Let me ask the Carlin haters (because I really am curious)

[dave from knoxville]

Rickles, Stephen Wright, Mort Sahl (don't judge!)

[masterofsparks]

This is probably opening myself for some sort of attack, but I think Sam Kinison was really funny.

Also, Pryor and Hicks. They're my two all-time favorites. Rodney Dangerfield belongs on my list as well.

[jamesp]

On some other board I go to, someone posted: "Now the four funniest comedians ever are dead - Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, ill-Bay icks-Hay* and Carlin." I thought that was worth repeating.

* Because I couldn't type Benny Hill.

I don't know anyone under 60 who thinks Lenny Bruce is funny.

Lenny Bruce is to comedy as Robert Johnson is to rock and blues. I appreciate the fact that they were innovative and big influences on future artists but I'd never want to listen to them ever again.

[KickTheBobo]

Steve Martin - admittedly, I was 7 at the time but the tv special where he drove the steamroller drunk and sang in the cowboy bar full of chimps was my first memory of laughing so hard that I was in pain.

Cosby - although my firsthand experience meeting him turned me away from him (hear the story in the archives!), I cannot deny his influence on me.

Eddie Murphy - Delirious - me and my brother listening to this LP in secret in the garage and trying not to laugh too hard for fear of getting busted listening to r-rated material. It made it that much sweeter.

Those were the big three, but there were many others that I can say that I did, or do still enjoy: Richard Jeni, Drake Sather, Norm McDonald, Rodney Dangerfield, Steven Wright, Dennis Miller. Some 'newer' folk:  Patton Oswalt, PFT, Birbiglia, Cross, Dave Attell, Greg Giraldo...

I will always hold a special place in my heart for the guy who played the flamingo-shaped electric guitar.

[jamesp]

Steve Martin - admittedly, I was 7 at the time but the tv special where he drove the steamroller drunk and sang in the cowboy bar full of chimps was my first memory of laughing so hard that I was in pain.

Cosby - although my firsthand experience meeting him turned me away from him (hear the story in the archives!), I cannot deny his influence on me.

Eddie Murphy - Delirious - me and my brother listening to this LP in secret in the garage and trying not to laugh too hard for fear of getting busted listening to r-rated material. It made it that much sweeter.

Those were the big three, but there were many others that I can say that I did, or do still enjoy: Richard Jeni, Drake Sather, Norm McDonald, Rodney Dangerfield, Steven Wright, Dennis Miller. Some 'newer' folk:  Patton Oswalt, PFT, Birbiglia, Cross, Dave Attell, Greg Giraldo...

I will always hold a special place in my heart for the guy who played the flamingo-shaped electric guitar.

Wow. I can't believe I forgot Norm and Greg Giraldo. Norm is sort of a deadbeat now and up to nothing but I'll always love Dirty Work.

I'm not sure how I feel about Eddie Murphy now. I used to love him but I rewatched Delirious for the first time in ages a few weeks ago and I forgot about how some of his routines like the Faggots one is just offensive and unfunny. I don't want to hear mean jokes about how "all the faggots are staring at my ass and they wanna give me AIDS" from a man in a red leather suit who gives rides home to trannies.

[jed]

I never really got into stand up comedy so it seems like a strange world.  There was a guy in Philadelphia that I knew who sort of made a routine out of "being a stand up comedian" that I thought was funny.  That's also what I thought was funny about Neil Hamburger when I saw him and the old Bill Cosby records I bought at a thrift store when I was in college.  When I have seen a legitimately funny, not ironic stand up act like Patton Oswalt I thought he was funny but I felt strange just being in the room and didn't enjoy the experience much.

I like funny TV, good live music, why don't I get it?

[John Junk 2.0]

Olde Time Richard Pryor
Norm McDonald on Weekend Update (and as a guest on Conan O'Brien)
Chris Rock's first two HBO specials
Paul F. Tompkins

I liked Carlin when I was younger, but I don't know.  His pontificating in The Aristocrats was pretty awful.

I cannot STAND the David Cross standup album, for the same too-angry reason.  Although for some reason the DVD quasi-documentary of him touring with some C-list indie band (Let America Laugh?) was hilarious.

