Actor, Podcaster, Writer, and renegade touring stand-up Comedian taking the mainstream comedy world and turning it upside down. Over the years Jason Rouse has been sharpening his teeth in clubs and festivals all over the world. Jason Rouse has made it his mission to forge a new road and write a new chapter in stand up comedy. Middle of the road mainstream comedy will be left for dead. Instead this "Jester from Hell" will be unleashed onto international stages with all of the power of a derailed comedy freight train. Disarmed, you sit in the dark, jaws dropping in disbelief. Rouse is razor-sharp and always a step ahead. Surprisingly, the ensuing comedic hangover proves to be irresistibly therapeutic. How you ask? Jason Rouse doesn't turn a blind eye to tragedies. Rather, he embraces life's misfortunes and emerges as a leader in his twisted brand of comedy, finding humor in all of life's horrors. Rouse brings his new moral codes to the Austin comedy scene. Are you up for an irresistibly tantalizing glimpse of the forbidden?
"The filthiest comic working today" - Yannis Pappas
"My mother's favorite comedian" - Russell Peters
"The Terminator of comedy" - Andrew Dice ClayTHE MEDIOCRE
Nothing funny here at all... His delivery is bad, his personality is average, the humour is mostly primitive... Maybe some people consider him "edgy" because he's dressed like a punk hipster (or whatever you wanna call that "image" of his), but this is just a weak comedian trying hard to distinguish himself from the sea of other mediocrities by dressing up differently.
That never works.- Actress
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Janeane, the petite woman with the acerbic wit, was born in Newton, New Jersey, in 1964, to Joan, a secretary, and Carmine Garofalo, an Exxon executive. She is of Italian and Irish descent. Janeane had many jobs before breaking into show biz. She worked as a bike messenger, a shoe saleswoman, waitress and temp secretary. Watching David Letterman on TV inspired her to write comedy, and by 1985 she was doing stand up comedy. As such, Janeane has become a cult figure, giving a voice to a generation, venting her frustration at T.V., romance, life in general and anything that ticks her off in particular. Janeane did sketches on The Ben Stiller Show (1992) (an Emmy-winning, but canceled show). She would continue to collaborate with Ben Stiller in future projects. Janeane received 2 Emmy nominations for her work on The Larry Sanders Show (1992), developing her signature character: a smart, cynical woman with a razor wit. She was not happy with her Saturday Night Live (1975) stint in 1994, and was vocal about it (of course). Transferring her persona from TV to the big screen, she moved on to movies, basically playing the character she had defined for herself. In Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) she portrayed a smart, cynical, successful businesswomen with a razor wit, and this time with swear words (in the movie she had developed a brand of cigarettes with fast-burning paper, for the gal on the go; in real life it is alleged she smokes Marlboros). Janeane continues to work in TV and movies, often collaborating with Ben Stiller in a number of movies like Mystery Men (1999), his easygoing style being a counterpoint to her caustic nature.THE BAD
The biggest joke in her entire act is herself, and that's not meant as a compliment...- Producer
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Chelsea Handler was born in Livingston, New Jersey, to a Mormon mother, Rita (Stoecker), who was born in Germany, and an American-born Jewish father, Seymour Handler. She was the youngest of six children. In 2002, Chelsea was one of the stars of Oxygen's Girls Behaving Badly (2002). Chelsea got her start doing stand-up comedy, she has since performed nationwide to sold out audiences. Chelsea is a best-selling author, writing the books "My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands", "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" and "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang". Chelsea is a late-night talk show host, with Chelsea Lately (2007).THE BAD
Very similar background as Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer, a nepotist, rich, privileged princess who gets by on her political correctness, not her lame humour and very limited abilities.
Like Sarah, she got her own TV show. Shocker.
Very predictable scenario. Get ready for a LOT more scenarios such as hers. As America's media/entertainment landscape sinks further, there are bound to be a bunch more chelseas and handlers overflooding the market, while real comedians are forced to get by posting clips on YouTube...
