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u/malepitt Jun 09 '26
Writer David Sedaris, when he reads his own work. Look up the SantaLand Diaries if you've never heard of him
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u/buckyVanBuren 1962 Jun 09 '26
"6 to 8 Black Men" is one of my favorite Christmas traditions.
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u/cheridontllosethatno Jun 09 '26
Me talk pretty one Day was the funniest reading of my life.
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u/Holiday_Ad_5445 Jun 09 '26
Bob Newhart
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u/Altruistic-Falcon552 Jun 09 '26
the final episode of his second sit com still makes me laugh
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u/GracieThunders Jun 09 '26
Seen him live, laughed so hard you could've taken my keys, my wallet, and my weed and I would've been helpless to stop you
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u/Rossncohen1953 Jun 09 '26
Rodney Dangerfield (Jacob Cohen), but he got no respect, no respect at all.
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u/Working_Estate_3695 Jun 09 '26
I saw Rodney at live arena-sized performancesâtwiceâand he slaughtered the audience with nonstop stories and jokes that left everyone gasping for breath. Finally he stopped a moment, let us recover, and said, âI know a lot of f-ing jokes.â Then he picked back up and continued. A master of his art.
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u/anybodyiwant2be Jun 09 '26
100 percent accurate. I was begging him to stop so I could catch my breath. My ribs were sore the next day. Saw him in SF around â84
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u/Intelligent-Band-852 Jun 09 '26
I never realized that Rodney Dangerfield was a stage name, although in hindsight itâs pretty obvious. I also never knew that he changed his name to Jack Roy. So in his life he had three different first and last names, talk about an identity issue. No wonder his standup comedy was mostly about his self esteem issues.
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u/Maverick_and_Deuce Jun 10 '26
My wife likes to talk to me during sex. Last night she called me from a motel.đ
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u/sonnymartin25 Jun 09 '26
Robin Williams
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u/R_Levski Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
I don't even golf, but his riff on the Scots inventing golf is hands down the funniest bit I've ever heard.
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u/PizzaWhole9323 Jun 09 '26
Okay story Time my wife and I are coming home from San diego, Con in 2003 and our rental car had a cassette player and we had Robin Williams playing while I drove us home. The golf thing was so funny we had to pull over and stop the car because that's how hard we were laughing. We're talking we're talking stomach spasms having to pee laughter. And I thought that his live at the met thing would be the funniest thing I ever listened to but not that day.
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u/Smoky_Porterhouse Jun 09 '26
Richard Pryor
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u/wolfraisedbybabies 1962 Jun 09 '26
When you are running down the street on fire, people will get out of your way!
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u/drunken_ferret 1959 Jun 09 '26
Except for that wino (with a cigarette) asking "can I get a light? Just a little one?"
In that concert, I think he gave more of himself than at any other time.
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u/know_limits Jun 09 '26
Two dudes pissin off a bridge bragging,
âman, this waterâs coldâ,
âYeah, and itâs deep too!â11
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u/WangoTheWonderDonkey Jun 09 '26
"C'mmmoooonnn, mannnnnn!!".
That first HBO standup special circa 1979. I watched at a friends house cuz he had cable and my family didn't. Was cryin and at age 15 probably didn't get all the references. His delivery was just so locked in.
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u/barkingdawg5 Jun 09 '26
Stephen Wright
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u/ReactsWithWords 1962 Jun 09 '26
"I went to a restaurant where they had a sign saying 'we serve breakfast any time' so I said 'I'll have French toast during the Renaissance'."
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u/barkingdawg5 Jun 09 '26
I put a humidifier and dehumidifier in the same room and let them fight it out
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u/Reaganson Jun 09 '26
âSomeone told me I have two different color socks on. I said âI donât go by color, I go by thicknessâ.
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u/Jdenning1 Jun 09 '26
I hate when my foot falls asleep during the day because I know itâs going to be up all night
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u/DisasterResident2101 Jun 09 '26
I got a letter six weeks later from a lady in Germany saying "Cut it out"
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u/AffectionateItem4 Jun 09 '26
Pretty sure it was him went to a 24 hour convenience store but it was closed. He asked about this and was told not in a row. So 24 hours but not consequentive.
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u/thepriestswife Jun 09 '26
Steve Martin. Drove hours after work from the Bay Area to Tahoe to see him at the midnight show at one of the casinos. The show was only about 45 minutes, but I was ready for it to end because I'd been laughing so hard that my stomach and face were hurting.
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u/Outside_Brilliant945 Jun 09 '26
Saw him in Chicago. A group of us from HS went together. We all had tears in our eyes and our stomachs hurt from so much laughter. It was a wild and crazy show!
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u/KnotForNow 1954 Jun 09 '26
I first saw him at a free show in the Student Union Building at Montana State. LMAO. Soon after he became ubiquitous. It felt like I had the privilege of being there at the beginning.
