The 35 Funniest Stand-Up Comedians of All Time
Who do you think are the funniest stand-up comedians of all time?
We all need some laughs in our lives, especially in difficult situations.
In this article, we will be presenting you with the 35 funniest stand-up comedians of all time so that you can check them out and have a good laugh for yourself with the humorous shows.
The 35 Funniest Stand-Up Comedians of All Time
Let’s have a look at the 35 funniest stand-up comedians of all time.
35. Gabriel Iglesias
Gabriel Jesus Iglesias, who goes by the stage name of fluffy, is one of the funniest stand-up comedians of all time.
Fluffy is an excellent stand-up comedian, and he is mostly known for his diverse set of voices, tones, and accents while delivering the jokes.
Iglesias rose to fame with his show I’m Not Fat… I’m Fluffy and Hot & Fluffy and left a name for himself. Thereafter, he has been entertaining people worldwide.
Asides from standup comedy, Gabriel is also part of numerous comedy movies dating back to 2002.
His most recent movie is Space Jam: A New Legacy, where he voiced Speedy Gonzales’s character.
34. Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt is a stand-up comedian and writer. Oswalt rose to fame around the late 1990s, where he starred in a sitcom, The King of Queens.
Oswalt is currently working on a sitcom named The Goldbergs as the narrator.
Patton has also starred as a voice actor in prevalent characters like Pixar in the film Ratatouille.
The comedian has also appeared in other movies such as Man on the Moon, Zoolander, Blade: Trinity.
As for his stand-up shows, he has done six shows to date.
Out of those six shows, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special.
He has also won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for his most recent stand-up show Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping.
33. Lewis Black
Coming up next on our list is a widely popular name in the comedic world, Lewis Black. Black is an American actor and stand-up comedian.
He is very popular for his comedy that revolves around history, politics, religion, or other cultural trends. He likes to rant about it and make hilarious comments.
Black’s fame reached over the top when he got a contract from Comedy Central for his own show, “Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil.”
32. Woody Allen
Allan Stewart Konigsberg, who goes by the stage name of Woody Allen, is an American Film director and stand-up comedian who has been in Hollywood for over sixty years.
Woody began his career by writing humorous content pieces for The New Yorker, and soon after, in 1960, he performed his first-ever stand-up comedy show in Greenwich Village.
Allen is well known for his storytelling style while maintaining the insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish persona.
31. Rowan Atkinson
Most of us might not be familiar when I say Rowan Atkinson, but I am pretty sure you have heard of Mr. Bean, right?
Atkinson is an English actor, comedian, and writer who is popular and loved by people worldwide for his character Mr. Bean.
His ability to make people laugh without using his voice is too good to be true. Rowan occasionally does normal stand-up comedies, too, and he is even more hilarious in those.
He has also appeared in various movies as a guest appearance, and he also has starred as the protagonist of many movies like Jhonny English.
Also, read about The 30 Richest NBA Players in the World.
30. Dick Gregory
Richard Claxton Gregory, also known as Dick Gregory, was an American comedian and civil rights activist.
Gregory rose to fame with his funny shows on the no-holds-barred, where he used to poke fun at the racism in America.
By the 1960s, he was a well-known name in the African American scene, be it comedy or political activities. He also released numerous comedy record albums around that time.
29. Robert Klein
Robert Klein, an American stand-up comedian, singer, and actor, is popular for his comedy albums in the 1970s.
Thereafter Klein rose to fame, and he also went on to host the Saturday Night Live and made various appearances on the television.
Robert started working with HBO since he rose to fame and has continued to work with them for over four decades.
His most popular standup specials are It all Started here and Unfair and Unbalanced.
28. Jim Carrey
James Eugene Carrey, professionally known as Jim Carrey, is one of the most well-known Canadian comedians in the world right now.
Besides his standup comedy gigs, he is also an actor, writer, producer, and artist. In addition, Jim is known for his diverse personality traits and energetic shows.