Until of course YT itself (and all the other major internet places) cancels all dissenting voices, and we find ourselves in a totalitarian world.- Actor
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Patton Oswalt has been headlining at comedy clubs all over the United States since 1996, as well as appearing in his own standup specials on Comedy Central and HBO. He was chosen as Entertainment Weekly's "It" comedian in 2002. He is a regular on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993). His other television credits include appearances on Seinfeld (1989) and NewsRadio (1995).
As a writer, Oswalt spent two seasons on Mad TV (1995) and has also written for the MTV Music Video Awards. He is currently writing screenplays and has appeared in the feature films Starsky & Hutch (2004), Man on the Moon (1999) and Magnolia (1999).THE BAD
The material is fairly boring, so it's not a pity that he is such a weak speaker because even a more competent comic would have not done much with it. His face is wrong for comedy, his voice is annoying and whiny, he has virtually no charisma, and his impersonations are borderline cringy. He isn't funny, only very mildly amusing - on a few very rare occasions. He is that unfunny guy women ignore who wants to hog all the attention, but just lacks the chops to pull it off. Any time he raises his voice he appears extra-desperate, so he's less pathetic when he does more deadpan stuff. As soon as he gets animated it's immediate embarrassment on behalf of the audience - or at least a halfway intelligent audience with criteria.
It's weird how some people are so easily entertained that just seeing a big round man with a "funny face" makes them laugh. To me his face is the opposite of funny: he seems mean-spirited and frustrated - at least that's the vibes he gives out. But to his fans he probably appears as "a jolly little fat man". Weird stuff...
Because I am almost totally cut off from mainstream American TV/cinema from the last 15-20 years, I didn't know who he was, I literally found his name on some random comics list. After checking out a 20-minute routine, which I described in the first trollagraph, I wondered if he even got any proper employment, being so bad.
How naive I was. His IMDb filmography/TVography is EXTENSIVE. This guy is busier than Bruce Willies in his 40s. I was very surprised, asked myself, how the hell is this possible? Then I read his Wikipedia page, and all became clear. You have just one guess as to why he is so "in demand". Come on, it is obvious...
Poster-boy for an Establishment sycophant. If he were outspoken against his Overlords he'd be NOWHERE. Literally unemployable. It is admittedly tough to be politically courageous when you have nothing to back it up with. Gervais and Burr can say whatever they want because they're so good they will always be able to make lots of money anyway, even if all SJW nitwits cancelled them, or tried to, but people like Oswalt would stand no chance because his talent is minuscule.- Actor
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Ruben was born and raised in Carson, California which is one of the most diverse cities in the Los Angeles area. "I grew up in an all black neighborhood, went to an all Mexican high school, went to an all white church and shopped at a lot of Asian stores," he quips. Ruben's upbringing was the foundation for his universal appeal as an Actor/Comedian. His undeniable charisma, and spontaneity make him a crowd favorite every where he goes. This was evident in his recent stand out performance on George Lopez new talk show,Lopez Tonight (2009)
In 2009, he was hand picked by Russell Peters to perform on Showtime Network Special,Russell Peters Presents (2009) which exposed him to a brand new international audience. Other Stand Up appearances include: CBS'"The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson", "Comics Unleashed", on ABC, "HBO Comedy Showcase", NBC's"Friday Nights", and B.E.T's "Comic View" just to name a few. As well as being a gifted Stand Up, Ruben is a trained actor that enjoys everything from theater to film. His first role in a major theater release was in Deliver Us from Eva (2003) starring Gabrielle Union and 'LL Cool J'
Ruben's talents has garnered him many honors including being chosen as one of the "Best of the fest Comics"at HBO's prestigious U.S. Comedy and Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. Ruben also toured extensively with Jamie Foxx,George Lopez, and 'Cedric the Entertainer' Ruben also performs for U.S. Troops all around the world and headlines clubs across the country.