[jbissell]

Last night, before seeing The Incredible Hulk, I learned that CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck does "standup comedy" and that I could see his "comedy performance" in a special screening at my local multiplex.  This illustrates why it took me a long time to get into standup, because anyone can label themselves a "comedian".  Including all these soap opera stars that appear at my local comedy club every weekend.

[Miss]

I'm not a hater. I'm a fan of the artform of stand-up, therefore I respect and value the contribution George has made to it.

"Benny Hill" (aka Mr. Hicks.) Louis CK.

[Matt]

I cannot STAND the David Cross standup album, for the same too-angry reason.  Although for some reason the DVD quasi-documentary of him touring with some C-list indie band (Let America Laugh?) was hilarious.

Let America Laugh is significant in that it contains the single most accurate, chilling portrayal of central Arkansas ever committed to film. It's even better than Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock.

[Fido]

Nah, MOS, I'll back you up on Sam Kinison.  I liked him back in the day, however obnoxious he might have been.  If I remember right I think he veered into the realm of misogyny but I enjoyed his stuff anyway.

I still miss Hicks. And Rodney Dangerfield.

Going back in time, I liked Steve Martin a lot when I was a kid, and think Richard Pryor was pretty good as well.

Comedy is just so subjective that I have to respect people's likes and dislikes in most cases. A lot of us FOTs tend to be "critics" who believe that there are just good and bad comedians, but I don't think it's really that clear cut. While I'd still deride somebody for being a fan of Dane Cook or Bob Saget (or Benny Hill!), there are plenty of comedians who I'd have to say are good at making people laugh (and that's the whole point of it, right?) and yet they're just not my personal cup of tea. 

[Gilly]

I used to love David Cross but I got kind of sick of the whole liberal snob movement and he definitely falls in that category. Actually, Let America Laugh along with Air America were the two biggest turn-offs to me.

Last night, before seeing The Incredible Hulk, I learned that CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck does "standup comedy" and that I could see his "comedy performance" in a special screening at my local multiplex.  This illustrates why it took me a long time to get into standup, because anyone can label themselves a "comedian".  Including all these soap opera stars that appear at my local comedy club every weekend.

It's also really weird how many stand-up comedians there are and that 99 percent of them are awful. It's impossible to be a casual fan stand-up comedy because if you just go out and pick up an album or go see a show on a whim it's most likely going to be bad. Being a fan of stand-up is hard work!

[John Junk 2.0]

I think I liked Let America Laugh because, even though it's told from his point of view, the overarching joke of the thing is that he's constantly put-upon by jerks and idiots.  It even makes his relationship with Bob Odenkirk seem like "I can't believe I'm forced to hang out with THIS guy just cause we made a show together!" but the amount of compromising situations, arguments, and weird run-ins he endures make his surliness a bit more endearing.  His actual material itself (at least at the time) was just too blow-hard and angry, but him dealing with weird drunk groupies (who barely know who he is) at a crappy club is for some reason hilarious.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

Last night, before seeing The Incredible Hulk, I learned that CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck does "standup comedy" and that I could see his "comedy performance" in a special screening at my local multiplex.  This illustrates why it took me a long time to get into standup, because anyone can label themselves a "comedian".  Including all these soap opera stars that appear at my local comedy club every weekend.

wasn't there a rumor that John Mayer did stand-up for a brief moment? 

[Emerson]

Near the end, Carlin stopped being a fun-loving misanthrope and became a depressing, condescending misanthrope. Cross soured much more quickly and predictably, but seems to get a pass, usually. Skcih Llib, my childhood hero, might have gone the same way, given a longer life. But, even in those cases, I enjoy seeing a comedian who doesn't dumb it down. Steve Martin and Stephen Wright are both wildly intelligent without being mean.

My I-want-to-be-that list includes:
Patton
Chappelle
Bamford (who appeals to the long-dormant improv nerd in me)
Brody Stevens (pure energy)

This won't make me many friends here, but I think that most contemporary comedy is too smug and absurdist and not nearly angry, opinionated or brave enough. It's not easy being a Doug Stanhope apologist, but I'll take him over Flight of the Conchords.