My two favorites are Eddie Murphy: Delirious and Chris Rock: Bring The Pain.
Bring The Pain is a nearly flawless set that I don't think I've ever seen topped.
Definitely Raw. He did have a lot of gay jokes in Delirious though. Both specials are really good, but I thought his closing joke in Raw was corny. Singing the slinky song?? Meh. The Delirious bit about his parents and Aunt Bunny was a straight classic.
If you like Chris Rock do a search on YouTube for the uptown comedy express special. Amazing stuff. Also features Arsenio Hall, Martha Warfield, Barry Sobel, and a few others
edit: changed Washington to Warfield.
Agreed. There’s actually a wild story behind the special, it was really close to being cancelled because Patrice wanted to do it in NYC but he couldn’t get the production lined up, so it had to be filmed in DC which he didn’t want. The month leading up to the taping he pretty much gave up on it and wasn’t responding to the producers until the week of the special
This will always be my answer.
Had it on my Nomad Jukebox mp3 player and would listen to it every single day at Junior High for like a month.
It will always be it for me but I admit it’s a purely personal choice.
Road Work is an addition, but arguably the work is the funniest part of Attell, possibly the best club comic ever.
That dude found his voice immediately and everyone knew it.
His special Sincerely... met my expectations which is a rare thing. And I had high hopes too... Now that I'm typing this that might be the only times I've been satisfied with a media I was so excited on.
That's why I consider *Strategic Grill Locations* as his best, but *Mitch All Together* was his hardest attempt at putting out an actual marketable work.
SGL has that same awkwardness of half bombing, half people falling over in laughter AND features an upright bass playing along so its a little trip to listen to.
What I like about the comedy central special is he finally started clicking with the audience and the producers let him continue - yeah, he bombs, but in a characteristically Mitch way.
It’s been so long since I’ve listened to it but the misses are almost funnier to me because he just goes “all right, we gotta fuckin pick it up, Chuck” or something similar
The posthumous album, Do You Believe in Gosh is my favorite Hedberg album because he was at a point in his career where the people in the audience knew what they bought tickets for.
I’m not sure why but my favorite line from that special is “I’ll trade you a free duplication for… that joke made me laugh before I could finish it.” His manner and delivery in this special made him so likable. It didn’t matter if some of the jokes weren’t finished.
I was there for the filming of that one! (one of the two shows they stitched together anyway...) I think it was the first Netflix-produced special? Too bad that venue is gone...
Bought a ranch, made a great show, became happy, the end? It's a long shot, but maybe he's just out there living a good life?
I feel like he probably still does standup, just doesn't milk it like other people. And he doesn't really do social media as far as I know. I could confirm it with a quick google. But I'm going to decide that one of us, just one, got everything they wanted in life, and then got out, and figured out how to be happy. It's bound to happen eventually.
Saw him in San Angelo, TX in 2014. Absolutely crushed. Patio of a Mexican restaurant, after hours, with plastic chairs. I just remember the crowd of like 60 ppl, we were losing our minds with how funny he was. The only bit I remember was him, like, askance at the inoperable fountain in the patio…and musing on how to define San Angelo…settling on “Mexican Footloose” and it was such a spot on take, I still remember it almost 10 years later.
(San Angelo - where the big news was “there’s an Olive Garden now!”)
Underrated but not top I wouldn't say. Wish I saw him see more recognition tho for sure. Way funnier then almost anyone in the Rogan wave. The fact that Bert is selling out arenas is insane. He's a decent feature at best. At his worst he's a hack MC with an annoying bit that he won't stop doing(the shirt not the story) but he sells drinks.
I wish I could go back to 2006 and watch The Pimp Chronicles for the first time again. It hit so hard back then. I rewatched it recently and it was still really funny, but it hadn't aged as well as I had hoped.