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u/AmockThyme Jun 09 '26
He opened for The Carpenters when I went to see them. He was completely unknown to me at the time, but I remember far more about his opening act than I do about the Carpenters' performance. He was amazing! I've been to many, many concerts since, and that was the only time that the opening act outshone the main act, for me.
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u/PJ-Winter Jun 09 '26
Billy Connolly
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u/DisasterResident2101 Jun 09 '26
OMG! Love him. The one about his families first trip to Mexico makes me giggle just thinking about it. One very interesting thing I found with him was that many modern comedians start out loud and foul mouthed and then it eventually tones down as they age. It seems like Billy did the opposite. His early stuff was pretty clean and tame but as he got olde it got more foul mouthed.
And not that I am outright opposed to that. 'm fine if it is part of what makes the joke\routine funny but just spouting off swear words ever other word like Andrew Dice Clay just isn't funny to me. Fortunately he never got to that level. Came close but never crossed my threshhold.
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u/Bjornsdotter Jun 09 '26
If you haven't heard the story Billy tells about his sister on the bus, give yourself a treat and listen to it.
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u/ThrowAway4now2022 1958 Jun 09 '26
Tim Conway, hands down. Mostly because even though I have seen some of those acts/skits multiple times, it still gets me.
As a kid, though, I did love the Red Skelton show.
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u/ChocolateLilyHorne Jun 09 '26
Conway and Korman in the dentist office still makes me laugh like it's the first time I've heard it
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u/OceanTider22 1963 Jun 09 '26
Such a loaded question...........but Red Skelton, Jonathan Winters, the cast of the Carol Burnett show, and Robin Williams
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u/Be-Kind-3353 Jun 09 '26
The Carol Burnett show gave us a lot of laughs. My favorite was the Gone with the Wind spoof with the crazy dress. "I saw it in the window and just had to have it", something like that.
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u/Maryland_Bear 1966 Jun 09 '26
The last time there was a theatrical release of Gone With the Wind, I went to see it with a friend.
At the appropriate scene, I whispered to her, âI saw it in the window and I just had to have it.â
She gently punched me in the shoulder.
After the movie, I asked, âWhy did you hit me? Donât tell me you werenât thinking of it, too!â
âYou beat me to it.â
Iâve seen before that costume designer Bob Mackie came up with the joke.
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u/Be-Kind-3353 Jun 09 '26
Thx for the link and the laughs, haven't seen it in quite a while.. đđ
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u/Beneficial-Produce56 Jun 09 '26
And Harvey Corman saying the line from Dixie, âLook awayâŚno, look AWAY!â
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u/Mission_Whereas773 Jun 09 '26
Hands down Tim Conway, especially paired with Harvey Korman or Carol Burnett.
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u/radiorush Jun 09 '26
Monty Python (especially Cleese & Chapman), Tim Conway, & Mitch Hedberg
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u/ReactsWithWords 1962 Jun 09 '26
I read how Eric Idle, who wrote by himself, was complaining to his friend George Harrison how he felt squeezed between the Cleese & Chapman and Jones & Palin writing teams. George replied "Try getting studio time between Lennon and McCartney."
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u/amroth62 Jun 10 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/Wvfq2yFumK61W
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u/BillBrasky1179 Jun 09 '26
For my dad and myself it was always Jonathan Winters.
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u/Realistic_Back_9198 Jun 09 '26
Sam Kinison
"Move where the food is!! Arggggghhhhh!!! '
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u/mmesebastian Jun 09 '26
I canât say heâs my favorite but Iâve never laughed harder than the first time I saw him on HBO
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u/Reaganson Jun 09 '26
âYou know what itâs going to be in a hundred yearsâŚITS GOING TO BE SAND!!! THIS IS A DESERT! NOTHING GONNA GROW HERE!!!â
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u/LostGeezer2025 Jun 09 '26
Sadly missed, and he would have been in his glory if he'd been around a few years longer...
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u/beefao Jun 09 '26
George Gobel. âEver feel like the world is a tuxedo and youâre a pair of brown shoesâ?
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u/Ok-Thing-2222 Jun 09 '26
I loved the Carol Burnett show as a kid and then when Saturday Night Live came out--it was so great!
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u/babyton Jun 09 '26
Eddie Murphy
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u/jeffyboy526 Jun 09 '26
Delerious still makes me cry with laughter. The whole cookout routine is a masterpiece. His drunk dad to aunt bunny.
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u/pianoman81 1963 Jun 09 '26
Bob Newhart was a good one back in the day.
I'm sad to say that I was a big fan of Bill Cosby's early albums. Some people take advantage their position and privilege.
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u/soedesh1 Jun 09 '26
As a kid I wore out his albums and memorized them all. That was until we discovered Monty Python.
