01
Richard Pryor
Radical honesty, storytelling and character work
Comedy · YB100 Canonical
Top 100 Stand-Up Comedians
A broad all-time stand-up canon weighted toward influence, originality, writing, stagecraft and cultural impact.
All Time100 ranked itemsDefault: All TimeYears + decades supported
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02
George Carlin
Language, society and philosophical comedy
03
Dave Chappelle
Storytelling, observation and social commentary
04
Eddie Murphy
Explosive charisma and character comedy
05
Robin Williams
Improvisational velocity and imagination
06
Chris Rock
Rhythm, argument and razor-sharp social observation
07
Joan Rivers
Fearless insult comedy and self-deprecation
08
Bill Hicks
Rebellious philosophical stand-up
09
Lenny Bruce
Free-speech pioneer who transformed the form
10
Jerry Seinfeld
Precision observational comedy
11
Louis C.K.
Uncomfortable everyday truths
12
Norm Macdonald
Anti-jokes, misdirection and deadpan brilliance
13
Steven Wright
Surreal one-liners
14
Mitch Hedberg
Absurd minimalist one-liners
15
Patrice O’Neal
Brutally candid conversational comedy
16
Don Rickles
Legendary crowd work and insults
17
Rodney Dangerfield
The definitive self-deprecating persona
18
Steve Martin
Absurdist reinvention of stand-up
19
Bob Newhart
Quiet, meticulous deadpan storytelling
20
Jonathan Winters
Characters and improvisational invention
21
Bill Burr
Controlled rage and contrarian observation
22
Ricky Gervais
Taboo comedy and social provocation
23
Kevin Hart
Physical storytelling and family comedy
24
Jim Gaffigan
Food, family and clean observational comedy
25
John Mulaney
Immaculate writing and theatrical storytelling
26
Nate Bargatze
Understated everyday absurdity
27
Shane Gillis
Character work and conversational storytelling
28
Sebastian Maniscalco
Physical observational comedy
29
Tom Segura
Dark storytelling delivered deadpan
30
Anthony Jeselnik
Precision-engineered dark one-liners
31
Billy Connolly
Wandering stories turned into comic epics
32
Eddie Izzard
Surreal historical imagination
33
Peter Kay
Affectionate working-class observation
34
Lee Evans
Extreme physical comedy
35
Jimmy Carr
Ruthless one-liners and crowd work
36
Frankie Boyle
Exceptionally dark topical comedy
37
Dara Ó Briain
Cerebral improvisation and audience interaction
38
Stewart Lee
Deconstruction of stand-up itself
39
Jack Dee
Immaculate pessimistic deadpan
40
Rhod Gilbert
Escalating frustration as comic architecture
41
Mike Birbiglia
Stand-up approaching one-person theatre
42
Bert Kreischer
Outsized autobiographical storytelling
43
Ron White
Cigar-smoke Southern storytelling
44
Joey Diaz
Outrageous lived-experience stories
45
Doug Stanhope
Uncompromising confessional comedy
46
Gabriel Iglesias
Voices, sound effects and personal stories
47
Jim Jefferies
Provocative long-form narratives
48
Marc Maron
Neurosis transformed into autobiography
49
Gary Gulman
Extraordinarily detailed storytelling
50
Kyle Kinane
Poetic working-class absurdity
51
Phyllis Diller
Pioneering self-mockery and rapid-fire jokes
52
Lucille Ball
Foundational comic performance influence
53
Elayne Boosler
Major modern female stand-up pioneer
54
Roseanne Barr
Domestic working-class comedy
55
Wanda Sykes
Distinctive voice and sharp observation
56
Sarah Silverman
Innocence colliding with taboo subjects
57
Maria Bamford
Mental landscapes, voices and surrealism
58
Tig Notaro
Minimalist storytelling and extraordinary restraint
59
Ali Wong
Fearless autobiographical comedy
60
Taylor Tomlinson
Tightly constructed modern observational comedy
61
Andy Kaufman
Performance art disguised as comedy
62
Emo Philips
Surreal language and bizarre logic
63
Demetri Martin
Drawings, wordplay and conceptual jokes
64
Bo Burnham
Music, performance and meta-comedy
65
James Acaster
Intricate absurdist narratives
66
Daniel Kitson
Cult storytelling craftsmanship
67
Hannibal Buress
Laconic surreal observation
68
Todd Barry
Minimalist sarcasm and crowd work
69
Maria Bamford
Psychologically surreal character comedy
70
Reggie Watts
Improvised music-comedy experimentation
71
Trevor Noah
Accents, cultures and political observation
72
Russell Peters
Multicultural crowd work
73
Vir Das
India, identity and global culture
74
Romesh Ranganathan
British pessimism and family observation
75
Michael McIntyre
Universal physical observation
76
Aisling Bea
Energetic Irish storytelling
77
Dylan Moran
Literary drunken-philosopher persona
78
Tommy Tiernan
Intense improvisational storytelling
79
Daniel Sloss
Dark philosophical long-form comedy
80
Jim Jefferies
Australian irreverence turned global
81
Sam Kinison
The scream turned into an art form
82
Greg Giraldo
Devastating writing and roast comedy
83
Dave Attell
Comics’ comic and master of compressed jokes
84
Brian Regan
Technically brilliant clean comedy
85
Dom Irrera
Storyteller’s storyteller
86
Robert Schimmel
Brutally candid personal comedy
87
Paul Mooney
Fearless racial commentary
88
Redd Foxx
Foundational adult comedy
89
Mort Sahl
Pioneer of modern political stand-up
90
Dick Gregory
Comedy fused with civil-rights commentary
91
Mark Normand
Relentless joke density
92
Sam Morril
Polished dark one-liners
93
Joe List
Anxiety transformed into precision comedy
94
Stavros Halkias
Crowd work and shameless self-mockery
95
Andrew Schulz
Fast improvisation and audience interaction
96
Matt Rife
Crowd-work-driven contemporary stand-up
97
Michelle Wolf
Aggressive writing and social satire
98
Nikki Glaser
Brutally candid relationship and sex comedy
99
Josh Johnson
Understated long-form observation
100
Jeff Arcuri
Playful audience-driven comedy