When in Los Angeles, Ruben can be seen regularly at "The Laugh Factory", "The Icehouse","The Comedy Store", and "The Improv".THE BAD
This guy's routine is totally cringe. Between being politically correct and making very lame jokes (with garbage impressions), there is absolutely no part of his material that has any worth at all. Completely boring, totally unfunny, very fake personality...- Actress
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Sarah Silverman was most recently the host of the two-time Emmy-nominated weekly topical series, I Love You America, which streamed on Hulu and also received a Writers Guild Awards nomination.
Silverman is currently working on a musical adaptation of her 2010 memoir and New York Times Bestseller called The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee. The musical, The Bedwetter, will premiere Off Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company in April 2020.
On-stage, Silverman continues to cement her status as a force in stand-up comedy. In May 2017, she released her latest standup special A Speck of Dust on Netflix, which culminated in two Emmy Award nominations and a Grammy Award nomination. In 2013, she debuted her hour-long HBO standup special Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles, which earned her the 2014 Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special." The special received an additional Primetime Emmy Awards nomination that year for "Outstanding Variety Special" in addition to a Writers Guild Awards nomination. In September 2014, Silverman released the special as an audio album through Sub Pop Records, which went on to receive a 2015 Grammy Awards nomination for "Best Comedy Album." Previously, Silverman made an impressive splash with her concert-meets-comedy film Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic, which garnered major attention at the Toronto Film Festival.
In the film world, Silverman was most recently seen opposite Emma Stone and Steve Carell in the critically-acclaimed film Battle of the Sexes, which was based on the true story of the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. She also starred in I Smile Back, the film adaptation of the Amy Koppelman novel. The drama premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was later released in theaters by Broad Green Pictures. Silverman received much praise for her role as "Laney Brooks," culminating in a 2016 Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for "Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role." Her additional film credits include The Book of Henry, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Ashby, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Take This Waltz, Gravy, Peep World, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, The School of Rock, There's Something About Mary, The Way of The Gun. Silverman also lent her voice as "Vanellope" in the Oscar-nominated smash hit Wreck It Ralph and Golden Globe nominated Wreck it Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet.
Silverman was nominated for a 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series" for her portrayal of a fictionalized version of herself in her Comedy Central series The Sarah Silverman Program. This marked Comedy Central's first ever Emmy nomination in a scripted acting category. Silverman also received a Writers Guild Award nomination for her work on the show. In 2008, Silverman won a Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics" for her musical collaboration with Matt Damon. Additionally, she was honored with a Webby Award for "Best Actress" for her online video "The Great Schlep," in which she persuaded young kids to encourage their grandparents in Florida to vote for President Obama prior to the 2008 Presidential Election.
Silverman has made memorable guest appearances on a number of acclaimed and notable television shows, including Monk, which earned her a 2008 Primetime Emmy Awards nomination for "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series." Silverman also lends her voice to Emmy Award-winning FOX animated series Bob's Burgers. Her additional television work includes buzzed-about roles on HBO's Crashing, Masters of Sex, The Good Wife, The Larry Sanders Show, Seinfeld, and Mr. Show with Bob and David. Silverman has hosted a number of major awards shows, including the 2007 MTV Movie Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards.
Silverman grew up in New Hampshire and attended one year of New York University. In 1993 she joined Saturday Night Live as a writer and feature performer and has not stopped working since.
She currently lives in Los Angeles.THE BAD
The only good thing about her is her voice, which is very NY-Jewish, but everything else is annoying, and she is very rarely funny.