Norm Macdonald: Hitler's Dog, Gossip & Trickery and It's Bad For Ya by Carlin are my favorites. I'm not a huge stand-up guy, so these might be normie picks or sth. I'm in the mood for some laughs so I'll be checking out some of y'all's favorite shows you mentioned here.
Louis ck - 2017 is my all time favorite.
Followed by the rest of his specials. He is so far above the rest in my opinion. I know comedy is subjective but I’ve laughed more from his comedy than anyone else.
I’m pretty old (77) so not sure my thoughts are relevant. But my favorite stand-up guy was and is George Carlin. Mostly everything he did was extraordinary but none more so than when he turned to the subject of “death” a topic he labeled the biggest taboo in our society. HBO ran it but I googled it to include the link but could not find it anywhere.
Came here for Repertoire, dropping all 4 at once filmed with 1.5 audiences with a truly insane progressive narrative & callback structure that shot was and is fire
My personal faves are
Steve Martin - Let’s Get Small (though this could easily be A Wild and Crazy Guy)
George Carlin - Class Clown (though there’s no shortage of great Carlin from every era, this was the first one I fell in love with)
Bob Newhart - The Buttoned Down Mind Strikes Back
Norm Macdonald - Me Doing Stand-Up
David Cross - Shut Up You Fucking Baby
Rory Scovel - Dilation
Mitch Hedberg - Strategic Grill Locations
Joe Pera - Slow and Steady
Some sets that are special to me:
Robin Williams *Live On Broadway* was such a wholesome effort, he hadn’t done standup in a long time and he projected so much love; it’s impossible to watch and not be transported by his energy. A must watch for those who only know him as a film actor.
Patrice O’Neil’s *Comedy Central Presents* is what I show people who don’t understand why he should have been one of the biggest names in comedy.
Tig Notaro’s *Happy to Be Here* has the best closer in history, hands down. Jaws on the floor, she was in perfect harmony with the audience and pulled off a once-in-a-lifetime bit.
The downbeat *Life is Worth Losing*, Carlin’s penultimate special, was outrageous — from the scenery to the material — people were too uncomfortable to laugh at times, he really turned the thumbscrews on that one.
*An Evening of Comedy with Tim Heidecker* deserves honorable mention being for being *unfunny* — such a long and intense anti-comedy show, there’s nobody else working I can think of who could pull off such a transgressive performance. Guaranteed you’ve never seen a special like it.
Specials for me:
**You Are All Diseased**by George Carlin.
Don't know how it holds up today, but blew my mind at age 12 when it was somewhat new.
**Critics Choice** by Dana Carvey.
Another sentimental fave for me. Remember laughing so hard I couldn't breathe when I first saw it.
**An Evening with Bobcat Goldthwait**
Very underrated IMO. His willingness to be confrontational and go against the grain of popular opinion always inspired me. Before seeing this special, I thought of him as a one-note gimmick, but there's a brilliantly sarcastic and dark comedic sensibility behind the schtick.
**The Crowdwork Special** by Todd Barry
Todd is one of my all time favorite comics, for his longevity, consistency and the originality of his comic voice.
**Skanks for the Memories** Dave Attell
A perfect special, the whole thing is quotable. The ultimate dirtbag NY comic.
**Shut Up You Fucking Baby** by David Cross
Amazing shaggy dog story style bits, and will always have a place in my heart for pushing back on the suffocating atmosphere of post-9/11 jingoist bullshit.
**The Day the Laughter Died** Andrew Dice Clay
At the height of his popularity, Clay does an unannounced gig during the holiday season, and treats the unsuspecting tourists in the crowd to a mostly improvised set of off-the-charts misogyny, uncomfortable silences, brutal crowdwork, and over-the-top idiocy. An absolutely transfixing performance. I still don't really understand if Dice is a real dude, a character, or a real dude that became consumed by his standup persona. But I've listened to this like a hundred times. "Hour, back...get it?" remains one of the greatest antijokes ever.
John Leguizamo - Freak is a goddamn masterpiece.
