[PhlegmyMoses]

Anybody who thinks that Eddie Murphy's Raw and Delirious shows were the best (both awesome, I agree) should check out Richard Pryor. The likes of Murphy and Chris Rock wouldn't ever claim to even be as good as him. He pretty much gave birth to that kind of comedy.

His ability to tell stories about the grimmest things that happened to him - growing up in a whorehouse, setting himself on fire after trying to freebase cocaine whilst spilling rum on himself, shooting up his girlfriend's car, having a heart attack - in such a humourous and candid way was nothing short of amazing.

He was also a great actor on stage which greatly added to his Live shows. He'd play out dialogue between multiple characters, giving them clearly defined personalities and voices in a way that most comedians could only aspire to. Absolute genius. Can't help but feel that his work has been diluted a bit by so many people playing the magpie with his work but he was a revolutionary in the comedy world.

Other great comedians I would advise everyone to check out are Mitch Hedberg and Demetri Martin. Very funny and very clever.

[Fluorescence]

This thread doesn't have enough Bill Bailey. The man's a genius I also love Dylan Moran and Dara O Briain. To a lesser extent: Sean Locke and Michael McIntyre.

[cruiser178]

Originally Posted by crazygeryy

Billy connolly in the early 90s at the theatre royal in limerick.hes not great today but back then he was the funniest comedian on the planet.

If memory serves me right, was'nt there a lot of up roar about how disguistingly vile Billys language was at that concert, afaik there was even talk about banning him from Limerick, which is a bit rich.

Joan rivers cracks me up every time, 79 next birthday, she is a fúcking LEDGEND.

[krudler]

cant believe I forgot Mitch Hedberg, insanely funny guy, such a pity he died so young.

sample jokes "so my pants are holding up my belt, but my belt is holding up my pants, so whos the real hero down there?"

"I saw a wino eating some grapes and I was like "dude, you gotta wait"

ah just youtube him, brilliant stuff.

[Suas11]

George Carlin

[Davey Devil]

Last gig I went to was Ross Noble. Very funny.

[Curly Watts]

Martin Laurence' stand up is brilliant imo

[RonMexico]

I remember seeing Billy Connolly in U.L. in Limerick a few years ago. He walked onstage and the first thing out of his mouth was - "Limerick, it's good to be back. It's not quite the ****hole it used to be."

Saw Tommy Tiernan about 6-7 years ago and he was also hilarious.

Bill Bailey has some great shows. Love this



Rich Hall is good, love his Otis Lee Crenshaw routine



Also Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Bill Hicks


Tim Minchen is a twat though.

[strobe]

Richard Pryor: He can do really tame family friendly stuff that has you in stitches




and two minutes later go into heavy adult stuff about hardcore drug use, the mafia, racism and sex and still be just as clever, funny and insightful as with the softer stuff. Just a fucking legend.

[Shryke]

Dylan Moran,
Bill Bailey,
Dara O' Briein,
Bill Hicks,
Stewart Lee,
Richard Pryor,
and Jimmy Carr all do it for me.
Sean Lock is good but better suited to panel shows. The same for Frankie Boyle.

One comedian I really really dislike is Michael Mcintyre..

Great bit that Stewart Lee did on Frankie Boyle (who I don't mind at all):



And a classic bit of Dylan Moran:

[cruiser178]

Originally Posted by krudler

cant believe I forgot Mitch Hedberg, insanely funny guy, such a pity he died so young.

sample jokes "so my pants are holding up my belt, but my belt is holding up my pants, so whos the real hero down there?"

"I saw a wino eating some grapes and I was like "dude, you gotta wait"

ah just youtube him, brilliant stuff.

just did, very good.

[pragmatic1]

Originally Posted by Peetrik

Are you from the US yourself? Some of the cultural differances from Ireland or the UK might not travel well and vice versa of course. A lot of the US comedians are fantastic but TBH I regularly find some US comedians to be a little... obvious.

No I'm Irish. I find a lot of UK and Irish comedians too tame and afraid to be un -Pc.

[krudler]

Patton Oswalt too

[dagdha]

Originally Posted by PhlegmyMoses

Anybody who thinks that Eddie Murphy's Raw and Delirious shows were the best (both awesome, I agree) should check out Richard Pryor. The likes of Murphy and Chris Rock wouldn't ever claim to even be as good as him. He pretty much gave birth to that kind of comedy.

His ability to tell stories about the grimmest things that happened to him - growing up in a whorehouse, setting himself on fire after trying to freebase cocaine whilst spilling rum on himself, shooting up his girlfriend's car, having a heart attack - in such a humourous and candid way was nothing short of amazing.

He was also a great actor on stage which greatly added to his Live shows. He'd play out dialogue between multiple characters, giving them clearly defined personalities and voices in a way that most comedians could only aspire to. Absolute genius. Can't help but feel that his work has been diluted a bit by so many people playing the magpie with his work but he was a revolutionary in the comedy world.

Other great comedians I would advise everyone to check out are Mitch Hedberg and Demetri Martin. Very funny and very clever.

+1
I remember watching The Original Kings Of Comedy a good few years back and I thought it was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. I then watched a couple of Richard Pryors shows a few years later and pretty much every joke in The Original Kings Of Comedy was one of Richard Pryors or a rip off of one that he had done about 20 years previously. Richard Pryor was one of the funniest comedians ever and his shows were hilarious.

[DEFTLEFTHAND]

Its a toss up between George Carlin and Mitch Hedberg for me. They had contrasting styles and brands of humour and they both were brilliant.