Best Stand-Up Comedians of All time

We’ve all made someone laugh at least once in our lives, but there are a handful of people that just do it better. They can get in front of a group of people with nothing but a microphone and make people laught, night after night.

Within the world of stand-up comedians, there are a handful of legends that don’t just make people laugh – they deliver nuggets of wisdom and philosophy, splitting our sides in the process.

Read on for the 10 best stand-up comedians of all time, from Richard Pryor to Ellen Degeneres. And see how you can stream some of their best work online right now.

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1. Ellen Degeneres

Although we now know Ellen as a queen of talk shows, her unique wit didn’t come from nowhere. She started her career as a stand-up comedian before starring in her hit sitcom, Ellen.

But even with a hit talk show, Ellen still finds time to flex her comedy chops. Her first stand-up special in 15 years, Relatable, is slated to come out on Netflix this December. In the meantime, stream this nugget, from one of Ellen’s earliest stand up specials in the 90s.

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2. Chris Rock

Chris Rock has some of the best on-stage energy, pacing back and forth, yelling at anyone and everyone, and masterfully using his unique voice to make his jokes even funnier. His topics range from race to gun-control, but always provide a characteristically hilarious (and often controversial) take.

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3. Joan Rivers

Modern female comedians like Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, and Tig Notaro all have one woman to thank for blazing the trail: Joan Rivers. During the male-dominated world of stand-up comedy in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Joan made a name for herself by dishing insults and jokes with her own twist, and ultimately becoming one of the best late-night show hosts ever.

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4. Andy Kaufman

Andy Kaufman didn’t like to be called a stand-up comedian. Instead, he described himself as a “song and dance man.”

In reality, his incredibly fresh comedy of the 70s and 80s was somewhere in-between stand-up and performance art.

Whatever it was, Kaufman’s iconic characters like “Foreign Man” and “Mighty Mouse” made us laugh. Hard.

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5. Dave Chappelle

Despite a somewhat rocky, elusive career, Dave Chappelle is cemented as one of the all-time greats of stand-up comedy. He recently made a big comeback with a series of hit Netflix specials, but it’s his early work on HBO and the documentary Dave Chappelle’s Block Party that shines as some of the best comedy ever.

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6. Steve Martin

Before Steve Martin was one of the best comedy actors of all time in movies like Three Amigos and The Pink Panther, he was a wild, absurdist stand-up comedian with an act like no other.

Fun fact: Martin’s unique, wacky stand-up style was inspired by his love for philosophy, which taught him to question logic and joke structure as a whole.

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7. Robin Williams

With lines like “cocaine is God’s way of telling you you have too much money,” it’s clear that Robin Williams is a certified stand-up legend. His incredible career spanned from fast-paced, dizzyingly funny stand-up specials to an Academy Award winning performance in Good Will Hunting. The funnyman’s untimely passing only makes his work that much more special.

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8. Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld is the undisputed king of observational humor, making us question the mundane, and crack up at just about anything. In fact, he seemed to make too many observations to fit on a stand-up stage, so he co-created Seinfeld, one of the best TV shows of all time.

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9. Richard Pryor

Richard Pryor’s life off-stage was a mess. His upbringing was rough, and his personal life while at the top of the comedy world was filled with drugs and controversy. However, he somehow managed to channel all that into whip-sharp, brutally honest, painfully funny comedy in specials like Live in Concert and Live on the Sunset Strip.

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10. George Carlin

No one supported free speech more fervently, controversially, or hilariously than comedy king George Carlin. He was skilled at eviscerating people and ideas from every taboo subject, including religion, politics, and philosophy, and even made an impact on the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the government to censor material on public airwaves in 1978.

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