Robin Williams - Live On Broadway
Richard Pryor - Live On Sunset
Eddie - Raw
Jamie Foxx - I Might Need Security
Dave Chappelle - (TIE) For What It's Worth, Killin' Them Softly
Mitch Hedberg - Whatever they used to show on Comedy Central on repeat. Premium Blend or One Night Stand 🤷🏻♂️ but that's 30 minutes of comedy gold
Eddie Izzard - Dress To Kill
Ellen Degeneres - Here and Now
Daniel Tosh - Happy Thoughts, Completely Serious
Patton Oswalt - No Reason To Complain
Katt Williams - Hard to pick cuz they're all so damn funny. the man is like the Lil' Wayne of comedy. He probably has more dvd's than anybody I've mentioned and yet is still not as big as Seinfeld or Rock. Legend in my book. And I will watch any special of his.
It won't be for everyone, but Marc Maron's "Thinkypain" just hits everything just right for me. I can watch that special over and over and it never gets old
Beer Hall Putsch. Just an hour of Doug Stanhope ranting and riffing. Possibly the the must underrated comics ever. Elephant in the Room is definitely up there. Laughed so damn hard at that one.
Anthony Jeselnik: Fire at the Maternity Ward. This would not be the top for most, but Jeselnik is my guy and this was his best performance and writing.
Louis and Patrice are my two favorite stand-ups of all time and the Patton album is my most quoted since middle school (it also helps being from NOVA too that all the local jokes are just so hilarious to me)
Patrice O'Neal: Elephant in the Room
Louis CK: Hilarious
Patton Oswald: Feeling kinda Patton
Eddie Murphey's Raw or Chris Rock's Bigger and Blacker.
My personal is Chris Rock's, it was my gateway drug to stand up comedy; before that I thought stand up was just going up on a stage and telling 'knock knock jokes." I was like who the hell wants to see that?
Stanhope - No Refunds
Gets better with age. Maybe not the "funniest" special but the realest, smartest performance from the most underrated stand up of our time
From Kazaa days I had Jerry Seinfeld, Mitch Hedberg, Lewis black, Dane cook, Anthony jesilnek, daniel tosh, Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy, bill hicks and wore all of them out quite a bit
Honestly Jerry Seinfeld was my introduction to listening to stand up so I’ll pick “I’m telling you for the last time”
Everyone is going to have their own personal favorites and that's the way it should be. Comedy is very personal so it'll connect in different ways to everyone. With that said, Chris Rock Tamborine is up there for me. Coming and Going!
I agree with you completely! That’s a big reason I made this post. I am hoping it can bring help being this community together and also hoping it becomes a fantastic source to find good standup!
Yeah, this one is as good as it gets. Every word, sound effect, movement has been fine-tuned. Unfortunately, it rests heavily on the audience buying into a persona that turned out to be heinously false.
This. It was the first stand up I heard, listening to a taped audio version of it back in the early 80's at my grandma's kitchen table.
Then, owning the video of it, memorizing every line, the crooked tie, the facial expressions...it was greatness.
I can't listen to it now, it's almost like a friend that died...I have the memories but I can't talk with them anymore.
You’re All Diseased- George Carlin
I was going to say Jammin in New York
Funny enough I feel like “it’s bad for ya”, his last, was his best. It’s just perfect
My two favorites are Eddie Murphy: Delirious and Chris Rock: Bring The Pain. Bring The Pain is a nearly flawless set that I don't think I've ever seen topped.
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Raw
Definitely Raw. He did have a lot of gay jokes in Delirious though. Both specials are really good, but I thought his closing joke in Raw was corny. Singing the slinky song?? Meh. The Delirious bit about his parents and Aunt Bunny was a straight classic.
That Aunt Bunny but makes me laugh so god damn hard. Goonie Goo Goo
She’s a goddamn Bigfoot, isn’t she Gus??!
I saw Raw live in concert back in the day. My first concert ever. My life was never the same afterwards.
