Who do you think is the greatest comedian of all time?

W.C. Fields was the best. Together with Charlie Chaplin, While Charlie's humour is dated, W.C.'s humour is still great in this time.

After two days in hospital, I took a turn for the nurse.

Few things in life are more embarrassing than the necessity of having to inform an old friend that you have just got engaged to his fiancee.

Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.

I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally.

I don't drink water; fish f**k in it.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again. Then give up. There's no use being a damned fool about it.

http://www.edr.uct.ac.za/~mj/W.C.Fields/wcfields.html - http://www.edr.uct.ac.za/~mj/W.C.Fields/wcfields.html

A poll about the world greatest Comedians, not including.

Charlie Chaplin

W.C. Fields

Stan & Ollie

The Marx Bros

Monthy Python

Rowan Atkinson (used to be funny)

You 'must be joking

Anyway, the ones that are represented in the poll aren't funnie

tuxon wrote: Anyway, the ones that are represented in the poll aren't funnie

That's why there was an 'other' option. I was originally going to mention that I didn't want to have the list too long because it would be too much, and besides that, there's no way I'd be able to fit all of the greatest comedians in the poll - just as you wouldn't be able to fit all of the best prog bands into a "Best Prog Bands" poll. Having said that, most of the comedians in the poll are hilarious.

None of those choices are the best IMO, although most of them are pretty good. Bill Hicks was excellent, although he seemed to be appreciated in the UK more than the US..

My top comedians of all time are:

CHRIS MORRIS (Brass Eye/The Day Today)

Laurel & Hardy

John Cleese

I can't believe he wasn't on the list. I know I'm not the only person to think he's not only the greatest, but the most innovative comedian of the 20th century.

The greatest comedian? George W.Bush,of course.

James Lee wrote: I can't believe he wasn't on the list. I know I'm not the only person to think he's not only the greatest, but the most innovative comedian of the 20th century.

I agree totally James, he is the father (along with maybe Groucho Marx) of modern comedy. I also think this guy is his natural sucessor

mirco wrote: There are about 200 countries or so in the worid. Don't you think that is a little unfair to consider only us/british/canadian comediants?

Speaking just for me micro, I can only comment on the guys I've heard.  

Having said that, do you have any suggestion of guys and girls that have made you laugh?

Velvetclown wrote:  Pixel !!

Bush's greatest hits are numerous by now but my favourite is: I know how hard it is to put food on your family. Comic genius. And ad libbed too!

Here is another jewel :

IT ISN'T POLLUTION THAT'S HARMING THE ENVIRONMENT. IT'S THE IMPURITIES IN OUR AIR AND WATER THAT ARE DOING IT."

sigod wrote: mirco wrote: There are about 200 countries or so in the worid. Don't you think that is a little unfair to consider only us/british/canadian comediants? Speaking just for me micro, I can only comment on the guys I've heard.   Having said that, do you have any suggestion of guys and girls that have made you laugh?

DallasBryan makes me laugh....

Velvetclown wrote: Here is another jewel : IT ISN'T POLLUTION THAT'S HARMING THE ENVIRONMENT. IT'S THE IMPURITIES IN OUR AIR AND WATER THAT ARE DOING IT."

Another classic!

sigod wrote: mirco wrote: There are about 200 countries or so in the worid. Don't you think that is a little unfair to consider only us/british/canadian comediants? Speaking just for me micro, I can only comment on the guys I've heard.   Having said that, do you have any suggestion of guys and girls that have made you laugh?

Louis de Funes- french

Lando Buzzanca, Totó - italians

Cantinflas, Resortes - mexicans

We must always have a "best" or "greatest," eh?

No one -- there were/are many greats.

Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Victor Borge, Lenny Bruce, John Cleese, Peter Sellers and Robin Williams are just some of the notable omissions.

But not Carrot Top!

Peter wrote: We must always have a "best" or "greatest," eh? No one -- there were/are many greats. Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Victor Borge, Lenny Bruce, John Cleese and Robin Williams are just some of the notable omissions. But not Carrot Top!

