EWB's Favourite Stand-Up Comedian Voting Thread.

[badotori]

KNOCK-KNOCK

Who's there?

It's time for another list thread!

It's time for another list thread w--waitaminutethisdoesn'tworkasajokeatallohshit

Aaaaanyway, let's keep this list trend a-rolling, shall we? Simply put, list your top ten favourite stand-up comedians, in order of preference. Ten points for your number one all the way down to one point for number ten. Easy peasy.

I'll probably leave the voting open until next Tuesday so there's plenty of time for list posting and later editing, if you so wish.

My List:

1) Sean Lock

2) Eddie Izzard

3) Dylan Moran

4) Lee Mack

5) Stewart Francis

6) Stewart Lee

7) Tom Stade

8) Dave Chappelle

9) Lee Evans

10) Rich Hall

Honourable Mentions: Mitch Hedberg, Bill Bailey, David O'Doherty, Micky Flanagan, Marcus Brigstocke, Sarah Millican (gotta love a token female mention ).

[OctoberRaven]

This will be a hard one....

1. Demetri Martin

2. George Carlin

3. Lewis Black

4. Ricky Gervais

5. Craig Ferguson

6. Jim Gaffigan

7. Jay London

8. Jeff Dunham

9. Gabriel Iglesias

10. Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan was pretty much a random pick, so he might well be kicked off the list.

1-9 is likely locked in though.

Edited October 13, 2010 by OctoberRavenO

[new_era]

1. Frankie Boyle

2. Peter Kay

3. Jimmy Carr

4. Ricky Gervais

5. Lee Evans

6. Jason Manford

7. Russell Brand

8. Kat Williams

9. Sarah Silverman

10. Chris Rock

[OctoberRaven]

HOW THE FUCK DID I FORGET RICKY GERVAIS?!

Edit- Seriously, thank you Era. I need to smack myself now for forgetting Gervais.

Edited October 13, 2010 by OctoberRavenO

[MGW]

1. Billy Connelly

2. Bill Bailey

3. Eddie Izzard

4. Jimmy Carr

5. Phil Jupitus

6. Frankie Boyle

7. Dara O'Brien

8. Rich Hall

9. Reg D. Hunter

10. Sean Lock

[Benjamin]

I don't watch enough stand-up commedy, so would be putting Russell Peters on my list be counted as terrible?

[DJ Ice]

1) Kevin Bridges

2) Michael McIntyre

3) Lee Evans

4) Jason Manford

5) Phil Jupitus

6) Billy Connely

7) Frankie Boyle

8) Bill Bailey

9) Jeff Dunham

10) Peter Kay

[ClaRK! Kent]

I came in here thinking "ooh, cool, a list thread I can get behind," and then I went apoplectic because 15 hours and 5 ballots later not one of you silly sods has even mentioned Bill Hicks. Seriously, for fucking shame.

Anyway, here is my list. It is correct and yours is not. [/EWB list thread]

1. Bill Hicks

2. Eddie Izzard

3. Stewart Lee

4. Richard Pryor

5. Doug Stanhope

6. Alexi Sayle

7. Rich Hall

8. Dylan Moran

9. Natasha Leggero

10. Dara O'Brien

Comedians who should sit down and shut their cunting mouths include Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre and the inane drivel that they have inspired. "Hey, wasn't the past different to the present in some minor everyday ways?" Fuck off. People like that are the reason I got out of performing stand-up.

[zero]

1. George Carlin

2. Richard Pryor

3. Bill Maher

4. Lewis Black

5. David Cross

6. Robert Schimmel

7. Christopher Titus

8. Dana Gould

9. Louis CK

10. Chris Rock

[Fitzy]

1. George Carlin

2. Louis CK

That's about it really for me.

[LittleDaniel]

1. Maria Bamford

2. Eugene Mirman

3. David Cross

4. Mike Birbiglia

5. Daniel Tosh

6. Zach Galifinakis

7. Dana Gould

8. Michael Ian Black

9. Mitch Hedberg

10. Lewis Black

[probablyoliver]

1. Stewart Lee

2. Demetri Martin

3. Bill Hicks

4. Eddie Izzard

5. Doug Stanhope

6. Johnny Vegas

7. Reginald D. Hunter

8. Richard Herring

9. Ross Noble

10. Daniel Kitson

[Blue Rosler]

I came in here thinking "ooh, cool, a list thread I can get behind," and then I went apoplectic because 15 hours and 5 ballots later not one of you silly sods has even mentioned Bill Hicks. Seriously, for fucking shame.

Anyway, here is my list. It is correct and yours is not. [/EWB list thread]

1. Bill Hicks

2. Eddie Izzard

3. Stewart Lee

4. Richard Pryor

5. Doug Stanhope

6. Alexi Sayle

7. Rich Hall

8. Dylan Moran

9. Natasha Leggero

10. Dara O'Brien

Comedians who should sit down and shut their cunting mouths include Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre and the inane drivel that they have inspired. "Hey, wasn't the past different to the present in some minor everyday ways?" Fuck off. People like that are the reason I got out of performing stand-up.