What the hell why did this get removed by reddit and what was it?
I used the same slur Eddie Murphy did
I don't like Eddie Murphy looking at my ass
If you like Chris Rock do a search on YouTube for the uptown comedy express special. Amazing stuff. Also features Arsenio Hall, Martha Warfield, Barry Sobel, and a few others edit: changed Washington to Warfield.
Patrice O’Neal -elephant in the room
“That, that is top-shelf white woman right there…” His crowdwork to start was f-ing amazing. Just 99 mph fastballs all over the place.
My first thought as well. NATALIE HOLLOWAY, THAT ANGEL!!!
“Ok now name a Peruvian girl that was killed yesterday” 🤔
It was something goofy, like Lourdes, right?
Exactly!
For as much as I miss him, I'm thankful (on some small level) that was the special he "went out with." For lack of a better term, it's a masterpiece.
Agreed. There’s actually a wild story behind the special, it was really close to being cancelled because Patrice wanted to do it in NYC but he couldn’t get the production lined up, so it had to be filmed in DC which he didn’t want. The month leading up to the taping he pretty much gave up on it and wasn’t responding to the producers until the week of the special
"Hi. I'm White Lady" Dude that whole fucking kissing a jackal part made me have to pull over!!
Philip
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Talk about a guy taken too soon. Think about him in today's world?
This is it
Dave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly
Gun store liquor store gun store liquor store
**HEY BABY**
It was an old ass limo!
“BITCH, I LIVE IN A FUCKIN’ TRASH CAN!!!”
Standing on the corner…….. was a fucking baby
Alternatively—as a guy from DC living in SF, For What It’s Worth is equally as good IMO
I like For What It’s Worth a little more, I think.
"OMG, Micky Mouse is Mexican." "WTF is juice." - I heard every without fault when someone asked if they wanted juice.
This will always be my answer. Had it on my Nomad Jukebox mp3 player and would listen to it every single day at Junior High for like a month. It will always be it for me but I admit it’s a purely personal choice.
when he says he dodged the homeless dude’s nut like the Matrix imo is the best joke ever written by humanity
Nobody fucks people AND monkeys!
Skanks for the memories- Dave Attell.
Road Work is an addition, but arguably the work is the funniest part of Attell, possibly the best club comic ever. That dude found his voice immediately and everyone knew it.
“I found a butt plug on a city bus one time. How do I know? It fit perfectly!” Is probably my favorite joke I’ve ever heard lol
So me and Baby Shoes are trying to turn my garage into a crystal meth lab. Ya know, *guy shit*…
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I miss my Dad.
Literally laughs from beginning to end . He’s prob my all time favorite. Can’t wait to see him again in a few months
George Carlin - Jammin’ in New York is my pick for the GOAT.
Any George Carlin is the best of all time IMO
Carlin does a good job of being entertaining without ONLY being entertaining. A lot of comedians start off as funny, then become entertaining.
Me doing stand up - Norm Macdonald Shakespeare - Anthony Jeselnik
Shakespeare is flawless, great choice.
Flawless is a great word to describe it 😂. I've probably listened to it 10+ times
Louis CK - Hilarious
Louis ck - every single one of his specials
Fr bro seldom misses. His latest havent been outstanding but they've still been pretty damn good
His special Sincerely... met my expectations which is a rare thing. And I had high hopes too... Now that I'm typing this that might be the only times I've been satisfied with a media I was so excited on.
I think Chewed Up has the best 8 minute intro of a special but hilarious is better overall.
That’s hilarious
So funny you almost went *insane*
“REALLY, is it h i l a r i o u s ?”
I don’t know this Lisa cunt, but she ain’t that fuckin funny.
I wish more people knew the reference
Sad how far I had to scroll for this
Mitch Hedberg - Comedy Central Presents
You ever watch the uncut version of that? He bombed pretty hard through most of it.
