Who are your top five comedians of all time?

[Faneros]

Richard Pryor
Eddie Murphy
George Carlin
Rodney Dangerfield
Chris Rock

 

[TurdFergeson]

Bill Hicks
Chris Farley
John Candy
Don Rickles
Groucho Marx

 

[renard_ruse]

Any that are clean, wholesome, and don't swear or talk improperly about sex.

 

[blondedreamz]

Lewis Black - He is my fav.
Wanda Sykes

The rest you mention are/were excellent choices too.

 

[fluffPE]

Any that are clean, wholesome, and don't swear or talk improperly about sex.

Yeah, cause that shit ain't funny!

 

[jhuson]

If you are talking stand-up (based purely on historical significance and impact), I'd go with the following :

Lenny Bruce
Richard Pryor
George Carlin
Bill Cosby
Jerry Seinfeld

Now if you are talking about guys who just kill me, I'd go with:

Eddie Murphy
Dennis Miller
Sam Kinison
George Carlin
Chris Rock

Honorable mentions:
Robin Williams and Jim Carrey (before they got irritating)
Tim Allen
Bill Cosby (just the "Himself" special)

Most underrated:
Red Foxx
Don Rickles
Dana Gould
John Caponera
Lewis Black
Rodney Dangerfield
Drew Carey

And how is this for a least favorite list:

Carrot Top
Gallagher (both original and brother)
Rita Rudner
Yakov Smirnoff
Richard Lewis
Cedric the Entertainer
Emo Phillips
Paul Rodriguez
Mark Cooper
Jeff Dunham and Peanut
Dane Cook (what am I missing here?)
Martin Lawrence

 

[jhuson]

Bill Hicks
Chris Farley
John Candy
Don Rickles
Groucho Marx

OMG how could I forget Bill Hicks. He was a real comic's comic.

 

[Faneros]

If you are talking stand-up (based purely on historical significance and impact), I'd go with the following :

Lenny Bruce
Richard Pryor
George Carlin
Bill Cosby
Jerry Seinfeld

Now if you are talking about guys who just kill me, I'd go with:

Eddie Murphy
Dennis Miller
Sam Kinison
George Carlin
Chris Rock

Honorable mentions:
Robin Williams and Jim Carrey (before they got irritating)
Tim Allen
Bill Cosby (just the "Himself" special)

Most underrated:
Red Foxx
Don Rickles
Dana Gould
John Caponera
Lewis Black
Rodney Dangerfield
Drew Carey

And how is this for a least favorite list:

Carrot Top
Gallagher (both original and brother)
Rita Rudner
Yakov Smirnoff
Richard Lewis
Cedric the Entertainer
Emo Phillips
Paul Rodriguez
Mark Cooper
Jeff Dunham and Peanut
Dane Cook (what am I missing here?)
Martin Lawrence

thanks for naming every comedian you could think of....I said top five!

 

[pink]

Eddie Murphy
Robin Williams
Bill Cosby

 

[TurdFergeson]

OMG how could I forget Bill Hicks. He was a real comic's comic.

He was a true class act.

lol

 

[jhuson]

Both of you: BLOW ME.

I'll be here all week. Try the veal. Tip your wait staff.

 

[MakersandIce]

Richard Pryor
George Carlin
Steve Martin
Eddie Murphy
Robin Williams

 

[Sonny_Bono]

If you are talking stand-up (based purely on historical significance and impact), I'd go with the following :

Lenny Bruce
Richard Pryor
George Carlin
Bill Cosby
Jerry Seinfeld

Now if you are talking about guys who just kill me, I'd go with:

Eddie Murphy
Dennis Miller
Sam Kinison
George Carlin
Chris Rock

Honorable mentions:
Robin Williams and Jim Carrey (before they got irritating)
Tim Allen
Bill Cosby (just the "Himself" special)

Most underrated:
Red Foxx
Don Rickles
Dana Gould
John Caponera
Lewis Black
Rodney Dangerfield
Drew Carey

And how is this for a least favorite list:

Carrot Top
Gallagher (both original and brother)
Rita Rudner
Yakov Smirnoff
Richard Lewis
Cedric the Entertainer
Emo Phillips
Paul Rodriguez
Mark Cooper
Jeff Dunham and Peanut
Dane Cook (what am I missing here?)
Martin Lawrence

Great list

 

[Faneros]

He was a true class act.

lol

Never heard of him....

 

[TurdFergeson]

Never heard of him....

Bill Hicks video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcPQhS8W8g4

 

[Angeline]

I can't pick just five, but a few of the old ones I love who weren't mentioned:

Alan King
Mort Sahl
Jean Shepherd (more a humorist than a comedian, but really, really funny)
Robert Klein

 

[Bert Notorius]

Carol Burnett

 

[mousethatpurred]

Red Skelton
Lily Tomlin
George Lopez
Lewis Black
Eddie Izzard

 

[pointless]

mitch hedberg. everyone else is unworthy.

 

[pointless]

worship him!

 

[HB1965]

In particular order:

George Carlin
Eddie Izzard
Margaret Cho
Bob Newhart
Robin Williams
Lenny Bruce

 

[huskie]

this man was good. Very good in fact. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Allen_(comedian)

 

[kevintn]

In random order:

Jerry Clower
Sam Kinison
Ron White
Richard Pryor
Henry Cho

 

[Mr Noone]

...Jean Shepherd (more a humorist than a comedian, but really, really funny)...

I remember years ago listening to his late night show on WMCA-AM radio...long before "A Christmas Story"... excellent.

Red Skelton...Eddie Izzard

Most bizarre combination of this thread.

 

[hogjack]

Bob
Ray
The Unknown Comic
Francis the Talking Mule
Becky [drunk I met on elevator at the Global Confectionary Expo, 2005]