The 10 Greatest Stand-Up Comedy Specials Ever
After previewing Kathy Griffin's newest stand-up special a couple days ago, I wondered why the art of the stand-up special seems to have withered in an age where a simple one-liner can become the most popular video on the Internet. The best stand-up specials of all time remain compulsively consumable gems years later, well after Comedy Central stopped using them to pad its daily schedule. Movieline has compiled its 10 favorite specials after the jump with the hope of honoring a format that deserves to stay relevant forever. Banjos and mic stands ready!
10. Kathy Griffin, Allegedly
Say what you will about Kathy Griffin's place alongside traditionally observant icons like Bill Cosby, but the woman practically invented her own form of stand-up. In Allegedly, she broke down the hierarchy of Hollywood's status-obsessed culture to staggering effect. She may not be a mannered comedian (she even claims not to prepare a single line of dialogue ahead of time), but that's what makes her a legend: She's George Carlin as filtered through Louella Parsons.
9. Dana Carvey, Critic's Choice
Dana Carvey's post-SNL career hasn't lived up to his genius, but his '90s HBO special Critic's Choice takes his best character material and punctuates it with droll observational material. His riff on singer-songwriters and their onstage tics is as hilarious as his more familiar "Choppin' Broccoli" shtick.
8. Robin Williams, An Evening with Robin Williams
Everything about Williams' 1982 special is iconic: The manic infiltration of his audience, the schizoid pacing, the rapid-shifting character voices aided by Williams' Juilliard training. While he'd go onto Oscar-winning prestige, this era will always be Williams' funnest.
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Comments
Best.Post.Ever.
So glad you all included Paula Poundstone!
No Bill Cosby invalidates this list completely.
agrees with frog, thinks "jeff dunham's spark of insanity" should also be added, and agrees with this list but thinks it should have been a list of the top 15.
peace
^v^
I love most of these, but the missing element of this list is Jim Gaffigan's "Beyond the Pale." He may not be as deep a comedian as some, but his endless "Hot Pockets" routine is fall-on-the-floor hilarious, and his technique of adding comments from a supposed audience member is fantastic.
Gaffigan doesn't have as big a career outside of stand-up as most of the others do (or did), but that's no reason to leave him out.
thanks goodness, for the author, that this list is totally dane cook free. i was actually scared after i saw paula poundstone. i'd say that you could have shoved some of the less awesome comedians, poundstone, carvey, martin, out of the way for some real fucking comedy in the form of bill hicks or dave chappelle. at least you had the good taste to rate richard pryor at number one, since he is and will always be the king, but this list officially sucks without hicks.
aside: i think i saw jessie jackson in richard pryor's clip! holy shitballs!
11. Margaret Cho - I'm the One That I Want
Yeah, Bill Cosby's Himself is a pretty egregious oversight.
Can't you just be nice and say, "I'd add Hicks?"
It doesn't invalidate it; it just means it's not yours.
I would like to intervene for a moment because I can already see where this is heading across the board: Please either make a persuasive, adult argument for the inclusion and/or exclusion of specific comics, or make a list of your own where you can elaborate on Bill Cosby et. al. Thanks!
Paula Poundstone and Kathy Griffin are not funny at all. Paula poundstone called me out at one of her shows when i was in the front seat and i put her in her place and she seemed speechless. guess she didn't know i was quick with the one liners also. The best comedian ever isn't even on the list. Where is RODNEY DANGERFIELD???? All others pale in comparison to the comic mortal. Rest in peace my friend.
There are no funny woman comics. Sorry ladies. It's true. The closest you get is Shara Silverman. And, she's only funny because she has good writers.
At least women can fucking spell.
Yeah Bill Cosby should be on there easy,My picks on top 3 is Pryor,Carlin,Cosby.
Sure. That still does not make them funny.
Frog, I love Bill Cosby too, but I have to say -- I think of him as more of a comedy album guy.
Where's REDD FOXX & RODNEY DANGERFIELD!?
Dennis Miller's "Black & White".
Anything by Dangerfield.
And, Mitch Hedberg's brief Comedy Central Presents show.
Wow, what a trip down memory lane that was. Amazing.
Lou
http://www.anon-posting.at.tc
Dave Chappelle,"For What It's Worth." He's at the height of his Chappelle's show fame and the reaction from the crowd is electric. It's Dave Chappelle at his best mixing social commentary with perfect comedic timing and deserves to be on this list:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dave+chappelle+for+what+its+worth+part+1&aq=1
Wow, no Bill Cosby: Himself? Cut Poundstone or Griffin for his slot...
Also, Murphy in front of Carlin is an outrage, and Eddie would likely agree. Pryor and Carlin are pretty much tied at the top of the century's greatest comedians...and one day probably recognized as the philosophers they really were.
Also, Mitch Hedberg, Bill Hicks, Steven Wright...any of these could have easily been rotated in for several of the other picks. Far funnier than some of the other choices (Dana Carvey? really?) but...sense of humor is subjective.
"persuasive, adult argument"? "Be nice"?
What's going on here??
Oh, wait...
"At least women can fucking spell."
Ahhh, I was worried there for a second.
"Along about noon, when you're appetite's pokin' at ya, pokin' at ya" will never die in my brain
Yeah, leaving Dennis Miller off and including Dana Carvey (who is funny but not the same kinda funny as the others) is the only strange moment on this list.
Oh, and a shout out for Dave Attell who receives an honorable mention for telling "The World's Longest Sh*t Joke".
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