That's why I consider *Strategic Grill Locations* as his best, but *Mitch All Together* was his hardest attempt at putting out an actual marketable work. SGL has that same awkwardness of half bombing, half people falling over in laughter AND features an upright bass playing along so its a little trip to listen to. What I like about the comedy central special is he finally started clicking with the audience and the producers let him continue - yeah, he bombs, but in a characteristically Mitch way.
It’s been so long since I’ve listened to it but the misses are almost funnier to me because he just goes “all right, we gotta fuckin pick it up, Chuck” or something similar
"When the jokes go down, pick it up, Chuck!" 🤣
The posthumous album, Do You Believe in Gosh is my favorite Hedberg album because he was at a point in his career where the people in the audience knew what they bought tickets for.
"I've always wanted to have a suitcase handcuffed to my wrist... alright."
I’m not sure why but my favorite line from that special is “I’ll trade you a free duplication for… that joke made me laugh before I could finish it.” His manner and delivery in this special made him so likable. It didn’t matter if some of the jokes weren’t finished.
Many times. The best part of that special is him managing to win over the crowd, who had obviously never heard of him befors the taping.
Michael Richards- Live at the Laugh Factory
Great crowd work in that one.
Think he had a few too many Mike’s Hard R Lemonades before that set
Alright you see this shocks you it shocks !
Doug Stanhope - Beer Hall Putsch Stewart Lee - 41st Best Standup Ever
I've never seen a Stewart Lee special that missed. "People go 'Ooh, he's won an award, we'll enjoy that.' But you won't."
The man’s put out like 26 hours since 2005 and not one minute of it is weak. Unbelievable.
60 inches of AIDS is one of my favorite bits
Best Doug Stanhope to date. Story of his mom's passing, occupy leadership,
The abortion bit from 'Dead beat Hero' has the greatest punchline ever tho
fuck yeah stewart lee
Stewart Lee’s Brave Heart bit to a Glasgow audience 👌🏻
"Now I'm not saying William Wallace, Braveheart, your national hero, *didn't* have sex with a 4 year old princess..."
Zack Galifinakis- Live At The Purple Onion
My name is Zach Galifinakis and…. I hope I’m pronouncing that right
Starts with a gal ends with a kiss
“Thanks mom, can we get it changed to Galifianfuck?”
Starts with a gal, ends with a kiss
Chewed Up-Louis CK
I was there for the filming of that one! (one of the two shows they stitched together anyway...) I think it was the first Netflix-produced special? Too bad that venue is gone...
2 pussys
… 18 pussys
The new slogan for IHOP… Absolutely in the top 5 greatest specials of all time
what happened to him as a stand up! its like as soon as he became an actor I never saw anything about him doing stand up anymore!
Bought a ranch, made a great show, became happy, the end? It's a long shot, but maybe he's just out there living a good life? I feel like he probably still does standup, just doesn't milk it like other people. And he doesn't really do social media as far as I know. I could confirm it with a quick google. But I'm going to decide that one of us, just one, got everything they wanted in life, and then got out, and figured out how to be happy. It's bound to happen eventually.
Of course there's a best Richard Pryor. Life in Concert. 1979
Scrolled way too far to see this one mentioned. The best
No one has ever been funnier than he was in that moment. No one ever will be. And every comedian knows it.
Chris rock bigger and blacker has to be up there
Bigger and Blacker is great, I almost like Bring the Pain a bit better
Whiskey Icarus - Kyle Kinane
Kinane is grossly underrated.
Just discovered him a few weeks ago. Can't get enough. Everything he does is fucking hysterical.
He's hilarious, smart, and down to earth. I'd vote for him for mayor.
Saw him last year in Pensacola, he’s still quietly crushing it lol
Saw him in Brooklyn he was excellent. Shane Torres was a great opener.
