Billy Connolly! Always funny,great story teller,great one liners and great observational humor Best...stand...up...comic....EVER! 
No Right Answer: Best Standup Comedian Ever
- Thread starter Firefilm
- Start date
Between the two? Carlin hands down.
As far as best comedians over all, removing the standup from the equation, I think it would be Jon Stewart.
But again its all subjective. There are a lot of good comedians out there, Chris Rock, Louis CK, John Mulaney, Bill Burr(Who I'm surprised nobody has mentioned yet,) Tina Fey, Steven Colbert, Tim Minchin, Mitch Hedberg, Daniel Tosh, Aziz Ansari, Christopher Titus. And there are so many varying styles that its really pretty impossible to say one person is the best.
Edit: As an aside(not that I have stock in the company or anything) but Pandora does comedy as well. Most people I talk to aren't aware, but you can type in Carlin or Cosby or whoever and it will play tracks from their comedy CDs and comedians who have similar styles. Pretty cool stuffs.
As far as best comedians over all, removing the standup from the equation, I think it would be Jon Stewart.
But again its all subjective. There are a lot of good comedians out there, Chris Rock, Louis CK, John Mulaney, Bill Burr(Who I'm surprised nobody has mentioned yet,) Tina Fey, Steven Colbert, Tim Minchin, Mitch Hedberg, Daniel Tosh, Aziz Ansari, Christopher Titus. And there are so many varying styles that its really pretty impossible to say one person is the best.
Edit: As an aside(not that I have stock in the company or anything) but Pandora does comedy as well. Most people I talk to aren't aware, but you can type in Carlin or Cosby or whoever and it will play tracks from their comedy CDs and comedians who have similar styles. Pretty cool stuffs.
As many have said before me, I prefer Carlin to Cosby. As far as free choice goes, I'd throw Eddie Izzard, Craig Campbell and Dana Alexander into the ring.
I don't really know much about either of them and I think comedians are a very varied thing that don't translate well country to country. Most stand-up comedians in the UK tend be British.
But I feel these two were still a good selection, there's something more to them than just the stand up ness
But I feel these two were still a good selection, there's something more to them than just the stand up ness
Carlin hands down, if you see all his shows through the years you see so much change in attitude towards relegion and politics
Really good on human behaviour and domestics.
Didn't see so much Cosby sadly.
Best shows of Titus is Love is evol, End of the World and his best which you see allot of material back in his Sitcom he had Norman Rockwell is bleeding. I find him almost as fearless as George Carlin probably due to Papa Titus.
Damn it i Miss that show.
Really good on human behaviour and domestics.
Didn't see so much Cosby sadly.
Titus is at it's best regarding Domestics especially Dis functional Families he has that nailed down. Neverlution is sharp but lacks the edge but maybe because it's really political and so many comedians say about the same things with kind of they same humor.RonHiler said:If it were me, I'd have gone Chris Titus (Neverlution was HILARIOUS) versus Lewis Black (Black on Broadway is a classic). Cosby and Carlin are both good (I laughed at both "I started out as a Child" and "Himself" a lot), but Titus and Black are better.
I don't know this Eddie Izzard people keep mentioning (at least not by name). I may have to look him up!
Best shows of Titus is Love is evol, End of the World and his best which you see allot of material back in his Sitcom he had Norman Rockwell is bleeding. I find him almost as fearless as George Carlin probably due to Papa Titus.
Damn it i Miss that show.
Most of george carlin's standup from the 90s was visibly fueled by cocaine.
As to cosby.
Pudding and the pudding and the eat the pudding.
Worst Best Of ever.
As to cosby.
Pudding and the pudding and the eat the pudding.
Worst Best Of ever.
Best stand up ever? Misleading question since each builds upon the past. You find a straight line from George and Gracie through to Stephen Wright and Mitch Hedberg. Before there was Robin Williams, he learned from Jonathan Winters that zany improv style. Lenny Bruce provided the inspiration for Carlin and Hicks, and sadly Hicks took it down the rabbit hole Carlin was able to distance himself from his darker topics with a "but what do you do about it" attitude. Abbot and Costello give you the great wordplay and observational comedians about the everyman that cosby does so well (along with seinfeld and larry david), talking about his childhood and the characters he knew to his days as a father, had a huge influence on 80's and 90's sitcom writing and bringing black comedians out of the amos and andy past into a mainstream acceptance, where Pryor focused on the conflict, Cosby made it a non-issue.
Best standup ever? EVERYONE will have a different favorite.
Best standup ever? EVERYONE will have a different favorite.
For everyone who didnt say Louis CK, HEATHENS! Nothing against you personally, just that you are wrong.
And to everyone who said Louis CK, well done. Your prize is retroactive, I will implant the idea of Louis CK in your mind so that you go and find out about him in the first place... you are welcome!
And to everyone who said Louis CK, well done. Your prize is retroactive, I will implant the idea of Louis CK in your mind so that you go and find out about him in the first place... you are welcome!