Definitely not Carrot Top.

And Robin Williams and Charlie Chaplin definitely deserved to be on the list.

(It's not like a poll really matters anyway, but it works well to start out what may be an interesting thread.)

But, I think George Carlin is the greatest comedian of all time. His 70s/80s shows were still pretty good, but his best work is in the 90s and present. For those of you not easily offended, go out and buy his new book.

Sam Kinison (RIP)

For me, Bob Newhart is the best American comedian.

In the UK, John Cleese has probably made me laugh more than anyone else, but Rowan Atkinson has also done some great stuff.

Rob The Good wrote: None of the people on your list are funny!

George carlin is brilliant, pryor is very funny and started a comedy revolution in north america. Chris rock has also put out a lot of good comedy, and dreadfull movies, but dont judge him based on that if you ever have a chance to see his stand up do it, its surprisingly funny.

http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/quotes/indquote.php?quotid=607 -

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I'm with threefates on that one...most stand-up comedians just irritate me, especially since it became an accepted career choice.

I prefer my comedy in animated form, or bubbling up from the depths of my soul in uncontrollable fits of inappropriate behavior.

One of the funniest comedians I've seen on stage is Boothby Graffoe, who is also a talented musician. Not quite as piss-your-pants funny as Billy Connolly (the greatest living comedian), who is also a musician of sorts... but just as outstanding in his ability to improvise comic material.

Jack Dee is one of the few other stand-up comedians who consistently makes me laugh.

Others missing from the list;

The Monty Python team - especially John Cleese

Rowan Atkinson

Ben Elton (responsible for the Young Ones among MANY other things)

The Mary Whitehouse Experience team ( http://www.tmwe.co.uk - http://www.tmwe.co.uk  for mp3s of all their radio shows - they're a bit dated as they were all topical and made in the early 1990s/Thatcher years, but to anyone in the UK that lived through that era, it's the funniest thing you'll ever hear!)

THE BIG YIN!!! (Is it me or did he used to look like Frank Zappa?)

Lots of great comedians, but my favorites are:

1. Charlie Chaplin
2. Laurel & Hardy
3. Cantinflas (Except in Around The World in Eighty Days and his later movies when he was too old)
4. Mel Brooks
5. Marty Feldman
6. José Candelario Tres Patines (Cuban refugee in Mexico and later in Miami, amazing comedian)
7. Peter Sellers
8. Monty Python
9. Gene Wilder
10. Benny Hill

Iván

gdub411 wrote: I 'll take Jim Carey.

I was wishing someone would

Im currently into eddy murphy like someee CRAZY motherf**ker!

mirco wrote: Well, this Other gay get's lotta votes...

Other gay?

mirco wrote: illustrated wrote: mirco wrote: Well, this Other gay get's lotta votes... Other gay? Other guy... my mistake (as usual).

Haha alright.

Off this list - Bill Hicks, who would also be high on any list of comedians I could draw up.

I've probably laughed hardest at the incomparable Viv Stanshall's John Peel sessions in years gone by - those of you who know him only as the Bonzo's lead singer are directed to Sir Henry At Rawlinson End (but not the dismal Sir Henry At Ndidi's Kraal). Sample quotes:

"I don't know what I want but I want it now"

"If I had all the money I'd spent on drink, I'd spend it on drink"

"I never met a man I didn't maim"

The Scottish genius Ivor Cutler also deserves a mention, although I suspect that neither of these will make sense to anbody outside the UK.

Syzygy wrote: The Scottish genius Ivor Cutler also deserves a mention, although I suspect that neither of these will make sense to anbody outside the UK.

 A surreal and subtle wit. Good suggestion.

Metropolis wrote: No Chris Morris?  Come on people, the man's a comedy genius.

No denying that Metropolis  

sigod wrote: Syzygy wrote: The Scottish genius Ivor Cutler also deserves a mention, although I suspect that neither of these will make sense to anbody outside the UK.  A surreal and subtle wit. Good suggestion.

