The Funniest Stand-Up Comedy

Jim Carrey: Unnatural Act
      1991 | Canada | Laughs: 7.0 | imdb: 7.7
      

A short-and-sweet set with lots of smiles and some good laughs. There is some culturally insensitive material about Middle Eastern cultures that I found crass. Neither was the adult material particularly helpful, and Jim's pacing wasn't all that great. Despite these few flaws, it's a good set. These kinks would probably disappear if Jim did more stand-up—too bad there isn't more material by him. (Last viewed: August 2013)

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Daniel Tosh: Completely Serious
      2007 | USA | Laughs: 0.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 7.7
      wikipedia

If you're a young professional from Los Angeles, this set might make you laugh. But if you've lived outside that box, you'll want to skip this boring act. (Last viewed: May 2013)

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Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater
      2011 | USA | Laughs: 5.4 | imdb: 8.4
      wikipedia

This show has some good segments, but you can easily skip it if you've seen other sets by Louis. I, for one, have lost any interest for his obsession with self-pleasuring and other below-the-belt activities. But that must be what sells best. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Louis C.K.: Hilarious
      2011 | USA | Laughs: 6.5 | imdb: 8.5
      wikipedia

Louis got a divorce since his previous recording (Chewed-Up). Although I'm thrilled for him, I'm sad to lose the funny material about his interaction with his spouse. As the previous one, this show doesn't have a lot of laughter-triggering material, but I didn't mind because I enjoyed listening to Louis's bright mind at work. The first part is probably the funniest. It's also the dirtiest. I really didn't need to hear another twenty minutes of Louis on the general theme of men pleasuring themselves. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Doug Stanhope: Oslo: Burning the Bridge to Nowhere
      2011 | USA | Laughs: 7.0 | imdb: 7.5
      wikipedia

At the beginning of the DVD, Doug apologizes that the show was filmed at the inspiration of his producer without much notice and issues a number of disclaimers. Nevertheless, I found the first half to be the best of his that I'd seen in a while. Comparing it with his other releases, much of the material was fresh, and Doug didn't dwell much in the gross-out or obscene departments. Sure, the set didn't feel nearly as tuned or polished as that of an Eddie Izzard show, but that didn't matter. It was nice to hear Doug share his thoughts in front of a non-Anglo audience, outside of the US context. It sounds like Doug has reached the "give up and just live" stage of his life, and that produces a different voice, perhaps as valuable, one that isn't as angry, one that is resigned to the overall scarcity of critical thinking among the human animal.

What about the second half? Apart from the boring encore, it was good too. This is when Doug rolled out the "adult" material. Once again, the material was fresh, and when graphic language was used, it usually felt like there was a point—unlike the gratuitously obscene rampage in the more drunken sections on some of his other sets.

Not laugh-out-loud comedy, but a very good show for fans of Doug's and probably also for a good many people who haven't come across him yet. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Jay Larson: Comedy Central Presents
      2011 | USA | Laughs: 4.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 5.8
      

During this short set without adult themes, I found Jay pleasant and often on the verge of making me chuckle—without ever quite getting there. Not a big waste of time, and I would give Jay another try to see if his comedy improves with age, which sometimes happens, as with Louis CK for instance. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Michael McIntyre: Live & Laughing
      2008 | U.K. | Laughs: 6.6 | imdb: 7.5
      

One thing must be said in favor of Michael McIntyre: he gets A+ for effort. For the duration of this 85-minute set, he never seems to take a breath from walking around the stage, gesticulating and delivering material at a fast pace. Inevitably (or perhaps fortunately), some of it works, although at first I found the hit ratio quite low—somewhere between a quarter and a third. For most of the show, I enjoyed the chuckles and the rare laugh but found the rest of the time a bit long. Michael ended stronger though, redeeming the show overall. For my taste, Michael's humor is a bit simple, in the sense that it's something my grandparents might have liked, except for the saucy bits. You know how humor evolves over time as life becomes more and more complex? As the packed theater shows, Michael is hugely popular, so this set might just be your thing. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Louis C.K.: One Night Stand
      2005 | USA | Laughs: 7.6 | imdb: 7.9
      

