JSngry Posted April 18, 2004 Report Posted April 18, 2004 I'm taking this too seriously, but hey... Quote
MartyJazz Posted April 18, 2004 Report Posted April 18, 2004 Maybe I'm dating myself, but what the hell since there are quite a few oldtimers on that list, how could Red Skelton not be mentioned? He was a great stand-up as well as sketch comic. I remember everyone in my family being in convulsions when he was truly "on". Other great stand-ups who were hysterical during the "golden" age of TV include Jack Carter, Jan Murray, Jack E. Leonard (a terrific "insult" comic before Rickles). There's a lot of mediocrity on this list but I won't be mean-spirited and point them out. Also, the order seems to be highly arbitrary. No argument with Richard Pryor as #1. Quote
JSngry Posted April 18, 2004 Report Posted April 18, 2004 Carlin gets credit for being the first "counterculture" comedian, but he was a "crossover" from an earlier generation. The first cat that I saw doing counterculture humor that was actually OF the generation was Gary Muledeer, and I believe he was doing it before Carlin. The guy petered out, but when he first started getting some play, he was noticably different. Quote
tonym Posted April 18, 2004 Report Posted April 18, 2004 Nice to see Eddie Izzard in there. Not that I'm patriotic at all but he is a funny guy. Anyone ever heard his "monkey in the tree" set before? Quote
Alexander Posted April 18, 2004 Report Posted April 18, 2004 There's a long story involved here, but the upshot is that I met Chris Rock *years* before he got famous when we were both auditioning for SNL. As we had a lot of time to kill, we (among several other people) started discussing this very topic: Who was the most influential comedian of all time? We had it narrowed down to Lenny Bruce (number 3 on this list, I believe) and Richard Pryor (number 1). For various reasons, I was most loudly championing Bruce, while Chris was arguing in favor of Pryor. I don't recall whether or not we settled the dispute (I think someone's name was called, ending the debate), but I think it's funny that not only did Comedy Central settle it (Pryor over Bruce), but that Chris Rock is now #5 on the list! Funny, I don't see *my* name anywhere. Ah, my brush with greatness... I could've been a contender! Quote
Guest Chaney Posted April 18, 2004 Report Posted April 18, 2004 ... I could've been a contender! Maybe we should have a Top Ten Funniest Posters of Organissimo poll? Might not get the press of the Comedy Central poll but it might salve your wounds. Then again, Chris Rock could join the board and... B) Quote
Guest Chaney Posted April 18, 2004 Report Posted April 18, 2004 32. Albert Brooks 31. George Burns Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted April 18, 2004 Report Posted April 18, 2004 Where's my man Sam Levinson (I threw his name into another thread to no reaction)? I grew up listening to him and still chuckle thinking of the guy. The majority of the list don't belong there. This is a cable tv list, not "history". Quote
Jim R Posted April 18, 2004 Author Report Posted April 18, 2004 Colin Quinn can't suck the sweat out of Norm Crosby's hearing aids. Now that's the kind of insightful obfuscation I was after when I started this thread. Quote
Jim R Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Posted April 19, 2004 At our house (when I was growing up), this guy was always a big favorite (the guy on the left...). Name him and you'll win... nothing. Quote
Jim R Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Posted April 19, 2004 Hmmm... took you 12 minutes. Not bad, but maybe you'll do better next time. Quote
JSngry Posted April 19, 2004 Report Posted April 19, 2004 Professor Irwin Corey. DEFINITELY should have made the list. Quote
JSngry Posted April 19, 2004 Report Posted April 19, 2004 Hmmm... took you 12 minutes. Not bad, but maybe you'll do better next time. 12 minutes to right-click? WOW! Quote
Jazzmoose Posted April 19, 2004 Report Posted April 19, 2004 My choices for two most overrated comedians of all time: Lenny Bruce and Sam Kinnison. Just based on the material I've heard, mind you, maybe with Bruce I never heard the good stuff... These two may be influential, but funny? Maybe I'm just too serious. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted April 19, 2004 Report Posted April 19, 2004 (For comparison's sake, I'll take Steven Wright any day. Or Bob Newhart. Gimme the deadpans!) Quote
MartyJazz Posted April 19, 2004 Report Posted April 19, 2004 Where's my man Sam Levinson (I threw his name into another thread to no reaction)? I grew up listening to him and still chuckle thinking of the guy. The majority of the list don't belong there. This is a cable tv list, not "history". I thought of him, but didn't think to suggest him as well as another totally clean, folksy type of humorist, George Gobel. Both were wholesome, unpretentious, and very funny. Quote
Jim R Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Posted April 19, 2004 And no @#$%ing "right-clicking"!! Quote
Big Wheel Posted April 19, 2004 Report Posted April 19, 2004 I think to fully appreciate Lenny Bruce you had to really hear him in his own time. I've got the Carnegie Hall concert and while there are some parts that are amusing, there's nothing really laugh-out-loud funny for me in it. I've owned the set for about 3 or 4 years at least and still haven't made it all the way through both CDs in one sitting. Seems like the key to really getting Bruce is to understand just how uptight most of America was in the 1950s, because much of his shtick just seems so tame today. George Carlin borrowed a lot of ideas from Bruce, I think. The reason he's more laugh-out-loud funny is partly that he has a more coherent theme to his act and partly delivery--Bruce's jokes tend to hit you in kind of off-kilter way, and there are few punch lines to grab on to. Even on his early albums Carlin was a master at using his voice to keep the audience focused on whatever story he was telling, getting the setup just right for the punch line. Quote
Jim R Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Posted April 19, 2004 Carlin may have gotten some ideas from Bruce, but I think he was/is more of a natural comedian and performer, and I think of him as being very versatile in terms of the variety of his material. He could be making biting social commentary one minute, and then downright silly the next (but in a focused way). One of the most clever writers of all-time, IMO. Here's another one from the past... Quote
JSngry Posted April 19, 2004 Report Posted April 19, 2004 And no @#$%ing "right-clicking"!! Godfrey Cambridge. Quote
JSngry Posted April 19, 2004 Report Posted April 19, 2004 Scoey Mitchell. (what, you think I'm a KID? ) Quote
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