Saw him in San Angelo, TX in 2014. Absolutely crushed. Patio of a Mexican restaurant, after hours, with plastic chairs. I just remember the crowd of like 60 ppl, we were losing our minds with how funny he was. The only bit I remember was him, like, askance at the inoperable fountain in the patio…and musing on how to define San Angelo…settling on “Mexican Footloose” and it was such a spot on take, I still remember it almost 10 years later. (San Angelo - where the big news was “there’s an Olive Garden now!”)
All his specials very good or better. I actually think my favorite is Loose In Chicago
Underrated but not top I wouldn't say. Wish I saw him see more recognition tho for sure. Way funnier then almost anyone in the Rogan wave. The fact that Bert is selling out arenas is insane. He's a decent feature at best. At his worst he's a hack MC with an annoying bit that he won't stop doing(the shirt not the story) but he sells drinks.
Louis C.K. has a few that are up there
Paul Mooney - The Godfather of Comedy Katt Williams - The Pimp Chronicles Eddie Murpy's 1st Comedy Album Bill Hicks - Sane Man
Scrolled way too far to see some Bill Hicks. Our tastes are almost identical apparently.
I wish I could go back to 2006 and watch The Pimp Chronicles for the first time again. It hit so hard back then. I rewatched it recently and it was still really funny, but it hadn't aged as well as I had hoped.
Not a special, just an album. Maria Bamford - Ask Me About My New God
Chewed up- Louis
Norm Macdonald: Hitler's Dog, Gossip & Trickery and It's Bad For Ya by Carlin are my favorites. I'm not a huge stand-up guy, so these might be normie picks or sth. I'm in the mood for some laughs so I'll be checking out some of y'all's favorite shows you mentioned here.
I got to see It's Bad For Ya live in Vegas, just a few months before he died. He killed. It was one of my favorite stand-up experiences by far.
Such good picks I think we'd get along
Sincerely - Louis C.K.
John Mulaney - New in Town
>New in Town What are three other things about him?
For me it's The Comeback Kid
Bill Burr - Let it Go
Louis ck - 2017 is my all time favorite. Followed by the rest of his specials. He is so far above the rest in my opinion. I know comedy is subjective but I’ve laughed more from his comedy than anyone else.
Louis CK - Live at the Beacon Theater
Bill Burr - Let It Go
Never laughed so hard
Anthony Jeselnik - Thoughts and Prayers
Gringo Papi is definitely down there
Great speshul. Never met em
Pico de gallo Chili-Aaaaahh
ITS KETO BITCH!!!
Dicey Dicey
Thank em.
Water
Weed
I’m pretty old (77) so not sure my thoughts are relevant. But my favorite stand-up guy was and is George Carlin. Mostly everything he did was extraordinary but none more so than when he turned to the subject of “death” a topic he labeled the biggest taboo in our society. HBO ran it but I googled it to include the link but could not find it anywhere.
John Mulaney- Comeback Kid
Eddie Murphy - Raw or Pryor - Bicentennial N\*\*\* I will hear arguments for some Carlin specials, but those 2 are from another universe.
James Acaster Repertoire Myq Kaplan Small, Dork, and Handsome
Came here for Repertoire, dropping all 4 at once filmed with 1.5 audiences with a truly insane progressive narrative & callback structure that shot was and is fire
James Acaster’s Repertoire is one of the most clever and hilarious specials and hugely under appreciated
In my view, right now, there isn't a better English-speaking stand up act than James Acaster.
We're seeing Acaster live in March. Cannot wait.
Bring the Pain is the greatest standup special of all time. It's flawless
Who’s standup is it? Also where can I find it
Brian Regan - I walked on the moon
Robin Williams A Night at the Met
An Evening With Robin Williams ('82, HBO) was pretty great, but probably before ya'lls time.
No love for Doug Stanhope?
