New book out on W.C. Fields. He was quite a personality!
John Leguizamo. Scary funny.
Second on Ellen and also Elaine Boosler. Jackie Mason had me in absolute stitches in both of his Broadway stand up extravaganzas. I might still say Jerry Seinfeld -- purely because of his glib delivery.
truth
Fealola, yes, Leguizamo does a very wonderful solo act. Scary, clever and histerically funny (in part because of its truth). Another scary thing about Leguizamo is his willingness to let people pronounce his name "le- gui-SA-mo." It is correctly (and just as easily pronounced) "Le-GEE-sa-mo" (caps indicating accented syllable).
LW, I also find Jackie Mason unbearably funny. I have two cassettes of Las Vegas acts. I know Jews who find him extremely funny and others, a very few, who are offended by his ethnic satire. A wonderful thing about American Jewish psychology is its ability for self-satire. So many other groups cannot do this. A lack of self-love?
No. Most ethnic groups don't mind laughing at themselves amongst themselves. But when others take the info and turn it into a stereotype, it's no longer funny. It then becomes ammunition.
Richard Pryor certainly exposed alot. So does John Leguizamo. Many comics spoof their ethnicity, not just Jewish comics. Who is the Asian female comic that was popular a few years ago?
Margaret Cho? (Korean-American)
She came and went pretty quickly. Her name doesn't even ring a bell. Didn't she have a short-lived tv show?
Joe Rogan, I like his stand-up. Chris Rock, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce... So many good names here. How about Mr. Methane?
www.mrmethane.com
eoe wrote:She came and went pretty quickly. Her name doesn't even ring a bell. Didn't she have a short-lived tv show?
She did. A sitcom a few years back. Don't remember the name. I'm sure she's still working the circuit.
I'll cast my vote for Stephen Wright. I also like some stuff by Emo Phillips, and a young Jay Leno was very, very funny.
J. L. - Jackie Mason was a Rabii at one time and actually tried out his routines at temple! I'm sure they were a lot milder than the beating he gives the politicians. His first Broadway show where he just wrecks Reagan and Irangate had be aching with laughter. The fun he has with the difference between jews and gentiles is also hilarious.
What does a jewish couple and a gentile couple do after leaving a Broadways show? The gentile says, "Let's go have a drink." The jew, "Let's go have a piece of cake." Of course, the delivery is remarkable and it doesn't look the same in print.
Eddie Izzard's recent HBO special was flat out funny, "Every nation has to have a flag."
I'm for Henny Youngman. One year while working at restaurant in Brooklyn The owner brought Henny in to entertain the staff for New Years.We all laughed so hard because as Henny said this foods fit for a king,here king here king.
humor
And Alan King came running up to him.
Hell, I don't know.
Consider;
"Your money or your life!' 'Let me tihink about that.'
"You know, I've been rich and I've been poor. Let me tell you something from the bottom of my heart.
Rich is better."
I bought some used paint.
It came in the shape of a house."
"Take my wife, please."
"Having a smoking area in a restaurant is like having a peeing area in a swimming pool."
For longevity and staying power. Hal Roach, the Irish stand up comedian beats all. I believe over 50 yrs at Juries tavern
in Dublin.
Cop pulls over a car. "Did you know your wife fell out of
your car about a mile back?" "Thank god, officer. I
thought I'd gone deaf.'
"He thought 'manual labor' was the ambassador from
Spain."
"Seven years ago I was on holiday in Brighton and
thought it was a good time to have my dress shoes
repaired. But I forgot them and didn't return until this
year. I explained to the shoe repairman man what
happened and whether he still had them.
He said "Excuse me" and went to the back
room for about 15 minutes. He came out and said
"They'll be ready Friday."
Pryor and Martin and Lily.
with nods to Bob Newhart, George Carlin.
I have no idea about all time...
I never really loved the folks before my time, even if they were on my family tv, like Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Bob Hope. And later I sloughed off watching tv, thus am relatively clueless about Chris Rock and some other folk. Saw Whoopie Goldberg and Sam Kinison in person sort of early on. My heart goes to the first three above.
george carlin
i think george carlin is the greats comedian of all time, he so hilarious and also all of the stuff he takls abotu is true like religion and the economy. he is the man
I'll ditto Grocho.
For political humor I'd include Mark Russel. I've heard him compared to Mark Twain, who, they say, was no slouch himself.
Comedy Central is about to run a series of specials on the 100 greatest standup comedians of all time.
