Brian Regan is pretty funny, but it gets old pretty quickly. My favorite is when he talks about looking for intelligent life outside our solar system, as if finding any life beyond our planet wouldn't be extraordinary.

I actually liked Tosh's standup. My brother gave me his Happy Thoughts album years ago and it's been in my car. There's some great bits and I think it is exactly like his show. Offensive humor. I'm glad he's on TV. His story about replacing his sister's pepper spray with silly string - and then she gets raped - holy shit.

decided to check out Billy Crystal '700 Sundays', and it blew my mind away.. he knocks it all out of the park.. very moving, and pretty 'family-safe' i will say, so no one has to trip on who will make it difficult for people to watch..not everyone in the room can manage to watch AND agree/laugh at stand up's nowadays.. i like all kinds, but Billy Crystal sure delivers a hell of a set. recommended for any and everyone.

I mentioned before that Carlin did nothing for me, so I tried out a few of the names that I saw mentioned as alternatives. Stanhope and Hicks were much funnier to me than Carlin was. The bits about a doctor prescribing god and Hicks' porn experiences in the UK were hilarious. I think Pryor's bit about setting himself on fire is still the funniest I've heard though.

For newer comics, I'd say it's either Jim Norton or Ron White. I can understand how they're a little crude for some, but I don't care. Kevin Hart is one that I don't get. Everyone I know talks like he's the funniest comedian they've seen while I don't laugh once in two hours.

For pushing the envelope or disturbing, I'd have to say Anthony Jeselnik manages to make me feel uncomfortable on a few of his jokes.

Neil Hamburger. I don't think I need any other comedian if I've got America's Funnyman to get me through the tough times.

Two words: George Carlin.

wasn't funny

Netflix has been good to me lately. Anyone tried out the recent specials by John Mulaney, Marc Maron, Sebastian Maniscalco or Dave Gorman? Just good, solid stand up with great jokes - no gimmicks, no angry political ranting, just fun stuff. I can't really decide which of them is the best, though Maron's personal self-deprecating storytelling style is endearing and Mulaney has a knack for upbeat, silly quips and jokes about nonsensical things. Maniscalco does the whole "bitching about modern day life" in a hilarious manner and Gorman has some of the best audience participation I've ever seen.

Another one is Chris Porter - this guy seems like he's on the edge of a fucking meltdown at all times. Hilarious, because it's not about important Stanhope/Carlin-esque social issues, but about normal, random shit.

Recently tried Patton Oswalt as well and I don't get the praise. Maybe I just saw the wrong one, but it was a lot of "preaching to the choir" about gay marriage and other hot-button social issues, which was mostly tiresome. It doesn't take that much wit to say "people who oppose gay marriage are stupid," even if I agree with you.

I'll second John Mulaney. That dude had me in stitches several times during his special. I love that style of just simple storytelling with lots of humorous detail (Louis CK and Kyle Kinane are also very good at this) broken up with fast, quick little jokes about pointless stuff. He keeps a good pace and stays consistently funny. Definitely one of my favorite guys I've discovered in the last year.

Any of you guys up on Chris D'elia? Watch for his name to pick up big steam soon. His special was hilarious and watching his YT videos of him just doing crowd work at the Laugh Factory kills me.

I thought Chris Porter had some really strong individual material but his IM SO FUCKING ANGRY persona got a little tiring by the end of the special. Even Bill Burr laughs occasionally in his own set.

Missed this getting edited in, and I can agree that Oswalt is pretty hit or miss, but he has one of my favorite hits of all time:


Well in finding this clip, I realized the actual line I like so much isn't until after four minutes of run up, so yeah I guess I'm not helping his case

Jim Norton's a newer comic? He's been doing it for 24 years. As for Kevin Hart, he is funny as hell when not on stage, I've found. Like on Opie and Anthony's radio show where I first heard him he killed it on every appearance. Way funnier telling stories and when comics trash each other than when they're on stage. Saw one of his specials and it just seemed way too tame, full of exposition, and the topics themselves were already done to death.