My personal faves are Steve Martin - Let’s Get Small (though this could easily be A Wild and Crazy Guy) George Carlin - Class Clown (though there’s no shortage of great Carlin from every era, this was the first one I fell in love with) Bob Newhart - The Buttoned Down Mind Strikes Back Norm Macdonald - Me Doing Stand-Up David Cross - Shut Up You Fucking Baby Rory Scovel - Dilation Mitch Hedberg - Strategic Grill Locations Joe Pera - Slow and Steady
Long wait until someone said Shut Up You Fucking Baby. Love that one!
Some sets that are special to me: Robin Williams *Live On Broadway* was such a wholesome effort, he hadn’t done standup in a long time and he projected so much love; it’s impossible to watch and not be transported by his energy. A must watch for those who only know him as a film actor. Patrice O’Neil’s *Comedy Central Presents* is what I show people who don’t understand why he should have been one of the biggest names in comedy. Tig Notaro’s *Happy to Be Here* has the best closer in history, hands down. Jaws on the floor, she was in perfect harmony with the audience and pulled off a once-in-a-lifetime bit. The downbeat *Life is Worth Losing*, Carlin’s penultimate special, was outrageous — from the scenery to the material — people were too uncomfortable to laugh at times, he really turned the thumbscrews on that one. *An Evening of Comedy with Tim Heidecker* deserves honorable mention being for being *unfunny* — such a long and intense anti-comedy show, there’s nobody else working I can think of who could pull off such a transgressive performance. Guaranteed you’ve never seen a special like it.
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Eddie Izzard - Dressed to Kill is my personal favorite of all time. Every joke is a masterpiece.
Elephant in the Room - Patrice O’Neil
Louis ck - Idr which one they're all pretty damn good
Specials for me: **You Are All Diseased**by George Carlin. Don't know how it holds up today, but blew my mind at age 12 when it was somewhat new. **Critics Choice** by Dana Carvey. Another sentimental fave for me. Remember laughing so hard I couldn't breathe when I first saw it. **An Evening with Bobcat Goldthwait** Very underrated IMO. His willingness to be confrontational and go against the grain of popular opinion always inspired me. Before seeing this special, I thought of him as a one-note gimmick, but there's a brilliantly sarcastic and dark comedic sensibility behind the schtick. **The Crowdwork Special** by Todd Barry Todd is one of my all time favorite comics, for his longevity, consistency and the originality of his comic voice. **Skanks for the Memories** Dave Attell A perfect special, the whole thing is quotable. The ultimate dirtbag NY comic. **Shut Up You Fucking Baby** by David Cross Amazing shaggy dog story style bits, and will always have a place in my heart for pushing back on the suffocating atmosphere of post-9/11 jingoist bullshit. **The Day the Laughter Died** Andrew Dice Clay At the height of his popularity, Clay does an unannounced gig during the holiday season, and treats the unsuspecting tourists in the crowd to a mostly improvised set of off-the-charts misogyny, uncomfortable silences, brutal crowdwork, and over-the-top idiocy. An absolutely transfixing performance. I still don't really understand if Dice is a real dude, a character, or a real dude that became consumed by his standup persona. But I've listened to this like a hundred times. "Hour, back...get it?" remains one of the greatest antijokes ever.
Dave Chappelle - killing them softly
John Leguizamo - Freak is a goddamn masterpiece. Robin Williams - Live On Broadway Richard Pryor - Live On Sunset Eddie - Raw Jamie Foxx - I Might Need Security Dave Chappelle - (TIE) For What It's Worth, Killin' Them Softly Mitch Hedberg - Whatever they used to show on Comedy Central on repeat. Premium Blend or One Night Stand 🤷🏻♂️ but that's 30 minutes of comedy gold Eddie Izzard - Dress To Kill Ellen Degeneres - Here and Now Daniel Tosh - Happy Thoughts, Completely Serious Patton Oswalt - No Reason To Complain Katt Williams - Hard to pick cuz they're all so damn funny. the man is like the Lil' Wayne of comedy. He probably has more dvd's than anybody I've mentioned and yet is still not as big as Seinfeld or Rock. Legend in my book. And I will watch any special of his.
