The Entertainment Business Journal's Top 100 [The Journal was created by freelance writer Jeff Tarae for purposes of this study.] list was culled from opinions of television executives, comedy club owners and managers, personal managers and agents and stand-up comedians.
Probably one of the most difficult-to-define elements of society is humor. What makes something or someone funny is a question that is maybe best left unexplained. Because quite frankly most respondents "hate" the question and furthermore find it roundabout. You know wether something is funny. What you may not know is: Just who is "bringing the funny" in the one venue created solely for comedians. Those who test their delivery in front of usually faceless audiences know what's funny, or at least we hope, given that their opinions were taken very seriously for this comprehensive list of who are the funniest stand-up comedians working on U.S. stand-up comedy club stages.
Comedy is a "God-given thing, organic," says Bruce Smith president of Comedy Management from Omni Pop. It's the dark stuff in your past that is manifested into a riotous stand-up comedy performance, he says. "Cheerleaders and the captain of the football team are not funny. Adversity is a big boon."
Los Angeles-based Doug Stanhope-who ranks on our list as the No. 9 funniest man working stages-is quite familiar with turning the twisted amalgamation of life into a laugh fest. "Suicide is one of my latest favorites...that won't come across right," says Stanhop, 34. He explains: "The biggest challenge is making things that are inherently sad or tragic, funny. Comics' general personal senses of humor are a lot darker than the general public's."
The business of stand-up comedy has been a major improvement from five-to-six years ago, according to Geoff Wills, owner of the Punchline comedy clubs/Clear Channel Communications booker. Like many club owners, Wills laments the influx of unproven comedians in the early 1990's that diluted the talent pool. Much like Major League Baseball's rampant expansion diluted quality pitching, so too did TV's expansion of major networks and cable channels siphon many good comics from comedy club stages. The proliferation of channels lured many with little experience to try their hand at stand-up comedy in hopes of landing a lucrative TV contract. But now, Wills says, comedy club business is better, and so is larger-venue comedy tours, invoking names such as George Lopez [No. 5] and Janeane Garofalo [No. 55] that he books to thousands in various cities.
Without further adieu, we give you a list ranking the Top 100 comedians who are currently performing on stand-up comedy stages, somewhere. The criterion was simple: who is funny. Then, how do they stack up against their peers?