It's disturbing to me how much of the younger generation is amused by the msot untalented nonsense, I think the age of true comedians may die out if something is not done to revive the art. for those of us who remember and still enjoy true talent, I have compiled my own list of those I consider to be the best. Feel free to debate this with me.

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In ascending order of most talented:

#13) George Lopez:

A fairly good comedian of observational humor. Not amazing or particularly acomplished, but better then alot of the comedians today. he makes me amused at least

#12) Lisa Lempanelli:

Arguably the best isnult comic today, in a time when pushing the envelope is very hard to still do, she manages and gets laughs out of being offensive. it is noteworthy that she does not work with shock value alone, but is genuinely talented.

#11) Jeff Dunham

He doesn't get alot of comending, as he is not a typical standup comedian and the majority of his act comes from his pupepts without which his act wouldn't be funny in the least. I give him credit for being clever enough to play characters and being dedicated enough to make his own ventriliquist dolsl at home by hand. I have in his older acts seen him do up to four charcaters at once and very quickly, including himself it would be five he is playing. very impressive

#10) Gabriel Iglaisies

Only a couple of acts and a fairly young comedian, he is skilled at taking observation and making it special with his ability to weave voices and sound effects.

#9) Robin Williams

I give him credit for his roles, he is a very talented actor. his standup is fairly excellent and he has done more shows then most. he is a master of improv and not only can construct an amusing show but is a gnerally funny person in all situations with little or no preperation, he deserves comendation for that, few comedians displayed that skill

#8) Richard Prior

I almost regret that he cannot be higher on this list, because he truly was a pioneer of comedians and a comedian of legend. He is easily one of the greatest that has ever been. This list however is about my personal prefrence, and he doesn't make me laugh as much as some others. Still verya complished at observational humor and telling stories in amusing ways, a pioneer of racial humor in many ways, he deserves credit for that. Many kids today are not even familair with him and his brilliance and that pains me.

#7) Christopher Titus

It is likely just because I relate so well to him, but titus really speaks to me and his three shows were all an experience for me. I give him credit for having longer shows as many comedians are done after a half hour to an hour. In my opinion one of the best at personal observation humor and reasonably acomplished at voices and body language.

#6) Jim Gaffigan

Most of his acts are about food I admit, but he is the finest at observing those things that aren't thought provoking or astounding, just truly relatable and funny for that reason. He is the champion of the everyman comedian and I give him special comendation for creating the play your own audience to comment on yourself bit. just classic.

#5) Eddie Izzard

Truly an underapreciated british comic in the shadow of the pythons benny hill and other such pervayors of british humor. his act deserving comending for being an experience involving a fiar bit of improv. he is amazing with voices and gesturing as well as hitting upon both relatable experiences and historical commentaries. he tends to range into the absurd more then anything, but this doesn't discredit him as a serious comedian. Points for also being a transvestite comedian. He hasn't done it recently, but it was aprt of the experience before. he is not so good as an actor, but he made a number of shows. there is a bit of nonsense in between all the good content, and he made only one whole show that was gold from end to end.

#4) Lewis Black

A fairly new entry into the life, he doesn't do anything ground breaking or unique, he is meerly an angry old man like so many others. despite this his act is very clever and amuses me more then most, he works fairly hard and produces a new show every few years, which he deserves credit for over some. though most of his humor is more topical and less relatable, he does speak to common experiences at times. His ability to use inflection of voice and facial gestures is superb, I give credit that he can convey anger so many ways.

#3) Steven Wright

In my mind a true legend, the master of dry humor, he created an art out of making brief statements that were almsot always obsurd and unrelated to one another in a bland and even voice. all of his charm comes from the fact that he conveys no inflection or emtoion at all and has no flow to his act, he merely rattles off statements, sometimes longer. his act includes songs in the newest one, I give credit for that. He has onyl done three shows in a great many years and that should cost him, but he makes me laugh so hard I had to put him here.

#2) Bill Hicks

What can I say about a true legend like Bill hicks? A true artist of real dedication, his very brief life was dedicated to a brief career of comedy that he carried until his end. his humor was mostly topical and at times personal, he even veered off course and got serious at times, yet despite this he was a true legend of comedy, and for the purposes of this list he made me laugh harder then almost any comedian.

#1) George Carlin

If you consider yourself to know anything about comedy and you did not expect this name at number one, you are a tool. it makes me sick to ever ever see a list of comedians where this man is not at the top. comedy begins and ends with him, he was THE legend of comedy, the man all other comeidans respect and admire if they know anything about thier own trade. He had the most dedication of any comedian to ever live, a career that spanned over 50 years, he worked until the end, and produced 22 live shows, 25 cds, and 3 books. a body of work that size is unprecidented among any feild, especially comedy. his talent never wavered the entire way through, but only got stronger and sharper. all 22 shows are pure gold in every way, he was a master of topical, observational, absurd, silly, childish, groundbreaking, every kind of humor you could imagine. he was the most skilled at characters and voices in his early career, branching out slowly into observing the world around him until that became a prominent part of his act. he was a groundbreaking thinker as well as a comedian. A true legend like this has never existed before him and will likely never exist after him. if you have never had the pleasure of seeing him perform, watching a video of it will be among the rgeates experiences you can imagine. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform live shortly before he died and i will cherish the memory always.

Honorable mentions: These comedians made me laugh at least once fairly hard, so I include them here, even though they did not qualify to be discussed.

rhod gilbertnick swardsonmargeret choyakov smearnovchris rock

I would like to take the time to explain why some did not make the list before the discussion rolls in.

Lenny Bruce: I hear he is a legend of comedy and even inspired carlin in many ways, but I can't understand a single word he says. I'm sure he's very talented but I never got into him.

Jerry seinfeld: I would like to point out in particualr that I think Jerry seinfeld is a bland unfunny hack who at best steals joks from better comedians and at worst is just not funny

Woody Allen: I keep seeing him on lists of great comedians, but I don't see it. I've tried to watch him but he just iritates me in so many ways. I find him annoying and unfunny and I dislike him as a person and as an actor.

Dave chapelle: The show was moderately funny but he's a sub apr comedian. not worth mentioning

Rodney Dangerfeild: I don't get the point, I think I'm suposed to laugh at how pathetic he is. not funny

Bill Cosby: he just annoys me. not funny. very uptight off camera.

Dane Cook: he's very popualr these days, I find it inexplicable. he just runs around and yells alot, I don't get it.

Carlos Mencia: a combionation of others that arne't funny and certainyl don't work for him. he steals unfunny jokes and presents them badly, he's too energetic, his racial humor is just awful considering he's not even mexican he just pretends to be.

If there's anyone I didn't mention then mention them in the comments. If you're unfamiliar with anyone type them into youtube.