No Right Answer: Best Standup Comedian Ever
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For me, it's definitely Stephen Wright. Completely deadpan delivery of one-liners over and over again really works. They're never really stories, though they do all go together. What's particularly impressive is when he does tell a story with them, every single sentence of the story is funny, making him one of the most quotable comedians ever. There's no long setup time without laughs -- every single sentence works as a joke on its own and they only get funnier when they fit together as a story.
2nded, 3rded, and everything else on Titus!!! I find Carlin's older spectals funnier than his more recent, lecturey work. And Cosby proved you CAN be funny without swearing like a sailor with Tourette's Syndrome, so point in his favor. But Titus is the best guy I've ever seen! I've been to 3 of his shows in the Bay Area, and he is always funny!Trucken said:
Of the two, I'd go Carlin. No question there.
Of American comedians, I'd probably go Robin Williams. He's never has as much to say about politics, but he's always had more to say about life, and backs that up with amazing comedy, stunning voice work, and stellar acting (hello Oscar winner...).
Of stand ups in general I'd probably have to go with Dara O'Brien or Andy Parsons. Not just because they're from this side of the Atlantic, but because they are both genuinely nice guys as well as incredibly funny. Mr. O'Brien, just read 'Tickling The English' ad you'll have a fairly solid idea what I'm talking about.
Mr. Parsons however... When he was on tour a year or two ago, he came to our theatre. The night was plagued with technical screw ups (radio mic dropping out, occasional random feedback possibly even LX cue misprogramming (I wasn't working so don't know for sure)). He chastised our guys somewhat (par for the course, their bit was screwing up royally after all), but not too much. Afterwards, he went up to the techs on duty and apologised profusely for taking the piss out of them. The honest response from our guys? 'That's fine. We were screwing up so badly that you could've crucified us and we'd have deserved it'.
He blushed, thanked the guys for their hard work, apologised yet again and wandered off. What a Legend.
Of American comedians, I'd probably go Robin Williams. He's never has as much to say about politics, but he's always had more to say about life, and backs that up with amazing comedy, stunning voice work, and stellar acting (hello Oscar winner...).
Of stand ups in general I'd probably have to go with Dara O'Brien or Andy Parsons. Not just because they're from this side of the Atlantic, but because they are both genuinely nice guys as well as incredibly funny. Mr. O'Brien, just read 'Tickling The English' ad you'll have a fairly solid idea what I'm talking about.
Mr. Parsons however... When he was on tour a year or two ago, he came to our theatre. The night was plagued with technical screw ups (radio mic dropping out, occasional random feedback possibly even LX cue misprogramming (I wasn't working so don't know for sure)). He chastised our guys somewhat (par for the course, their bit was screwing up royally after all), but not too much. Afterwards, he went up to the techs on duty and apologised profusely for taking the piss out of them. The honest response from our guys? 'That's fine. We were screwing up so badly that you could've crucified us and we'd have deserved it'.
He blushed, thanked the guys for their hard work, apologised yet again and wandered off. What a Legend.
Because I wrote it on my college admission papers as a joke and they took me seriously. Joke's on me now! Yay staggering college debt!Lear said:
I've seen a little bit of Fielding's stand up. It was okay but nowhere near as good as other stuff I've seen him in. All I can recall was him explaining the concept of "stump fucking". I've seen a few stand up shows of Amstell too, and he's good. He is definitely like how you describe.Spot1990 said:
And from what I've seen of Brand (a few shows) he talks of nothing except himself, usually his sex life, and he's clearly loving hearing about it.
George Carlin, hands down. While Cosby said things that no one could understand, Carlin said things that people couldn't believe! Truly a "modern man for the millenium".
I see a few of the comments essentially say "you can't find an answer, comedy is subjective". To that I'll point out two things; first, everything discussed on this show is every bit as subjective. Secondly, the show is named No Right Answer.
As for the best of the two, George Carlin. By a mile.
Edit: Define irony. I need to agree to the new forum rules. I quote "You can disagree with whatever you like but using large amounts of obscene language and CAPS is against our policies". They then make me type I AGREE in all caps.
As for the best of the two, George Carlin. By a mile.
Edit: Define irony. I need to agree to the new forum rules. I quote "You can disagree with whatever you like but using large amounts of obscene language and CAPS is against our policies". They then make me type I AGREE in all caps.
