Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeWaters
http://www.comedy-zone.net/standup/comedian/index.htm
1 Richard Pryor
2 George Carlin
3 Lenny Bruce
4 Woody Allen
5 Chris Rock
6 Steve Martin
7 Rodney Dangerfield
8 Bill Cosby
9 Roseanne Barr
10 Eddie Murphy
Interesting that RB is the only female. To be honest I am not that familiear with most of these guys, in terms of their routines. Steve Martin and Bill Cosby and Roseanne Barr would be the most familiar.
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All these folks are great. Roseanne was pretty funny back in her day because she was one of the first raw female comediennes. Carol and Lucy were funny, but not real. They were more visual, slapstick. I mean, how many Carol Burnett monologues do we know?
Roseanne basically parlyed her early monologues into her TV show....all her original stuff was about hating to vacuum, being too tired for sex, being a fat woman, kids with runny noses, etc... Still, not sure if she is top 10 material.
Some of my favorite monologues by the above:
1. Richard Pryor--buys a really tough mean security dog....somebody winds up stealing it.
2. George Carlin...already posted the baseball v football
3. Lenny Bruce....beans make him fart (pretty radical stuff for back in the day...stand-ups didnt make those kind of jokes back then). Also, as a side note, LB really paved the way for guys like Carlin.
4. Woody Allen.....neurotic, paranoid humor. Nobody does it better than Woody Allen. "Yes, you gave me an excellent shine......but those were suede shoes....."
5. Chris Rock...not sure if he should rank higher than Eddie, since he is basically a rip-off of Eddie, but still funny in his own right. I remember his bit on gun control, actually quite genius. His suggestion to reduce violent crime is not to restrict guns, but to make bullets prohibitively expensive....that way, criminals would have to be really picky about who they shoot.
6. Steve Martin....I loved listening to his records....or at least the 2 that my older brother owned....Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuse me!
7. Rodney Dangerfield....personally, I would rank him higher. The master of self-deprication....he made being a loser funny. "I tell you, I dont get no respect.....why....during sex. my wife...she screams out her own name!" His No Respect album is hilarious and still one of the best comedy albums of all time. "A girl called me the other day and said 'Come on Over, there's nobody home.' I went over...there was nobody home." Dang, that guy is the master. one of my top 5.
8. Bill Cosby....also one of my faves...was able to be relevant and funny without ever being dirty. His dentist routine is one of my faves..."Dentist tell you to not pick your teeth with any sharp objects...so the first thing they stick in your mouth is an iron hook...."
9. Eddie Murphy....what 80s kid did not see and quote Raw ad naseum? Hey Boy......you look mighty cute in them jeans....
I am surprised there is no Seinfeld on that list. I love his stuff. How many observational humor clones did he spawn?
Another one that is hilarious but sadly died too soon was Mitch Hedberg.