Creating a Comic

TheLaughTrack.com comedy blog recently posted an interesting list of the 10 Most Influential Stand-Up Comedians of the 2000′s, and it’s hard to argue with any of their choices. Some of the acts might not be my own cup of tea, but they were still undeniably influential.

The one quibble I’d have is that I don’t think you can leave Chris Rock off a list like this. It’s true that the bulk of his influence, as a comedian, was made during the 90′s; his 1996 Bring The Pain was the clap of thunder that brought stand-up back off of life support (and was followed by 1999′s Bigger and Blacker). Still, his 2004 special Never Scared was both highly influential and probably his best work to date. Rock was way ahead of the curve when it came to the War on Terror:

Sandwiched between raunchy sex jokes, Rock uses his humor as a Trojan Horse for a scathing social critique (language NSFW):

Rock’s 2008 special, Kill the Messenger, was also superb, but I have yet to watch it a dozen times like the others.

Some other honorable mentions: David Cross, Norm MacDonald, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Burr, Demitri Martin, Ricky Gervais, Daniel Tosh… there are probably others that I’m forgetting, too. Any suggestions? Maybe I’ll put together my own list at some point.

Related entries in Stuff I Like:

• Tosh.0 is funny and frightening
• Louis CK on being white
• Zach Galifianakis is getting famous
• Stuff I Like: Mitch Hedberg
• Tackle the Infinite Summer Challenge

 — Posted by CJ under Around the Internet. Please comment or trackback!