A very similar privileged background as Amy Schumer and Chelsea Handler. If this is where comedy is heading they may as well ban it altogether - which would at least mean that these mediocrities and hacks wouldn't have media careers anymore either. (Until they reinvented themselves as civil-rights activists, game-show hosts or whatever other garbage that requires fake smiles or fake anger...)- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Frankie Boyle was born on 16 August 1972 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Hangar 10 (2014), Revolver (2001) and Gasping (2014).THE BAD
Angry, frustrated chubby guy who relies heavily on his thick Scottish accent to get the laughs, because his material consists almost solely of crude shock and insult comedy, because that's what you do when you have nothing else to offer, when you're not smart enough to write genuinely clever and funny observational material. Being Irish and Scottish is popular and hip even, which explains at least half of his success. If he delivered those jokes with an American accent he'd lose half his fans. The other half would be his communist fans who finally found a comic extremist enough to rage about how wonderful the USSR must have been...
Crosses the line of bad taste to extreme extents, far more than politically moderate/less-left-wing comedians, but because he is a staunch Marxist he gets away with it, at least as far as The Guardian is concerned. If a right-wing comic had mocked disabled kids the way he does they'd be crucified then out of work, they would have to retire, sort of like Seinfeld's Michael Richards after his heckler rant about blacks. But because Boyle is a Chomskyite, The Guardian still lets him write for them. Would communist Guardian ever allow such a right-wing comic to contribute even a line of text for them? Obviously not. The only way a right-winger can make it into The Guardian is by getting misquoted in an attempt to cancel him.
His idea of "funny" is to ridicule kids with Down Syndrome and to call out Rebecca Adlington for being ugly. Would he do that for Serena though? Of course not. Imagine ridiculing Rebecca Adlington's appearance while pretending not to notice Serena, who is 1000 times more famous than Rebecca hence far more ripe for parody. But hey, Rebecca is white, so let's go after her. Of course, you can mock celebs for their appearances, but this can be done in a clever, roundabout way, not like a sledgehammer - which any average drunken yob can do just as well. "Ha ha she ugly!" Any ass can do that.
Exposed several times for his hypocrisy, including the time he criticized Gervais for his jokes on "transgenders". Ain't that the pot and the kettle and at least 11 kitchen sinks thrown in... Not only had Boyle done the same thing, but his entire routine is based on hateful bile directed at political opponents and anyone else he deems fair game. Gervais doesn't base his entire act on shock humour the way Boyle does (because that's all he can do). The height of absurdity is however that a third-rate comic would have the balls to actually criticize Gervais who is among the very best of all, and in a way that is cringingly virtue-signaling i.e. the opposite of brave. There is no question at all that Boyle had harboured deep resentment toward Gervais's success for many years, then suddenly couldn't take it any longer and allowed himself to let it out, stupidly believing that he can put him down to his own level by "letting the public know" how awfully non-PC Gervais is. (Ironically, I'm sure Gervais was amused by the "incident". Double ironically, by "exposing" Ricky as non-PC his popularity can only increase even more.) If there's anything I know about communists (my field of specialty) is that they are extremely jealous of other people's success - and especially financial success. Boyle criticizing Gervais would be like me criticizing Nadal for how he plays his forehand. It'd be like Jimmy Savile taking the moral high ground against a parent who smacked their child lightly, or Dustin Hoffman lambasting Epstein. Boyle is a deeply frustrated malcontent who turned to political extremism the way most malcontents do... "The world isn't how I want it to be so I just hope it buuurrrnnnnssssssssss in huge flames reaching up to the sky, so I can laugh till my lungs hurt."
Boyle is nevertheless very useful, for precisely all of the same reasons listed, because he shows everybody just how vile, grumpy and immoral a typical "morally righteous" communist really is. His numerous statements and tasteless jokes reflect a deeply ingrained narcissistic disorder, and a man full of loathing for the "oppressed" whom his pathetic ideology supposedly seeks to protect. Poster boy for "Marxist hipster gone cuckoo".- Actress
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Kathy Griffin was raised in the near-west Chicago suburbs, in an Irish-American family. She has three older brothers and an older sister. When her parents retired to California, Kathy moved west with them after graduating from Oak Park River Forest High School, and began trying to break into show business. She performed with the Groundlings, then paid her dues doing stand-up at various clubs until she was discovered. According to her brothers, as a kid Kathy would circulate among the guests at parties and tell jokes. Kathy holds a Guinness World Record for the most televised standup comedy specials of any comedian. She starred in the Emmy-winning reality series Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (2005).THE AWFUL
Cringe. Big mega-cringe. Overacting to try to attract more interest.