Kevin Hart is one of the least funny people I've seen get super popular since Dane Cook. I guess I'm just not a fan of his style where he continually repeats the same punchline over and over again. Admittedly his mannerisms are funny and his timid voice works well with some of his material, but usually I laugh once or twice per special and spend the rest of my time rolling my eyes.

figures a WHITE CIS MALE doesn't get Kevin Hart.

Kevin Hart is great. He is one of the few, along with Louis CK, who can spend an extended amount of time talking about his kids without making me want to vomit. I love that he plays up what a tiny little pussy he is. A lot of really great material.

I'll leave some Chris D'elia here for you:

I don't really like Kevin Hart either. Always been way more into Katt Williams. At least, up until he had that crack-induced meltdown, punched a wal-mart greeter in the face, got in a low-speed chase with mall cops on a little rascal scooter, and tried to fight his audience in Oakland. His earlier stuff was awesome.
"Your baby is 4 years old, he is supposed to like skittles you ignorant bitch!"
EDIT: Patton Oswalt's George Lucas impression in that bit is spot on. I've yet to see his latest special but he's pretty solid as far as I'm concerned. He does a great bit on trying to sell the idea of the circus to people today. "we're gonna set up a tent on the outskirts of town and we'll fill it with depressed animals"

Oh yes, yes he was. He was possibly the best stand up comedian to ever grace the stage. You need to look at his entire career, not the last few years of it. Hands down, George Carlin.

My favorite Carlin stuff was actually his critique on the English language and the phrases people commonly say. His book When Will Jesus Bring the Porkchops is full of this.

(in regards to food advertising language)
"Homemade is a myth. You want to know what's homemade? Crystal meth. Crack cocaine. A pipe bomb full of nails. Now you're talking homemade. For more information, check the notes of Timothy McVeigh."

Also seconding checking out his earlier stuff. Playin With Your Head had a lot of his best of his more fun material.

@ozzyapu: I started talking with guys who had done the bulk of their material in the 70's and 80's, so it was a relative thing to some extent. The rest is that I wasn't aware that his career stretched that far back. I was thinking more like 15, but even at 24 that's newer than Carlin or Pryor.

@mjollnir: I've seen some of his stuff from as early as 77, and his observations just aren't funny to me most of the time. I know that expressions don't make much sense out of context, such as his long bit on time. The bulk of his that I've seen from his is his 80's and then a little less from his 90's material. He gets way over-animated and many of his statements just don't register with me. The really late stuff is just an angry rant that seems more unpleasant than anything else.

Louis C.K.

He's the only one with DVD's in my collection. I own nothing else by any stand-up comedian.

Second would be Jim Gaffigan.

Well, I just listened to the full-length of Oswalt and that was pretty funny. I'm also listening to C.K's Shameless, but I'm not laughing much. Does he have a better set or is he just not gonna do much for me?

Oh, well yeah I guess in the context of Carlin and Pryor, sure.

Also, Jim's early stuff was bad, to the point where it was mocked mercilessly. Taken from O&A, with comedians Rich Vos, Bob Kelly, and Patrice O'neal. Comics trashing each other is always worth listening to.

Mulaney's great.
I don't find any of Maron's work funny -- stand-up, podcast, TV. but I do like his show, despite it not being funny.



I've never really enjoyed any of his albums. it's weird he gets so much praise for 'putting out a new hour every year' -- big deal. one good album is better than 4 shit ones.

I don't remember Shameless being very good. Hilarious is a great Louis CK album and Live at the Beacon Theater and Oh My God are both masterpieces. He's getting better all the time and there's a reason he's so well praised right now in the mainstream media. He did this little 10 minute bit for SNL last year sometime that was fucking home-run right out of the park material - the guy just knows how to balance every aspect of his act so well between the moralizing, the risque jokes, the weird stories, etc.

I can never remember which special it is, but he strikes me as just not particularly funny most of the time, but he fluked out one brilliant masterpiece. The whole set is only like five jokes long, but he makes every minute of those extended bits worth it. I think it's Pimpin' Pimpin'. Whichever one has the story of Po' Little Tink Tink, the guy who broke into the tiger cage at the zoo, and the time he bought a motorcycle. Whichever special that is is just 150% gold. It's a shame I never liked the rest of his stuff all that much.

