« 100 Greatest Standup Comedians (Not According to me) »

Comedy Central ran specials last week celebrating the 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comedians of All Time. While the list is posted here (like any list), I don't agree with it.

People who were placed too high:
Chris Rock, #5. Funny, but how can he pass Bill Cosby or Eddie Murphy? I would have put him at maybe #15.
Jon Stewart, #41. Yes, he's absolutely hilarious on the Daily Show. But that's not stand-up. That doesn't count.
Lewis Black, #51. Odd, I didn't think he'd be placed this high. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy.
Colin Quinn, #56. I have scientific evidence that proves that this man has not said anything funny ever, nor will he ever say anything funny in the future. This also means he isn't saying something funny right now. How he got a place on Saturday Night Live, THEN his own show on Comedy Central is beyond me. Not only are the jokes bad, but his delivery is so herky-jerky he has the presence of a drunken uncle that nobody wants to hang around. And not in a funny way. It's just like "Uncle Colin, you've had enough, you're starting to scare the little ones!"
Gilbert Gottfried, #59. You've got to be kidding me, right? The man has a funny voice and wrote about five jokes to complement it. You can't credit somebody a Top 60 appearance. Place him in the 90's.
Wanda Sykes, #70. It finally dawned on me -- this list is a freakin' Comedy Central love-fest.

Now, who should have been higher?
George Carlin, #2. Of course.
Robin Williams, #13 Too funny to leave out of the Top 10.
Steven Wright, #23 The king of dry humor. How about Top 10 for him as well?
Jeff Foxworthy, #60 That redneck humor is more universal than people think.
David Cross, #85 He does have his own style, and I don't know how high I'd put him, but 85 seems too low.
Gallagher, #100 Injustice of the century. Top 20 at least. Top 5 in my book.
Tim Cavanagh, NR Put him somewhere around 90th. He's a people's person, and nobody is better at using the audience to his benefit.
Bob Zany, NR Same reason. Has a lot of good one-liners as well.

So here's your list, flaws and all.

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
11. Johnny Carson 12. Jerry Seinfeld 13. Robin Williams 14. Bob Newhart 15. David Letterman
16. Ellen DeGeneres 17. Don Rickles 18. Jonathan Winters 19. Bill Hicks 20. Sam Kinison
21. Dennis Miller 22. Robert Klein 23. Steven Wright 24. Redd Foxx 25. Bob Hope
26. Ray Romano 27. Jay Leno 28. Jack Benny 29. Milton Berle 30. Garry Shandling
31. George Burns 32. Albert Brooks 33. Andy Kaufman 34. Buddy Hackett 35. Phyllis Diller
36. Jim Carrey 37. Martin Lawrence 38. Bill Maher 39. Billy Crystal 40. Mort Sahl
41. Jon Stewart 42. Flip Wilson 43. Dave Chappelle 44. Joan Rivers 45. Richard Lewis
46. Adam Sandler 47. Henny Youngman 48. Tim Allen 49. Freddie Prinze 50. Denis Leary
51. Lewis Black 52. Damon Wayans 53. David Brenner 54. DL Hughley 55. Alan King
56. Colin Quinn 57. Richard Jeni 58. Larry Miller 59. Gilbert Gottfried 60. Jeff Foxworthy
61. Bobcat Goldthwait 62. Eddie Griffin 63. Jackie Mason 64. Richard Belzer 65. Cedric the Entertainer
66. Shelley Berman 67. Kevin Pollak 68. Dave Attell 69. Pat Cooper 70. Wanda Sykes
71. Red Buttons 72. Bernie Mac 73. Billy Connolly 74. Paul Rodriguez 75. Eddie Izzard
76. Robert Schimmel 77. Paul Reiser 78. Sinbad 79. Dom Irrera 80. Bobby Slayton
81. Dick Gregory 82. Howie Mandel 83. Norm MacDonald 84. Drew Carey 85. David Cross
86. Jay Mohr 87. Brett Butler 88. Paula Poundstone 89. Kevin James 90. Dana Carvey
91. Jim Breuer 92. Louie Anderson 93. George Wallace 94. David Alan Grier 95. Andrew 'Dice' Clay
96. Joey Bishop 97. Sandra Bernhard 98. Louis CK 99. Janeane Garofalo 100. Gallagher
- posted by Suss @ 2:59 PM | Permanent Link To This Post