Best Comedian

crispybug2
crispybug2 Posts: 2,915
edited December 2018 in The cake stop
Watched a documentary about Richard Pryor last night and it got me thinking

Who is the best ever comedian?

In my opinion, at their absolute best, nobody else comes close to Richard Pryor

Billy Connolly for instance has been extraordinarily funny over the span of a long career but doesn’t hit the heights that Pryor does

Who would you choose?
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Comments

  • eric_draven
    eric_draven Posts: 1,192
    Dave Allen or Frankie Howard,would of loved to of seen either of these at a live show,both of them make laugh like hell

    Richard Prior in the Good Life is brilliant

    I have seen Billy Connolly a few times live, always found him funny last time was a bit of a let down as I had heard a lot of the material on his travelling documentaries,and he was getting annoyed with hecklers to the point he walked off before the finish of the show,just a shame some people can't keep their mouths shut
  • strongy1
    strongy1 Posts: 45
    Micky Flanagan..
  • PhilipPirrip
    PhilipPirrip Posts: 616
    eric draven wrote:
    Richard Prior in the Good Life is brilliant
    Never saw that episode.
  • eric_draven
    eric_draven Posts: 1,192
    PhilipPirrip wrote:
    eric draven wrote:
    Richard Prior in the Good Life is brilliant
    Never saw that episode.
    Clown of the year award to me,getting names mixed up
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    Personal top 5
    Eric & Ernie
    Vic & Bob
    Billy Connolly
    Bill Hicks
    Jacques Tati
  • FocusZing
    FocusZing Posts: 4,373
    Jeremy Corbyn. I just think he's brilliant.
  • bonk_king
    bonk_king Posts: 277
    Tommy cooper, bob monkhouse, les dawson.
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    Bob Monkhouse was superb.
  • motogull
    motogull Posts: 325
    Another for Bill Hicks.

    Jim Jefferies.
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    Arthur Atkinson
  • crispybug2
    crispybug2 Posts: 2,915
    :arrow: b
    thegreatdivide wrote:
    Personal top 5
    Eric & Ernie
    Vic & Bob
    Billy Connolly
    Bill Hicks
    Jacques Tati


    Good call for Bill Hicks, almost as good as Pryor but his tragically young death robbed us of finding out how much better he could have been!

    Jaques Tati.......seriously??!!
  • Jez mon
    Jez mon Posts: 3,809
    Being a wimpy millennial leftie Liberal snowflake, it has to be Stewart Lee.
    You live and learn. At any rate, you live
  • lettingthedaysgoby
    lettingthedaysgoby Posts: 1,732
    Bill Hicks was very much of his time, but watching his stuff now is excruciating. Just awful.

    Jim Jeffries is the best of the current crop by a long way.
  • Wayne Plunger
    Wayne Plunger Posts: 444
    Bob Newhart.
  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,711
    Robin Williams?
    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • lincolndave
    lincolndave Posts: 9,441
    Eric and Ernie
    Tommy Cooper
    Les Dawson
    Peter Kay
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    Webboo wrote:
    Arthur Atkinson
    Where's my washboard?
    I say sir, is that mustache on your lip or a lump of sh1t?
  • sandyballs
    sandyballs Posts: 577
    Strongy1 wrote:
    Micky Flanagan..

    I’m usually a fan but watched his latest show on tv last night and it was terrible.
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    Dick Emery
  • capt_slog
    capt_slog Posts: 3,974
    Ken Dodd.

    Not very cutting edge I realise, but the amount of material he could deliver was amazing. He used to have complaints from theatre managers for overrunning the show, usually by hours! There was one occasion where a manager once walked up to the stage and gave him the keys, saying "Lock up when you've done, I'm going home".

    In terms of modern comedians, then I'd say Peter Kay.


    The older I get, the better I was.

  • timothyw
    timothyw Posts: 2,482
    Hmm. In no particular order...

    Chris Rock
    James Acaster
    Billy Connolly
    Dylan Moran
    Stewart Lee

    With honourable mentions for

    Nick Helm
    Aisling Bea
    John Kearns
    Dave Chappelle

    And I'm sure there are plenty I've forgotten that also deserve a mention.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,593
    They all have a short shelf life, especially the current ones who end up on TV all the time and run out of material. I'm sure I'll get shot down by the cool kids but Peter Kaye always manages to make me laugh.
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,459
    Tommy Tiernan
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    Chris Morris, the day today: cake.... nonse-sense....
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    I do rate some of ricky Gervais. The office, Animals, Humanity all had me in stitches. Politics and Fame not too sure.

    Richard Pryor
    Bill bailey
    Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
  • bianchimoon
    bianchimoon Posts: 3,942
    Although not a particular fan of his, Bob Monkhouse's joke
    "When I was young and said I wanted to be a comedian, they laughed at me... Well they're not laughing now!"
    has to be one of the best ever?
    All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
  • timothyw
    timothyw Posts: 2,482
    Absolutely - and it works so well because Bob was regarded as a bit naff - brilliantly self aware.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    TimothyW wrote:
    Hmm. In no particular order...

    Chris Rock
    James Acaster
    Billy Connolly
    Dylan Moran
    Stewart Lee

    With honourable mentions for

    Nick Helm
    Aisling Bea
    John Kearns
    Dave Chappelle

    And I'm sure there are plenty I've forgotten that also deserve a mention.

    John Kearns is the last person I saw who made me absolutely lose it.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Izzard was up there a few years ago but things change.
    I've got tickets to see Acaster next year and looking forward to that.

    Oh Johnny Vegas before he was well known. Hilarious and slightly disturbing to watch.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    cougie wrote:
    Izzard was up there a few years ago but things change.
    I've got tickets to see Acaster next year and looking forward to that.

    Oh Johnny Vegas before he was well known. Hilarious and slightly disturbing to watch.

    Acaster puts together a pretty much perfect show every time. Saw this one as a work in progress and it was pretty damn good then.

    Have you read his book?

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