Where do you rank George Carlin among the greatest stand-up comedians?

[blaseblase]

"7 Words..." is timeless, and still holds up today, IMO.

Yeah a lot of his earlier stuff is great. A lot of observational comedy that he continued with in his later years.

 

[melvinj0]

I think he’s great, but at the end of the day he was more insightful than funny, which is still great but also just not that funny to me.

I always felt Bill Hicks did a similar thing while still being hilarious, he’s my favorite comic of all time.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

I think he’s great, but at the end of the day he was more insightful than funny, which is still great but also just not that funny to me.

I always felt Bill Hicks did a similar thing while still being hilarious, he’s my favorite comic of all time.

If Bill Hicks is your favorite, where would you rank him on the pantheon of the great stand-up comics?

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

He's interesting to listen to but I don't think he's ever made me laugh so it's a weird one..

 

[gspieler]

If Bill Hicks is your favorite, where would you rank him on the pantheon of the great stand-up comics?

Not gonna put words in that poster's mouth. But Hicks is my second-favorite(behind Carlin). My thoughts are that Hicks' overall legacy is somewhat modest, relative to other ATG's. The guy basically gave the middle finger to the mainstream in his early 30's, and died shortly after. In other words, he was just scratching the surface, and simply didn't live long enough to build a resume on par with the real all-time heavy-hitters like Chris Rock, Carlin, Chapelle, etc. Had he continued, I suspect he would have been considered possibly the best comic of the 90's/00's, and probably the carrier of Carlin's torch.

Now, if we're talking peak vs peak, Hicks would absolutely be in my top 5. I appreciate his acerbic, abrasive style, and the fact he was an intellectual(of sorts) who was willing to tour Red America with an act that was very critical of the people in those places.

 

[Prefect]

"7 Words..." is timeless, and still holds up today, IMO.

"7 Words..." is timeless, and still holds up today, IMO.

It does but that is one bit. Can anyone recall his wacky whino radio announcer stuff?

 

[dc007]

Top 3. One of the all time greats.

 

[blaseblase]

It does but that is one bit. Can anyone recall his wacky whino radio announcer stuff?

Time is a great bit. Death is another one. I watched Playing With Your Head last night and that holds up.

 

[SCTwins]

I can't think of any other comic who's material still holds up as well as his.

 

[Psilo82]

Carlins number 1 for me. Even the way that mother fucker would walk on stage or the faces he would make would have me dying. Dude was a genius comedian.

 

[pv3Hpv3p]

He became more of an entertaining social commentator at some point. Not that there's anything wrong with that... I would have loved to sit down and have a dozen beers with him

 

[Fedorgasm]

A lot of Carlin's material is more thought provoking and interesting rather than funny. I wouldn't put him in the hysterical category. He's never had me howling with laughter, but I did enjoy some of his work.

Below is favorite bit that he did:

This is exactly how I feel about him. He's very smart and has great perspectives on things, but as far as straight up laughs, he's just ok.

One thing I never liked about him is that he memorizes his entire performance, down to the timing between jokes and everything.

Where I think modern comedians have discovered it's good to play off the crowd a bit more, and a couple words of improv makes it feel more natural and relaxed.

 

[Phlog]

Carlin's an interesting case to me because I never really found him very funny but he was one of the most entertaining comedians I've ever watched. Which is an amazing feat if you think about it. A comedian not being funny is usually a death sentence, but Carlin pulled it off better than anyone. I'll watch Carlin's best stuff over almost any other comedian. It won't be much funny but it will be entertaining

Like a Joe Rogan.

 

[melvinj0]

If Bill Hicks is your favorite, where would you rank him on the pantheon of the great stand-up comics?

Number 1 for me, but tbh Louie Ck is really close, he might even be slightly funnier imo. But Bill did what he did in a time where very few where taking the chances he did, and if he would have had the chance to grow as much as Louie has in his career he would have been unreachable in his ability.

Also from a performers perspective, Hicks did what I’ve always wanted to do, completely let loose on the audience and have the skill to back it up.



^ this bit alone, I think most comics have felt the feelings he felt during that heckle moment, but he conveyed it in such a perfect way, that even though it didn’t murder in the crowd, it’s still comedic genius to me:

 

[deviake]

GOAT because his stuff holds up remarkably well and his societal commentary and rants are brilliant. He never lost it either and his material has aged well, he never got out of touch and he continued evolving. Never found him super funny though, I'd more chuckle listening to his rants. For sheer comedy, many comedians made/make me laugh harder.

 

[deviake]

Where I think modern comedians have discovered it's good to play off the crowd a bit more, and a couple words of improv makes it feel more natural and relaxed.

That was never his thing though, he was a whole different animal.

Like a Joe Rogan.

Joe Brogan couldn't hold Carlin's used jock that was dug up from a landfill in 1973.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

Number 1 for me, but tbh Louie Ck is really close, he might even be slightly funnier imo. But Bill did what he did in a time where very few where taking the chances he did, and if he would have had the chance to grow as much as Louie has in his career he would have been unreachable in his ability.

Also from a performers perspective, Hicks did what I’ve always wanted to do, completely let loose on the audience and have the skill to back it up.



^ this bit alone, I think most comics have felt the feelings he felt during that heckle moment, but he conveyed it in such a perfect way, that even though it didn’t murder in the crowd, it’s still comedic genius to me:

Thanks for your response.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

GOAT because his stuff holds up remarkably well and his societal commentary and rants are brilliant. He never lost it either and his material has aged well, he never got out of touch and he continued evolving. Never found him super funny though, I'd more chuckle listening to his rants. For sheer comedy, many comedians made/make me laugh harder.

Well said.

 

[Dogpound2020]

 

[ufcfan4]

GOAT because his stuff holds up remarkably well and his societal commentary and rants are brilliant. He never lost it either and his material has aged well, he never got out of touch and he continued evolving. Never found him super funny though, I'd more chuckle listening to his rants. For sheer comedy, many comedians made/make me laugh harder.

yeah this makes sense to me. I think he’s actually one of the few standup comics who is outright compelling and entertaining even when he is not laugh out loud funny. A lot of comedy specials are a mixed bag of really funny material and stuff that falls flat. And the stuff that falls flat usually doesn’t really add anything to the experience and might outright detract. But Carlin, because he was making interesting points and providing sharp commentaries in an amusing though not uproarious manner didn’t really have to worry about those types of lulls or missteps.