He first came into the limelight around the 1990s when he appeared in the comedy show: In Living Color.
After gaining recognition, he pushed it further and appeared in numerous Ace Ventura movies, and around the 2000s, his comedy film Me, Myself & Irene blew up.
27. Redd Foxx
John Elroy Sanford, aka Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor who gained recognition around the 1950s with his nightclub acts.
Foxx has performed in over 50 records throughout the span of his career, thus giving him the name King of the Party Records.
Over the span of his career, he has appeared in popular shows like Fred G and Sanford on Sanford and Son’s television show.
And he also had his own show, The Redd Foxx Show and The Royal Family.
26. Betty White
Betty Marion White Ludden, known by her professional name Betty White is an American actress, comedian, and author.
White is rather popular for her acting as Sue Ann Nivens on the CBS sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Over 80 years, she is regarded as the pioneer of television and the first woman to produce a sitcom. Her sitcom was named Life with Elizabeth.
Believe it or not, she is 99 years old and still healthy and kicking.
25. Eddie Murphy
Coming at number 25 on our list is Edward Regan Murphy, who is popular by his stage name of Eddie Murphy.
He is quite a well-known personality in the comedy scene right now as well.
Murphy gained fans’ recognition around the 1980s when he had landed a role on Saturday Night Live.
Eddie was a great fan of Richard Pryor, and he stated in an interview that it was because of Richard that he was inspired to become a stand-up comedian.
24. Bob Newhart
George Robert Newhart, popular by his professional name Bob Newhart is an American stand-up comedian.
Newhart has a unique way of delivering his jokes which makes the crowd laugh their guts out.
He delivers his jokes in a deadpan and slightly stammering style.
Bob got instant fame when he released his comedy monologue album titled The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.
It was hilarious, and fans loved it, and just in a matter of time, it came at number one on the Billboard pop album chart.
That album remains the 20th-best selling comedy album in history.
23. Norm MacDonald
Next on our list is Norman Gene Macdonald, a Canadian comedian, writer, producer, and actor.
MacDonald began his career by writing gags for the show Roseanne and followed it up with guest appearances on The Drew Carey Show and NewsRadio.
After he became popular, he was also hired by Saturday Night Live and worked for them for five years before starting his own show, The Norm Show.
Since 2013, Norm has also put his hand in podcasting and runs a podcast named Norm Macdonald Live, where he interviews popular comedians and celebrities.
22. Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Harshman Winters II, known as Jonathan Winters, was an American Comedian, Author, and Television host.
Winters began his career around 1960 and released several comedy albums for the Verve Records label, which went popular due to his comedic remarks, mimicry, and impersonations.
Over his 50 years, he had released one comedic album per year, and due to that, he earned 11 Grammy nominations, including eight for Best Comedy Album nominations.
Out of 11 nominations, he won two, and one of them was for Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album.
21. Bernie Mac
Coming up on our list is another classic comedian who inspired numerous stand-up comedians that we know today.
Bernard Jeffrey McCullough was an American comedian, actor, and voice actor.
Bernie gained popularity among the fans for his stand-up shows.
Soon after, he starred in the movies like The Original Kings of Comedy, alongside Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D. L. Hughley.
He hosted his own show Midnight Mac and appeared on many movie guest appearances.
20. Steve Harvey
Broderick Stephen Harvey, known by his stage name Steve Harvey, is an American American comedian, actor, author, game show host, and businessman.
The comedian is one of the most popular and loved comedians of our time. Steve is widely known for his standup shows and also as a tv show host who is hilarious.
Harvey began his career as a comedian, and around the 1980s, he used to perform stand-up shows and hosted Showtime at the Apollo and Harvey Show on The WB.
Steve also appeared in The Original Kings of Comedy alongside Bernie Mac, who was mentioned just above.
19. Mitch Hedberg
Next on our list is also another classic comedian of all time, Mitchell Lee Hedberg.
Mitch was an American stand-up comedian who is widely popular for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery.