Or because nobody went to your gigs? Because judging by your posts it wouldn't exactly be laugh a minute.

[Meacon Keaton]

1. Mitch Hedberg

2. Bill Hicks

3. George Carlin

4. Richard Pryor

5. Steve Martin

6. David Cross

7. Daniel Tosh

8. Chris Rock

9. Jim Gaffigan

10. Michael Ian Black

No fucking clue why those last three double-spaced like that.

[probablyoliver]

"I gave up doing stand-up because nostalgic observational comedy is popular."

That's literally the worst reason to give up doing something you love ever. I mean, yeah, I find both to be fairly unfunny, but there's a huge market for that in the same sense as there's a (albeit slightly smaller) market for Lee Evans' slapstick silliness, Jimmy Carr's cringe-worth near-the-markness, Bill Bailey's surrealist musical whimsy and, shock-horror, Bill Hicks' dry political satire.

You gave up comedy because populist comedy is popular? Well fuck, I guess Pulled Apart By Horses should stop playing music because Tinie Tempah just isn't their cup of tea.

[TEOL]

1. Demetri Martin

2. Eddie Izzard

3. Bill Bailey

4. Richard Pryor

5. Dylan Moran

6. Reginald D. Hunter

7. Ross Noble

8. Dara O'Briain

9. Sarah Millican

10. Rich Hall

[Skummy]

1. Rob Newman

2. Stewart Lee

3. Eddie Izzard

4. Zach Galifianakis

5. Doug Stanhope

6. Patton Oswalt

7. Lenny Bruce

8. Bill Hicks

9. Dylan Moran

10. Ross Noble

Some thoughts; I also don't care for observational comedy, but it's what sells. If you got into stand-up not knowing that, then that's almost as stupid as getting out because of that. I did stand-up for a little while, but I stopped because I was shit, I didn't make any excuses.

Also - Bill Hicks is over-rated. He was funny, but plenty of other people have done what he did pretty well - Rob Newman does the politics bit a lot more convincingly and succinctly, Doug Stanhope does the controversial opinions, pro-drug use and righteous anger bit, and Lenny Bruce did all of it in a slightly less refined format than Hicks. Bill Hicks was just pretty good at rolling it all into one, and being a lot more quotable, therefore more memorable. But he's not the "once in a lifetime talent" that I've seen him called elsewhere, and not the be-all and end-all. He gets overly hyped far far too much. Plus, Goat Boy knocks him back a few places by being repulsive, not in the least bit funny, and just going on for too long. Offensive doesn't automatically equal funny, and that's something that lesser comedians fall victim to all the time, but it's just sad seeing someone of Hicks' talent do the same.

Maybe it's an American thing, but I just don't get George Carlin. At all. He's never seemed anything special at all.

Also, there is a disgusting lack of video footage of Jim Muir as Reverend Obadiah Steppenwolf III, so I can't double check if he's anywhere near as funny as I remember him being so, sadly, he hasn't made my list, though if anyone can track him down, please let me know.

[ClaRK! Kent]

I got out of it because I was pretty tired of people telling me that if I stayed away from doing 'political' or 'social' comedy and did more observational stuff, more popular stuff, I could make a lot of money out of it. Not just friends, but a couple of agents and the husband of a friend's sister who works in new comedy for the BBC. I suppose that really, I was very angry at that time about the way the world was and doing the stand-up was cathartic, I never really wanted to be the guy writing 'jokes' per se or doing Live At The Apollo. So yeah, I got out of it because I was tired of being told I'd never become famous and/or rich doing it the way I was doing it, and I didn't want to change the way I was doing it. I still dabble from time-to-time, some friends are doing a sketch show in November and I'm gonna do a set afterwards, etc, but it's not really serious anymore because I just don't have the energy.

And, to each their own, but for me Hicks is the master. The great thing about comedy as an art form is that it can, when done properly, shine a light on the world and make you totally re-examine something you took completely for granted, it can literally make you sit bolt upright and turn your head around. Hicks did that better than anybody, for me. That's my main problem with the Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre school, they have this awesome platform and they use it to do jokes about the drawer in your house that's full of old batteries and plugs, or gameshows from the 80s.

[Sousa]

I am way not into stand-up comedy, but I feel compelled to ruin this for all of you anyway.

1. George Carlin

2. Eddie Izzard

3. Lenny Bruce

4. Richard Pryor

5. Mitch Hedberg

6. Dave Chappelle

7. Ron White

8. Lewis Black

9. Bill Maher

10. Chris Rock

[badotori]

Ruin?! You've reminded me of Dave Chappelle's existence, you have ruined nothing, sir.

Plus, this thread was ruined the minute someone voted for Russell Brand; we're all just sifting through the wreckage at this point.