More? I meant any.
Shameless media ** that would do ANYTHING for some attention, because certainly her "comedy" isn't enough to get her the amounts of attention that her enormous Ego requires.
Resorted to all sorts of shameful behaviour just because her career was heading to the toilet... where it rightfully belongs.
With appy-polly-loggies to toilets, even the worst ones at train stations.- Producer
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Arsenio Hall was born on 12 February 1956 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Coming to America (1988), Harlem Nights (1989) and Coming 2 America (2021).THE AWFUL
Why Eddie Murphy ever agreed to team up with this dilettante is anybody's guess. Had no choice? Friends? Lovers? I really don't understand. Perhaps Murphy felt unthreatened by Arsenio's total lack of talent?
Nobody who had any sanity understood how this guy managed to get to host a major talk show in the 80s. No, I don't think it was because he's black, there were many black comedians back then that could have been far better choices. So it is a mystery...- Writer
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Rosie O'Donnell was born into an Irish-American family in Commack, Long Island. She is the third of five children born to Roseann Teresa (Murtha) and Edward Joseph O'Donnell, an electrical engineer for the defense industry. Her mother died when she was 10. She said that she watched TV nearly 24 hours a day. When she was 18, she dropped out of college and went on to do shows like Gimme a Break! (1981), and she produced and hosted Stand-Up Spotlight (1988). She worked on her own down-to-earth syndicated daytime talk show: The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1996).THE AWFUL
When you're this unlikable it is virtually impossible to be funny, I don't care who writes your jokes - you stand no chance. Everything about her is grating: her appearance, her awful voice, her arrogance (that's simply impossible to hide - not that she tried too hard), her toxic personality, her hatred...
So it's a good thing her material sucks anyway, meaning that there is a balance to her badness. It'd be a pity if good material was wasted so routinely on someone this atrocious.- Actor
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Bill Cosby is one of the world's most well-known entertainers and comedians. William Henry Cosby, Jr. was born on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Anna Pearl (Hite), a maid and William Henry Cosby, Sr., a U.S. Navy sailor. After 10th grade, Cosby joined the Navy and completed high school through a correspondence course. He later took up an athletics scholarship at Temple University, supporting himself during his studies by tending bar, where his easy going style and witty joking with the clientèle prompted suggestions that he try stand-up comedy. This he did and was soon to be discovered by the legendary Carl Reiner.
In his early twenties, he appeared on many well-known variety programs including The Ed Sullivan Show (1948). His big break came in 1965 when he appeared as "Alexander Scott" in I Spy (1965), winning numerous Emmys for his performance. He later appeared in The Bill Cosby Show (1969), playing a teacher, although originally the show only lasted for two years. He then created a Filmation cartoon based on many of his high school buddies including Weird Harold, Dumb Donald, Mushmouth, and others: the show was, of course, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972). The theme was humorous but also focused on Cosby's more educational side. He studied for many years during his career in the 1960s and 1970s, and he received a doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts. Cosby also starred in some highly successful movies such as Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Let's Do It Again (1975), A Piece of the Action (1977), Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976), and California Suite (1978). During his early years he also made some comedy albums that sold very well; his most notable comedy song being "Little Old Man." He was one of the original cast members of The Electric Company (1971), and he was featured in the series Pinwheel (1976) during the late 1970s and then appeared in the mediocre The Devil and Max Devlin (1981).