Hedberg’s common comedic shows included absurd elements and nonsequitur and one-line jokes.
Hedberg was a fan favorite and was loved by his fans so much that they even started a cult on his name and followed him.
They would attend his shows anywhere he went and even sometimes interrupted his joke.
Also, read about The 25 Richest Rockstars in the World.
18. Bill Cosby
William Henry Cosby Jr. is a widely popular American stand-up comedian, actor, and author who goes by the stage name of Bill Cosby.
We can’t deny that he was indeed a funny person in his early days.
Cosby started his career from hungry I in San Francisco around the 1960s and rose to fame soon after.
He also starred in numerous movies and also had his own show titled The Bill Cosby Show.
Over his 6 decades career, he had released comedic albums like When I Was a Kid, Fat Albert, and Bill’s Best Friend.
17. Steven Wright
Steven Wright is an American stand-up writer, comedian, actor, and film producer.
Wright is rather popular for his distinctly lethargic voice and slow, deadpan delivery of ironic and philosophical jokes.
Sometimes, he throws in paraprosdokians, nonsequiturs, anti-humor, and one-liners, depending on the crowd and situation.
16. Bill Hicks
William Melvin Hicks, popular by his stage name of Bill Hicks, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician.
Hicks was widely popular for his dark humor, where he loves to talk about controversial topics, including religion, politics, and philosophy.
Bill was in comedy since an early age and loved to make people laugh while discussing controversial topics; just at the age of 16, he was performing at Comedy Workshop in Houston, Texas.
Unfortunately, he had a short-lived career as he passed away at just 32 due to cancer.
15. Ricky Gervais
Coming at number 15 on our list is Ricky Gervais, an English actor, comedian, director, producer, and writer.
Gervais is widely popular for writing the mockumentary show: The Office.
Over the span of his career, Gervais has managed to win seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and the Rose d’Or twice.
Gervais was initially in the music industry but had a change of heart and pursued his career in comedy and achieved greatness.
14. Don Rickles
Don Jay Rickles was an American actor, author, and stand-up comedian who was popular for his style of comedy where he insults people. We call it roasts nowadays.
Rickles rose to fame by starring in several movies and took on stand-up comedy. Around the late 1970s, he also landed his own show, The Don Rickles Show.
13. Andy Kaufman
Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman was a man of many talents as he had been involved in various sectors aside from comedy.
Kaufman was an American comedian, performance artist, and wrestler. Kaufman usually called himself a song and dance man as he was very joyful and energetic in his shows.
Andy began his career, performing in small comedy clubs and gaining recognition slowly for his humor.
After exposure, he got an opportunity to perform on Saturday Night Live and rose to fame.
12. Rodney Dangerfield
Jacob Rodney Cohen, who was popular by his stage name of Rodney Dangerfield, is a stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, musician, and author.
Dangerfield was popular for his monologues and one-liners and his catchphrase “I get no respect.”
Rodney began his career at an early age. He used to perform in Borscht Belt resorts of the Catskill Mountains.
After his success there, he moved to LA to perform in front of a bigger crowd and succeeded.
His most popular comedy albums are La Contessa and Greatest Bits.
11. Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin, professionally known as Steve Martin, is an American actor, producer, comedian, writer, and musician.
Over the span long career, the comedian has won Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award.
Steve’s most popular comedy albums are Let’s Get Small and Comedy Is Not Pretty.
Besides his comedic gigs, he has also appeared in numerous movies and documentaries and also written several books.
10. Bill Burr
William Frederick Burr, aka Bill Burr, is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, and actor. He is a hilarious stand-up comedian who is popular for his rage-fueled humor.
Bill rose to fame with his first comedic album, Emotionally Unavailable, and then released super hit albums like Let It go and Live at Andrew’s house.
Asides from his comedic skits, he is popular for his movie as well.
Bill has appeared in several movies and series: Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian, and The Simpsons.
9. Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and producer.
He is probably the most well-known comedian on this list.
