Comedians The Funniest Stand Up Comedians of All Time  

Originally by Ranker Community

862.2k votes 63.8k voters 1.9M views 443 items

List Rules Stand up comedians only. Must have done actual stand-up, not just film or TV.

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Comedian Heather McDonald Reveals Her Top 5 Favorite Standups of All Time

A ranked list of the best stand up comedians in the history of the art form. First and foremost, all of the people on this list are funny comedians. But beyond that, this is a diverse list of people with different styles who approach different types of subject matter. These are the cream of the crop: they are the top comedians in the game, and many thousands of people agree. Many of the popular comedians listed below worked their way up through the stand up circuit and eventually landed a show on Comedy Central, while others started their own web series and put their best stand up out into the world that way. The funniest comedians can come from any type of background, obviously there are insanely talented black, Asian, Latino and white comedians (and everything in between.)

Being a good stand-up comic is tough, and whether they're an observationist, an orator, an absurdist, blue collar, or alternative, all of the funny comedians on this list are unique, hardworking, and hilarious. Many of the best comedians of all time got their start as stand-up comedians and then progressed to star in their own films of TV series. It takes a certain skill set and ability to connect with people to excel at stand-up comedy, and we feel that these are the ones that shine.

This list is made of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians and then some. The top comedians are always changing. Feel free to add your votes to this Crowd-Ranked list of the greatest stand ups of all time, or make your own contributing list and give your voice more weight in the calculations. 

1

15,497 6,629

George Carlin Dogma, Cars, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

2

12,118 7,408

Robin Williams Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society, Jumanji

3

12,318 4,713

Richard Pryor Richard Pryor: Live in Concert, Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip, Blazing Saddles

4

15,283 4,833

Dave Chappelle Block Party, Half Baked, Chappelle's Show

5

11,094 4,504

Eddie Murphy Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places, Coming to America

6

10,425 5,200

Chris Rock Chris Rock: Bigger & Blacker, Madagascar, Head of State

7

14,341 6,803

Louis C.K. Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Louie, Louis C.K. Oh My God

8

7,508 6,491

Jerry Seinfeld Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld: 'I'm Telling You for the Last Time', Comedian

9

6,677 4,733

Steve Martin The Jerk, ¡Three Amigos!, Bowfinger

10

9,716 3,736

Aaron719 added Bill Burr The Heat, Date Night, Walk of Shame

11

6,518 3,830

Rodney Dangerfield Back to School, Rover Dangerfield, Rodney Dangerfield: It's Not Easy Bein' Me

12

6,886 4,126

Mitch Hedberg Almost Famous, Lords of Dogtown, Los Enchiladas!

13

7,885 6,382

PhillyHilfiger added Kevin Hart Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, Ride Along, The Wedding Ringer

14

6,332 3,980

Jim Gaffigan It's Kind of a Funny Story, Away We Go, 17 Again

15

4,699 4,410

Lewis Black The Daily Show, The Aristocrats, Lewis Black: Black on Broadway

16

4,534 2,838

Don Rickles Toy Story, Toy Story 3, Toy Story 2

17

5,529 4,519

Ricky Gervais The Office, The Invention of Lying, Cemetery Junction

18

4,245 3,173

Steven Wright Reservoir Dogs, Natural Born Killers, Babe: Pig in the City

19

5,062 3,555

Bill Hicks Comedy's Dirtiest Dozen, Bill Hicks: Sane Man, Bill Hicks Live: Satirist

20

5,143 7,370

Bill Cosby The Cosby Show, Bill Cosby: Himself, Uptown Saturday Night

21

5,657 4,390

Jim Carrey Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

22

4,358 2,886

Norm Macdonald Dirty Work, Billy Madison, Saturday Night Live

23

3,955 2,393

Redd Foxx Harlem Nights, Sanford, Norman... Is That You?

24

4,362 2,591

Bernie Mac The Bernie Mac Show, Ocean's Eleven, Transformers

25

3,235 2,512

Bob Newhart Newhart, The Bob Newhart Show, Elf