Katt has a couple hit specials, but the Kattpacalypse one was terrible. Just a run of mediocre jokes topped with Jesus praise to win over the audience. There was another one where he pretty much did the same jokes as his last special - can't remember which one specifically. I recall the Pimpin' Pimpin' being very good. The Pimp Chronicles one to me was his best. Just hit after hit from a dude that looks like he's in a leprechaun's suit. The Michael Jackson bit still gets me.

Well.... Some time ago Netflix removed John Caparulo's "Meet Cap" and replaced it with that godawful "Come Inside Me". I will never forgive them for this.

anyone watch Jeselnik Offensive?
that first season was glorious.

^ I saw the first few episodes, and I thought it was pretty good. I mentioned Jeselnik does go overboard frequently, and it showed in his series though it was still worth the parts that were funny. It also gave Tosh some credence in claiming that he was somewhat of a rip-off or getting too close to one at least.

I enjoy Tosh.0, but I don't see the comparison.

Tosh does a lot of lolgay humor and fratboyish stuff with his writers, and doesn't do any segments anything like the best parts of Jes.Off. (e.g., panel). Tosh.0 is more like a comedic version of MTV's ridiculousness, while Jes.Off is most like an anti-ideological version of The Daily Show. you get the whole monologue/in-the-news stuff with Jes. whereas Tosh is all 'lol @ youtube failzz'. I enjoy his stand-up, but Tosh.0 is a lot less risque and seems to lack even an attempt at social commentary.

I'm referring more to Tosh' ability to launch the claim at all. Prior to his show, I don't remember Tosh mentioning any of their similarities. Obviously, there's plenty of differences, but their comedy still leans heavily on pushing certain buttons, and Tosh threw this and the show out there. I don't think Jeselnik rips him off, but there's certainly some parallels that I hadn't noticed prior to all of this.

There's a lot of talk about Carlin and I have to say I much, much prefer his early stuff like Class Clown compared to the bitter-old-man later stuff. Has anyone mentioned Stewart Lee yet; he's sort of born out of the late-80s right on comedy seen and makes no qualms about it. Unlike a lot of those types he's usually just damn funny. I love it when he takes the piss out of other comics.

yea. but he may as well accuse Jimmy Carr and Jonathan Swift while he's at it.

some greats, in no particular order, sans Master Hicks, he is/was truly bar none.

1. Bill Hicks (already mentioned and a huge comedic loss).
1-a. Lenny Bruce
2. Dave Attell (Shame no one mentioned him yet).
3. The Dice (Sure he's crude as all get out, but the shtick is great)
4. Dennis Leary (The No Cure For Cancer years)
5. Joe Rogan (Yes that Fear Factor guy!)
6. Bob Sagat
7. Rodney Dangerfeild
8. Joan Rivers
9. David Cross
10. Brian Posehn

To name a few.

The mention of Brian Regan, Sam Kinison are excellent choices as well.

he's great. but where the fuck are all his albums? he's got like two or something?


Bill Hicks is a little too conspiratorial for my taste.

how about favorite comediennes?

Maria Bamford
Tig Notaro
Chelsea Perreti
Amy Schumer
Jackie Kashian
Jen Kirkman
Sarah Silverman

who else is good?

^ Lisa Lampanelli is sometimes pretty funny, and her one about Italians claiming to be Mafioso was hilarious.

I have a lot of regrets in life, but I can add to that long list of failures not going to see stanhope when he was in Peoria a couple weeks ago. I found a bit he did about Popov Vodka that almost had me in tears by the end of it
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k8cMcRhSlDU

If Doug doesn't release a DVD with the material from this new tour it'll be criminal. Some of his best stuff ever.

Chelsea Handler's new special, Uganda Be Kidding Me, is a filthy, hilarious good time - she's got a ton of attitude and just the total pitch black comedy of it all is entertaining. Maybe not for everyone, but I dug it for what it was.

The best part of the Popov closer is the way he built to it the whole set. This woman up front kept bugging him about it and he kept teasing the crowd about how he would GET TO IT, JESUS!

My favorite part of seeing him on that tour is that he just came out with a pocketful of sloppy notes and tried out a bunch of new/half-finished material. It was so raw and informal, which is exactly how I want my Stanhopes.