Let me tell you one thing, Kevin is hilarious and will surely make you laugh till your stomach hurts.
Hart started winning competitions around New England and moved on to a bigger stage as he became more popular.
Kevin slowly but surely became popular, and after the release of his first album, “I’m a Grown Little Man,” his fame skyrocketed.
He continued his fame through his movies and released several other hit comedy albums like Laugh at my pain and What now?.
8. Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen Seinfeld, aka Jerry Seinfeld, is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and producer who is widely popular for playing fictional versions of himself on his sitcom shows.
Seinfeld is known for his observational comedy, and often he involves his audiences in his jokes while doing his show.
Jerry is also a screenwriter and has written the Bee Movie.
He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award.
Seinfeld also worked on another show titled Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
7. Louis C.K
Louis Székely is popular by his stage name Louis C.K. is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and filmmaker who has won seven Primetime Emmy Awards.
Ck Began his career back in the 1970s as a comedic scriptwriter and rose to fame due to his funny jokes.
Around the 2000s, C.K decided to step it up and do a comedy album himself, and he released his first-ever album titled Live in Houston.
It was an instant hit, and then he released several other albums and performed stand-up specials like Shameless.
Louis has won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album twice.
6. Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider, popular by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist.
Bruce was widely known in the comedic world for his open, free-style, and critical form of comedy, where he did not fear to discuss topics like politics, religion, and sex.
Lenny was convicted of obscenity in 1964, and this trial ended up in Bruce’s favor; this became one of the landmarks for the freedom of speech in the United States.
Bruce had released several popular comedic albums like The Sick Humor of Lenny Bruce and American during the peak of his career.
5. Chris Rock
Christopher Julius Rock, professionally known as Chris Rock, is an American stand-up comedian, producer, actor, writer, and director.
Chris started his career as a stand-up comedian and also starred in movies as a supporting role character.
Whilst working in both of those gigs, he managed to land a role in Saturday Night Live.
His career skyrocketed thereafter, and he went to star in hit movies like Down to Earth and Head of State.
After his fame, he continued his standup shows and released comedic albums like Roll with the New, Bigger & Blacker, and Never Scared.
4.Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams, professionally known as Robin Williams, was an American actor and comedian.
Williams was rather popular amongst the fans for his improvisational skills and his diverse personalities.
Rob started his career in the 1970s where he used to do stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
After successfully establishing his career in comedy, he also took a step in the movie industry and starred in different movies.
Also, read about The 25 Most Expensive Sneakers Ever Made.
3. Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber Chappelle, widely popular by his stage name Dave Chappelle, is an American comedian, writer, actor, and producer.
Chappelle is one of the funniest and widely known stand-up comedians of the past two decades.
Dave has gained popularity with his ability to illuminate and interrogate agonizing and poignant topics.
Over the span of his career, Dave has won four Emmy Awards and three Grammy Awards and the Mark Twain Prize.
His most popular stand-up specials are Killin’ Them Softly and his most recent Redemption Song, released in 2021.
Read about Sonal Chappelle, Dave Chappelle’s Daughter.
2. George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin, known as George Carlin, is regarded as one of the best stand-up comedians ever to walk this planet.
He was an American stand-up comedian, author, actor, and social critic.
Due to his influence on stand-up comedy and new comedians, he was given the title of “the dean of counterculture comedians.”
Carlin was popular for dark comedy, where he portrayed his humor in an edgy manner reflecting the actions of others.
He had performed stand-up specials like George Carlin: Again! His most recent stand-up special is the Commemorative Collection.
1. Richard Pryor
The funniest stand-up comedian on our list is Richard Pryor.
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor, known as Richard Pryor, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and actor.
Pryor, one of the most influential comedians, has inspired many comedians.
Pryor inspired even some of the comedians mentioned earlier on this list.
His most famous works include Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin, Is It Something I Said?, Richard Pryor: Live in Concert, etc.
Throughout his career, Pryor had won multiple awards, including an Emmy Award and five Grammy Awards.