This short show is really good value. The adult portion of the set might be a bit long, but there are really good segments about marriage and kids, with material that feels like it came out of an original mind, rather than from the big pot of stale material so many comedians seem to be dipping into. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Louis C.K.: Comedy Central Presents
      2001 | USA | Laughs: 7.2 | imdb: 7.5
      

A nice short set with material that mostly works—a good introduction to Louis CK's clever thinking, devoid of adult themes for a (welcome) change. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Doug Stanhope: Go Home
      2007 | USA | Laughs: 1.0 (Just Awful) | imdb: 8.2
      

A mix of stand-up comedy and interviews set in Edinburgh and focusing on immigration. Doug, who is usually clear-thinking, is surprizingly narrow-minded on this issue, essentially telling people who cannot compete with the low wages of recent immigrants that they're idiots if they can't make themselves competitive by improving their skills. That's the standard elitist attitude of someone of above-average skills, someone who indeed is able to cut a slice for himself. Wake up, Doug, not everyone has your abilities—and no one chooses to be an idiot, just like no one chooses to be deaf. If someone truly is an idiot, does that mean the rest of the world has the right to step over him, does that mean you can laugh at his plight, that his country should treat him like garbage? A fine philosophy if you want to create a super-race. Oh, wait, that's been tried before. It's good that Doug can empathize with immigrants, but he has an empathy blind spot when it comes to the local underclass. Doug has it right on nationalism, of course, but there's a screaming lack of subtlety in his stance of blaming the victim. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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George Carlin: Doin' It Again
      1990 | USA | Laughs: 3.0 | imdb: 8.4
      wikipedia

Over the past month I've been watching a lot of stand-up comedy. After seeing so many faces, tonight I felt like resuming my quest (started over two years ago) of watching all the Carlin specials in chronological order. This show was next on the "to watch" list. Within fifteen seconds of stepping on stage, George had taken control of the crowd. Having seen many mediocre acts recently, and not having seen George in over a year, I was initially delighted to see George again. That feeling wore off, though, as I didn't laugh hard, and as much of the material felt similar to bits I'd seen George do before. Much of the show focused on language—expressions in the American idiom that George wished he didn't have to hear. My favorite bits were perhaps those about dogs. A fairly clever set, but not laugh-out-loud comedy. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Bill Hicks: Revelations
      1993 | USA | Laughs: 2.5 | imdb: 8.6
      

The other three shows by Bill I had seen thus far had used much of the same material, but the first half of this show had a fair amount of different material, which I appreciated. Bill seemed more relaxed than usual—perhaps because he had already been diagnosed with the cancer that would take him the following year. In the first half, Bill spoke about the US politics of the time (still relevant twenty years later), religion and the Kennedy assassination. In the second half, he reverted to material from his other shows. Two fairly gross moments were included. The pace was sometimes very slow, and I can't say that I laughed, but I chuckled a few times and did enjoy the show for what it is (Bill's sermon, rather than stand-up comedy). Overall, I would rate it Bill's most "mature" show—but not the best for laughs. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Louis C.K.: Chewed Up
      2008 | USA | Laughs: 6.6 (Watch Once) | imdb: 8.6
      

The first twenty minutes felt weak and needlessly vulgar, but the show picked up steam, and I was soon chuckling. Nothing big happened, no big laughter came out, but it was pleasant listening to Louis talk about the hardship of being a parent, and, probably because we are about the same age, about some of the transformations he has been undergoing since reaching forty. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Louis C.K.: Comedy Half-Hour
      1996 | USA | Laughs: 3.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 7.4
      

Having recently watched a Louis CK show for the first time, I was curious to see what he was like in his early recordings. Well it's a lot less funny—I chuckled once, a meager payoff for a half hour of comedy. There's a lot of adult material of little interest (strangely, the soundtrack has beeps over the curse words). Unless you're also wanting to research this comedian's past, I'd say you can safely skip this show. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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Bill Hicks: Relentless
      1992 | USA | Laughs: N/A (Don't Bother) | imdb: 8.7
      wikipedia

Really slow-paced show filmed at a comedy festival in Montreal. I didn't laugh once. At the beginning, Bill spends quite a bit of time on the Gulf War, which had recently ended. That kind of time-stamped material rarely ages well. I was surprised by how much material was the same as in his show from three years earlier, Sane Man. No wonder Bill looked so bored. I gave up after 35 minutes, and I didn't feel guilty. (Last viewed: January 2013)

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