In 1984, 'Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids' stopped production, and The Cosby Show (1984) commenced. The show was originally intended to follow a blue-collar family, but finally ended up portraying a white-collar family. It was originally rejected by ABC, accepted by a then-floundering NBC, and was an almost instant success. From 1985 to 1987 the show broke viewing records, with Cosby becoming perhaps the strongest driving force in television during the eighties. Despite this great success, he arguably created his own downfall. The Cosby Show led what was considered by many at that time to be the best night of television: the line-up included Night Court (1984), Hill Street Blues (1981), and Family Ties (1982), which all followed The Cosby Show.
Cosby was dissatisfied with the way minorities were portrayed on television. He produced the TV series A Different World (1987) and insisted that this program should follow the Cosby Show, rather than Family Ties. A Different World was set in an historically Black college and concentrated on young people and education. Impact was felt on the show immediately; at its peak, the Cosby Show logged an estimated 70 million viewers. However, after the scheduling reshuffle, the show lost roughly 20% of its massive audience. However, Cosby was still riding high in the early nineties until massive competition from The Simpsons (1989).
The Cosby Show finally ended in 1992, conceding to The Simpsons (1989), with the final production considered to be one of the highest-rated shows of the season and featured a pleading Cosby asking for peace in riot-torn Los Angeles during the height of the Rodney King riots. Cosby never seemed able to top the success of the Cosby Show; his film Leonard Part 6 (1987) was considered to be one of the worst American films in history and may have contributed in part to his downfall as a film actor, along with his performance in Ghost Dad (1990). He did attempt a minor comeback in 1996 starring in the Robin Williams film Jack (1996), which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola; and in another show, Cosby (1996), (starring Phylicia Rashad, who appeared as his wife in the previous Cosby Show). Since then he has produced films such as Men of Honor (2000), and shows including Little Bill (1999).
Sadly, his son Ennis was murdered in 1997. Throughout the years, Bill Cosby has taken a socially conscious tone, often associated with family values, coupled with a distinctly urban spin on his style.THE AWFUL
Absolutely abysmal. This guy was always the epitome of unfunny. The stupid fake "funny" voice he did was the most annoying thing about him, but it wasn't the only issue.
Now, before you accuse me of being a jump-on-the-bandwagon hindsight-critic, let me tell you that I used his name as a symbol for bad comedy MANY YEARS before he was exposed as a serial rapist. Decades before. You can find his name mentioned in some of my old film reviews from the 90s and 00s (some of my 00s reviews were written up in the 90s) in which I use him and that terrible sitcom as a measuring stock for badness. Similarly to the way I use Sean Penn to describe "extreme intelligence", or "Friends" as the worst sitcom in more recent years...
I saw through his phoniness and very obvious ultra-fake smiles way before any of you even got a whiff of the fact that he was actually something like a serial-killer - in a manner of speaking.
I read people very well. I don't always get it right, nobody's perfect, but my assholism radar detector works far better than that of most other people. No false modesty from me, nope, never...- Writer
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Amy Beth Schumer is an American comedian, writer and actress from Manhattan who is known for Trainwreck, Last Comic Standing, Snatched, Expecting Amy, Price Check, I Feel Pretty, The Humans and Inside Amy Schumer. She is married to chef Chris Fischer and had a son. Slated to appear as the iconic role in the 'Barbie' movie she pulled out due to creative differences.THE ABSOLUTE WORST - ENEMY OF COMEDY
She is the niece of a powerful Washington politician and she is also that other thing, so all doors to show-biz were open for her. The entitlement and the brazen arrogance and pomposity simply ooze out of her. Not to mention what a horrible "comedian" she is. She isn't even good at stealing material, because she steals crap.
It is up to us to distinguish between talent and zero-talent, which - as amazing as it sounds - isn't something the masses are good at even at something as very basic as humour. Yes, there are different tastes, but that relates to whether you prefer great comedian A or great comedian B, not that you can't tell the difference between lame comedy from great comedy. That's rather autistic.