 Yes yes yes. Last saw him at WOMAD, Bristol 1986. Is he still around? Gruts for tea tonight I think!

All:

I hesitate to get all philosophical on you (sure...), but...

First, comedy, like music, is largely about taste: what is "funny" to  one person may not be funny to another.  Second, I think there is a difference between actors who do comedy (i.e., "comedic actors") and "real" comedians, who focus on their comedy (even if they happen to do a few movies).  In this regard, we would seem to require two separate lists.

The poll list clearly reflects a "youthful" perspective.  There is virtually no one - either comedic actor or comedian - pre-1960s.

For example, where are Milton Berle (who practically invented "visual" comedy, being the first comedian with a TV show), Jack Benny, Alan King, Red Buttons, Red Skelton, Morey Amsterdam, Peter Sellers and virtually the entire cast of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," including Jonathan Winters (how on earth did all of you forget him?), Dick Shawn (arguably the funniest man who ever lived), Sid Caesar, Don Knotts, Phil Silvers, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Terry-Thomas, Jimmy Durante et al?

Where are the early TV-based comedians - Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Lucille Ball et al - who blazed the trail for the "sit-com," and stars from Carroll O'Connor to Ray Romano?  Indeed, as an aside, not a single female comedienne or comedic actor has been mentioned: from Lucille Ball, Audrey Meadows, Joyce Randolph, Phyllis Diller and Zasu Pitts to Jean Stapleton, Elayne Boosler, Rita Rudner et al.  And, as many have noted, also missing are the pioneers of film comedy, including Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, The Marx Brothers, Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costelle et al.

Also missing are the trail-blazing stand-up comedians (all of whom eventually went into film), including Woody Allen (completely forgotten here!!), Robin Williams, Steve Martin (how could all of you forget him?) and Eddie Murphy, who blazed the trail followed by Jim Carrey, Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Dennis Miller, Dennis Leary, Steven Wright et al.

Finally, missing is any mention of "Borscht Belt" comics like Myron Cohen, Zero Mostel, Jackie Mason et al, who created an entire genre which survives to this day; indeed, you would not have George Carlin without them.

Even given all of the above, I know I am leaving out many, many important names - innovators, influencers, trailblazers.  And one member is entirely correct that we are being very "english-speaking-centric" about this list.  There are dozens of major comedians in other countries.

Again,  my apologies for "waxing philosophical."  But comedy is, after all...serious business.

Peace.

Just thought we'd gone too long without mentioning him again.

Thought all of you might find this apropos:

"Alebachew Teka, Ethiopian Comedian, Dies at 43
January 20, 2005
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 
 
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Jan. 19 (AP) - Alebachew Teka, a comedian and talk-show host who was a television star in Ethiopia, died on Sunday when his car careered off a road and plunged into a ravine, the police and his friends said.  He was 43.  Mr. Alebachew was driving from Addis Ababa to Jimma, 124 miles to the west, to film a documentary when the accident happened. A cameraman also died and another was seriously wounded, the police said. 

More than 60,000 mourners attended Mr. Alebachew's funeral on Monday in Addis Ababa.
 
Mr. Alebachew rose to prominence during the 1980's in a satirical television show that was a hit under the military dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam. But his successful series, "The Alebe Show," brought him widespread fame. On it, Mr. Alebachew would persuade rich guests to pledge money to help the destitute."

60,000 people attended his funeral.  Given the relative size of Ethiopia and the U.S., this would be the equivalent of over 300,000 people attending the funeral of, say, Ray Romano.  This makes it clear that there are comedians in other countries who are every bit as "great" as those english-speaking comedians we have named.

Peace.

Glass-Prison:

Uh...hmmmm...well....maybe.  But considering that Seinfeld is a relatively new sitcom as sitcoms go (there were three decades of sitcoms before it), and even if all subsequent sitcoms have been influenced (I'm using a nicer word...) by it (a statement I would not agree with), are you telling me that Larry David was not influenced by others before him?

I think that if you go through the history of sitcoms and TV comedy, you will find that Larry David did not "spring full-grown from the head of Zeus."

Peace.