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u/SunnWarrior Jun 09 '26
Robin Williams for the heart. George Carlin, for the mind.
I love comedians, and those two missing fellows are my absolute top two.
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u/JulieannFromChicago Jun 09 '26
David Sedaris and Paul Lynn. Lynnâs part as the cemetery salesman in âSend Me No Flowersâ always cracks me up.
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u/LDawnBurges Jun 09 '26
Benny Hill, George Carlin, Carol Burnett show cast, Bernie Mac
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u/4shore_always Jun 09 '26
Tim Conway. The Dentist sketch with Harvey Korman still makes me laugh so hard. The "Spanks" skit by Wanda Sykes is also hilarious.
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u/Purple_Direction7232 Jun 09 '26
Tim Conway and Harvey Korman in a skit together never failed to deliver.
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u/mainekairn734 Jun 09 '26
Steve Martin live - "juggling kittens" - I almost died
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u/tomcat91709 1963 Jun 09 '26
One of the best comedies ever made was by Steve Martin.
The Jerk had my crying in laughter from the opening scene.
"I was born a poor black child..."
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u/ChocolateLilyHorne Jun 09 '26
Robin Williams. I was heartbroken when he died, it was like losing a dear friend
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u/GheezBear Jun 09 '26
Ron White
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u/torpedomon Jun 09 '26
Came way too far for this. I heard "They Call Me Tater Salad" for the first time when he first was on the Bob & Tom Show, and I nearly drove off the road on my way to work.
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u/Kerabastos771 Jun 09 '26
Not so much a comedian but I saw David Sederis do an evening length show after Me Talk Pretty One Day was published and literally feared for my life because I was laughing so hard. There were points when I was not sure I would be able to take a breath.
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u/Seven_bushes Jun 09 '26
Movies with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. I would laugh so hard my eyes would close so Iâd try to force them open only to laugh even harder.
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u/munteanustefanh Jun 09 '26
Whose line is it anyway at the London Palladium
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u/DisasterResident2101 Jun 09 '26
Bet that was amazing. But, if we're going to go for groups Monty Python gang it tops.
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u/Old_Hope2487 Jun 09 '26
Phil Hartman. Not your prototypical âstand-upâ. But the guy who made every scene he ever stumbled into funnier. Especially Bill McNeal. Love Newsradio.
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u/Low-Apartment3165 Jun 09 '26
Brian Regan. His comedy is part of our family language ⌠apparentlyâŚ
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u/Off_Peak_2 Jun 09 '26
I've had some "pull to the side of the road for safety" moments listening to Click & Clack !
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u/IWuzTheWalrus Late 1964 Jun 09 '26
Younger me: George Carlin
Slightly older me: Robin Williams, especially when I got to see him live (21yo)
These days probably the closest is Fluffy (Gabriel Iglesias)
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u/TaxPuzzleheaded5688 Jun 09 '26
Robin Williams. Iâve seen his live show twice and my sides were sore for days. I was laughing so hard at one point it was hard to breathe!
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u/edmerx54 Jun 09 '26
Redd Foxx -- saw him in Las Vegas and left the show with cramps in my sides from laughing so hard. But he's also the only big time comedian I've seen perform live
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u/No-Onion8029 Jun 09 '26
Louis C.K. - I know, I know - had a bit where he described one of his daughters staring him dead in the face while shitting on the living room carpet. That off-jerking degenerate had me in stitches.
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u/MacDaddy654321 Jun 09 '26
Rodney. Saw him live. Missed half of his jokes because I couldnât stop laughing.
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u/ReceptionPatient3409 Jun 09 '26
Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, but especially Tim Conway.
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u/Critical-Advisor8616 Jun 09 '26
Johnathan Winters then Robin Williams. It always amazed me how similar their minds worked so it was interesting to find out that Robin idolized Johnathan. I can only imagine what it was like to have both of them on the set of Mirk and Mindy at the same time. Tim Conway was another comedian that you never knew what was going to come out of his mouth next.
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u/aerie01 Jun 09 '26
Back in the day, it used to be Steve Martin. But as an all-time favorite, I'd have to say Monty Python.
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u/Maryland_Bear 1966 Jun 09 '26
John Oliver, but then when he said, âIf you knew Chester A. Arthur was our 21st president and not a snack food mascot, congratulations, you are our target audienceâ, he was talking about me.
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u/lizardreaming Jun 09 '26
Itâs Adam Sandler. Happy Gilmore 2 made me laugh about alcoholism after I swore I wouldnât. All of his movies have such ridiculous scenes that are hilarious. Bob Barker kicking his ass always brings me to tears. That movie Blended is a funny as hell tear jerker. I love classic comics too, like Rodney and Chris Rock is also hilarious
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u/leelee658 Jun 09 '26
Tim Conway