Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Dave Allen, and a couple of new boys heading towards that list like Louie CK and Doug Stanhope.

bill cosby george carlin steve martin. The rest is a long answer. they made me want to be a comedian.

Woody Allen.

My favorite comedian of all-time is probably Richard Pryor. He's the most raw, he's the most honest, and he's the funniest.

My favorite NEW comedian? I don't know how new he is, but every time I see Jim Gaffigan, I laugh and laugh. I love seeing him on TV, hearing him on comedy radio stations, guy just makes me laugh.

some faves are amy sedaris, louis ck, erin whitehead/mary holland/stephanie allynne :)

There's tons of those. Chaplain, George Burns, George Carlin, Joan Rivers... Believe it or not, the idea has been explored to do some kind of CGI effect, using footage of dead comedians to get them in the car, and then we would write dialog around it. It was a total disaster, but you're not the first person to think of it!

Dave Attell, Doug Stanhope, Patrice O'Neal, Maria Bamford, Sarah Silverman, Louis CK (he funded my special), Andy Kindler, many more who I'll think of later.

Stanhope is a national treasure and a voice of reason and humor that in a sane society would be heralded as a prophet. He's proof that alcohol when consumed wisely can have great consciousness managing benefits. He's proof there are no rules. He's one of the greatest comics ever, and I love the shit out of him.

Chris Farley as Matt Foley, inspirational speaker.

Hannibal Buress. Zach Galifanakiciksiswiwiwiww88899is [sic]

My fave comedian to work with is Chris Rock.

Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy.

burr, swardson, attell, diaz

Favorite standup comic of all time. (I hate the word favorite. It's too exclusive). But for one special, Sam Kinison was fucking perfect. One special. Then it went to his head and the rest of his career served as a warning to me on what to avoid. And then currently, I'll never miss the chance to watch a set from Bill Burr, Dave Attell, Rory Scovel and Kurt Metzger.

I'd have to say Dave Chappelle. He's brilliant and fun to watch. Patrice O'neal was one of the best live acts I've seen. His crowd work was amazing.

Richard Pryor live in concert. George Carlin (the one at the beacon that he did where he opened with an abortion joke) eddie murphy delirious. Bill Cosby HImself.

I'm a big fan of Chris Morris. When I first began doing comedy a friend of mine introduced me to Brass Eye and I was blown away. It was so dense and visual. The pedophilia episode with the guy dressed as a school... oh man. So hilarious. He's definitely been an influence on the stuff I do. Among many others.

Maria Bamford is my favorite comedian, but there are so many comedians pivoting during this time in ways that inspire me.

I started doing comedy in 2002 and I had a VHS tape of one of my first few sets. I took it to my RA, Open Mike Eagle. He watched it and said you sound like this dude, he played some Hedberg for me. I thought it was amazing. Mitch played Zanies in Chicago in 2005. I was brand new and I went up to his green room and asked for a spot. (This was really obnoxious but I was hungry and ambitious.) The next night he let and 3-4 other Chicago comedians that he never met perform on a sold out show of his fans. That's unheard of. Comedians just don't do that type of shit. I won't do that shit now. I can be in the greatest mood ever and I won't let a stranger on my show. It went well and he let me open...[Read more]