Stand-Up Comics I Love

 I need laughter & find the craft of comedy to be fascinating, can not get enough. So here's a disorganized list of talented, funny people I seek out online when I get an itch on my funny bone.

Dave Attell. -  He's so talented, man. He's one of the comics I love. 2014 DVD Road Work,  Hey, Your Mouth's Not Pregnant and the special that made me a fan of his, a Comedy Central show. 

Jim Gaffigan. - Gaffigan on Comedy Showcase, making me a fan for life. Mr. Universe, Jim Gaffigan Show.  

Greg Giraldo. - The late Greg Giraldo, so talented. I adored his jokes comparing letters written by soldiers during the Civil War to the idea of letters home during the Gulf War. The closest I found to that was this video on YouTube, titled, "Katrina and Civil War Letters". Here's a YouTube playlist of his jokes at comedic roasts. Also, "Mid-American behemoths", gluttony, & the "sanctity of marriage" on Just For Laughs. 

Kathy Griffin. - She once appeared on "The Tavis Smiley Show" and referred to Donald Trump as the new Amanda Bynes of Twitter. That's frickin platinum. Kathy Griffin has released more televised stand-up specials than anyone else (just ask the Guinness Book of World Records), earned the respect of Don Rickles and Joan Rivers and spent 2016 touring 80 cities like a maniac. There's Record Breaker, a special from 2013, a bit she did about "Hoarders",  funny things she said on "The Talk", and here's one last thing - a seriously deep, not-funny, lovely interview she gave on the now-defunct "Rosie" one-on-one talk show. I don't agree with everything she says, but in summary: I adore and admire her as an artist, an entertainer and as a woman.

Lewis Black. - I have listened to every one of his stand-up specials from the 2000's countless times and have parts of his The Carnegie Hall Performance so ingrained in my psyche that I quote his bit about candy corn almost annually. Here are his thoughts on golfers, on prayer, and the special Red, White & Screwed. This is another comedian I really admire.

Kathleen Madigan. - I fell hard for Madigan's style with her Comedy Central half-four special ages ago, wherein she talked about alien abduction, wondering if to those aliens our planet may be the country, blue-collar, sometimes hick part of the universe. She, Lewis Black, Jamie Kilstein & Ron White were fantastic on "The Green Room with Paul Provenza". Here she is on Craig Ferguson's old late show, regaling the audience with her time in Afghanistan, performing for the troops!

Brian Regan. - I crave his stuff, man. He was fun on Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee", but I latched onto his goofball style in a Comedy Central special, and years later, I found "I Walked On the Moon" online. 

Maria Bamford. - So intelligent, thoughtful, very funny, and an advocate for taking on the stigma against mental illness. That's Maria Bamford to me. One-Hour Homemade Christmas Stand-Up Special, her collab with Above Average's Storytime, titled, "Psych Ward", her stand-up on Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and I have a big ol' soft spot for The Maria Bamford Show made for Super Deluxe, so feel free to check out ep. 1, "Dropout" & "Bread", ep. 9, wherein her character sells out for laughs when her audience really doesn't get her. 

Mitch Hedberg. - The late Mitch Hedberg is one of the comics whose work drew me in when I first started paying attention to that field when I was in eighth grade. Looking into vaudevillian stand-up for a school project got me curious, so I researched popular comedians of the time, moving to The Drew Carey Show and Friday night stand-up blocks on TV, including a special from the unique, wonderful Hedberg. I have some of his jokes tattooed on my brain. When he unfortunately passed away, he was survived by his wife, another comic by the name of Lynn Shawcroft, who maintains a Twitter account that's splattered by funny stuff. She gave an interview in 2012 that reminded us of her desire to keep the focus of her husband's memory on his true legacy. 


Joan Rivers. - Please, if you're curious about her or already a fan, watch her wonderful, revealing documentary, A Piece of Work. I loved two episodes of In Bed With Joan above all others - the ones with Nick Kroll and Bianca del Rio. TMZ posted what they called her "Best TMZ Moments", and you know about her history with Johnny Carson, right? She was banned from "The Tonight Show" for so long! That was turned around beautifully, first with Fallon's first episode as host, including a parade of celebrities in a shtick about a $100 bet, then later an interview where Rivers joked about getting a piercing with Caitlin Jenner. She made a joke on live TV when promoting her reality show with daughter Melissa Rivers, surprising everyone with a body part joke based on a Carson rumor (just search online for "Joan and Melissa Carson golf swing". I'm still laughing when I think of it today! Fearless, kick-ass, very hard-working comic.

Robin Williams. - Watch him improvise with a scarf belonging to an audience member on "Inside Actors' Studio"! Live on Broadway special, 2002. Funny guest spot on Ferguson's CBS late show, collaborating with him. On "Oprah" with close friend Billy Crystal! Remarkable talent.

Don Rickles. - One Night Only: An All Star Comedy Tribute to Don Rickles, Rickles brightening the bucket list of Kathy Griffin's mother on The D List, introducing an award with Griffin at the Emmys. Long live Mr. Warmth, The Merchant of Venom!

Amy Schumer. - I loved some of her interviews promoting the movie she starred in (and co-wrote with Judd Apatow), Trainwreck. She was sparring with the awesome Bill Hader here and here. Also, check out Women Who Kill. Her show, "Inside Amy Schumer", once ran a sketch that did a truly perfect job of commenting on the rape of young women by fellow students and jocks, parodying "Friday Night Lights". It's called "Football Town Nights".


Correction: November 15, 2016 

I had more to say.