Material that sneaks up on you, and in a split second, explodes with the truth. Political humor isn't funny for longer than a news cycle, and these days, going political shuts off 1/2 of your audience from the get-go.
So I gravitate towards those with timeless jokes, that will make sense 20 years from now, though there are exceptions. Jerry Seinfeld for instance, comments on airports, and tv commercials from a late-1980's viewpoint, and TV advertisers obviously paid heed to his mimicry and changed the way they tried to sell their wares.
Here are my Top 50 Comedians, listed in order of funniest to me. I ranked another 150 comedians LOWER than these, so the comedian at the bottom of this list is far from being my least favorite...(cough, Richard Lewis, Andrew Dice Clay, George Lopez, Adam Sandler, Bill Hicks, cough).
TOP 50 COMEDIANS I KNOW OF
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Chris Hardwick? Number One? Really? I bet you didn't even know he does stand-up! He does, and it is achingly funny. He is quick, and tells his tales from a slightly nerdy vantage point, and doesn't come off like a know-it-all, the way those in my most hated list do.
Seinfeld goes without saying. Never mind the series. I saw him in Vegas in 1988 and had a headache from laughing so much. In fact, every one of my top 15 comedians has given me a good headache. Perhaps I should go see a neurologist.
So what say you? Who did I leave out of a list of the Top 50 of all-time? Comments encouraged.