Of those 2. Carlin is far superior.
He, Bill Hicks, and Eddie Izzard stand as the 3 greatest of all time.
He, Bill Hicks, and Eddie Izzard stand as the 3 greatest of all time.
Louis CK needs more love here. He's got great storytelling abilities like Cosby, but the perspective and intelligence of Carlin. Not better than either, but he has the strengths of both. Chris Rock's energy and passion is amazing, too. (He's still at it, isn't he?)
Easy to overlook him just because he's still at his peak, and with things like this you tend to focus more on the retired talent. Hell, even talent that got families and went PG, like Tim Allen, have had pretty good success in their earlier days. Or people who aren't even marketed as stand-up comedians--the talks given in the An Evening with Kevin Smith series are just as good as any stand-up set (if you're a fan of Kevin Smith, anyways).
And Ricky Gervais--don't forget about him. Ricky Gervais is like an ingenious, sadistic, English version of Carlin.
God, I can just go on and on.
Easy to overlook him just because he's still at his peak, and with things like this you tend to focus more on the retired talent. Hell, even talent that got families and went PG, like Tim Allen, have had pretty good success in their earlier days. Or people who aren't even marketed as stand-up comedians--the talks given in the An Evening with Kevin Smith series are just as good as any stand-up set (if you're a fan of Kevin Smith, anyways).
And Ricky Gervais--don't forget about him. Ricky Gervais is like an ingenious, sadistic, English version of Carlin.
God, I can just go on and on.
Carlin was without a doubt the best. Here are my reasons, and Im sure our debaters will be unable to counter with any other arguments, basis for my statements will show that their development into being the greatest will end the debate. While Cosby served in the Navy for 4 years, Carlin also served in the Air Force, and while Cosby served his country faithfully (Kudos to the Cos-man), Carlin was holding to his own standards and mentality and went against the system several times (Court Martialed 3 times, several disciplinary actions, and discharged in 57 for being an "unproductive airman") Carlin has always been anti-establishment, and held true to himself, while with all respect to Bill Cosby, Bill did everything to adhere to the whole family unit. George Carlin was all about the fight for rights of ALL American people to speak their minds and never be censored, citing the ridiculousness of the FCC controlling media within TV and radio. Cos did break a lot of the social stigma of black families in america, but, and Im not knocking the signifigance here so dont kill me on this, it only served a single demographic. George was silenced so many times for being blunt and honest to himself and every viewpoint he had that people would refuse to even sell his records. As a struggling comedian of the time cuz lets face it, the cash flow aint all that great till you hit it big, he still managed to rise to the top. He maintained his format of comedy, standup, did the occasional movie in his lifetime, with very memorable roles, and always focused on his audience with delivery of a comedy special every few years. Bill Cosby, while very great and awesome in his own right, only produced one special, did a few movies, then focused on TV roles. And while he fizzled out from public view in the late 80's to early 90's, george was still jamming out and keeping people laughing, all the way till the day he died June 22, 2008. Chris mentioned there is a signifigant void in the world now that he's gone, and there is without a doubt massive amounts of truth there. And to quote Jon Stewart "He was part of the Holy Trinity of Comedy; Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin".
George Carlin didn't have shtick he relied on. His comedy had an edge to it. Not necessarily a rebellious edge but rather an edge to defy the censorship that otherwise throttled "free speech". Granted the idea of "free speech" is shaky ground, with many interpretations and meanings to different individuals, but I believe Carlin had the best view on "free speech". Now Cosby had great family values and I believe his pieces are timeless and should be viewed by anyone who wants to be a good parent.
Carlin's material is revolutionary, it changed the face of comedy in my opinion forever. I agree that both men had an impact on today's comedy and no one else really comes close to those two in that arena.
You might think I'm taking away from other stand-up artists but in reality I'm not. Its like comparing present-day sports athletes to the legends of yesteryear. You can't compare them because the legends paved the way for the present day men to do what they do.
Carlin's material is revolutionary, it changed the face of comedy in my opinion forever. I agree that both men had an impact on today's comedy and no one else really comes close to those two in that arena.
You might think I'm taking away from other stand-up artists but in reality I'm not. Its like comparing present-day sports athletes to the legends of yesteryear. You can't compare them because the legends paved the way for the present day men to do what they do.