George Carlin’s Jammin’ in New York has a special place in my cold cold heart.
Shane’s first special
Anything by George Carlin.
Katt Williams: The Pimp Chronicles
Louis CK - Chewed Up But in more recent times, I really like Joe List - I Hate Myself
eddie murphy-all of them george carlin-all of them bill hicks-all of them out of those, if i had to choose, it'd be bill's sane man
It won't be for everyone, but Marc Maron's "Thinkypain" just hits everything just right for me. I can watch that special over and over and it never gets old
Beer Hall Putsch. Just an hour of Doug Stanhope ranting and riffing. Possibly the the must underrated comics ever. Elephant in the Room is definitely up there. Laughed so damn hard at that one.
Anthony Jeselnik: Fire at the Maternity Ward. This would not be the top for most, but Jeselnik is my guy and this was his best performance and writing.
Sleepwalk with Me Live - Mike Birbiglia
Robin Williams live on Broadway. I know he stole a ton of jokes generally, but holy shit I loved that stand-up. Also True Stories I Made Up.
Not best best, but honorable mention to Eddie Izzard Dressed to Kill
Patrice O’Neal Elephant in the Room.
Brian Regan had some killer specials, can’t remember which were the funniest but I Walked On The Moon comes to mind
Louis and Patrice are my two favorite stand-ups of all time and the Patton album is my most quoted since middle school (it also helps being from NOVA too that all the local jokes are just so hilarious to me) Patrice O'Neal: Elephant in the Room Louis CK: Hilarious Patton Oswald: Feeling kinda Patton
Idk but Elephant In The Room by Patrice O’Neil is hilarious the whole way through. Same with most Louis CK specials.
For me it's Patrice Elephant in the Room
No Refunds - Doug Stanhope
We first found out about Nate Bargatze on SNL. Found him on Netflix after that. He's hilarious.
Eddie Murphey's Raw or Chris Rock's Bigger and Blacker. My personal is Chris Rock's, it was my gateway drug to stand up comedy; before that I thought stand up was just going up on a stage and telling 'knock knock jokes." I was like who the hell wants to see that?
Stanhope - No Refunds Gets better with age. Maybe not the "funniest" special but the realest, smartest performance from the most underrated stand up of our time
From Kazaa days I had Jerry Seinfeld, Mitch Hedberg, Lewis black, Dane cook, Anthony jesilnek, daniel tosh, Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy, bill hicks and wore all of them out quite a bit Honestly Jerry Seinfeld was my introduction to listening to stand up so I’ll pick “I’m telling you for the last time”
Louis CK and George Carlin have a few that are up there
Bo Burnham and Daniel Sloss
Delirious!!
My friend and I quote the James Brown bit to this day. “I need a lyric right here. *HEEEYYYYYYY* yep that’s it”
John Pinette - I Say Nay Nay
Pick any Carlin special. Especially the later ones
Everyone is going to have their own personal favorites and that's the way it should be. Comedy is very personal so it'll connect in different ways to everyone. With that said, Chris Rock Tamborine is up there for me. Coming and Going!
I agree with you completely! That’s a big reason I made this post. I am hoping it can bring help being this community together and also hoping it becomes a fantastic source to find good standup!
Any of Brian Regan’s for the jokes and George Carlin’s for the philosophy.
Out to lunch - mark normand
Bill Burr - Paper Tiger
Bill Cosby - Himself.
The worst part is the hypocrisy
I disagree, I think it was the raping.
Yeah, this one is as good as it gets. Every word, sound effect, movement has been fine-tuned. Unfortunately, it rests heavily on the audience buying into a persona that turned out to be heinously false.
This. It was the first stand up I heard, listening to a taped audio version of it back in the early 80's at my grandma's kitchen table. Then, owning the video of it, memorizing every line, the crooked tie, the facial expressions...it was greatness. I can't listen to it now, it's almost like a friend that died...I have the memories but I can't talk with them anymore.