I don't know anyone under 60 who thinks Lenny Bruce is funny.
i remember being quite taken with that dustin hoffman flick about him way back when i was in college, and i REALLY tried to get into him, but you're right - it's impossible for anyone under 60 to laugh at this stuff. it's so dated and is just from/about another era i'm entirely removed from. tom was right, not much has aged more poorly than that comedy. i respect what he did - and i'm on board with the whole "innovator" thing - but the movie was more enjoyable than the records.
that said, i enjoy mr. hicks very much - even though he's more clever and interesting than bust-a-gut funny. rodney dangerfield still cracks me up. i love how he can fire off three more quick ones before you even stopped laughing at the first joke. i thought mitch hedberg was pretty special, even though it can be argued he owes a massive debt to stephen wright. hey, stephen wright is great. david cross is hilarious - but he's some damned arrogant with his "anyone who doesn't see what's
really going on here is an idiot" rants i can't listen to him much. carlin i never heard much of but i liked him as rufus. dave attell is very funny and i like how he more or less just tells jokes. no long stories, no sermonizing, no high and mighty intellectual browbeating. if i just want to laugh - i'll watch him. and i saw paul f. thompkins a couple years ago and even though i was too drunk to remember 99% of what he said, i do remember tears rolling down my face from laughing so hard. patton oswalt's "mega leg" bit is genius.