Comedians

So, in the early 90's, my first wife was a hostess at the world famous Acme Comedy Company in Minneapolis.  I lived in a flat in a renovated freight house right behind the club.  So I basically lived at that club for years.  I saw sooooooo many up n coming comedians that went on to be big time.  Still in love with live comedy to this day and hit a club in whatever city I end up in.

So, I have left out the Mega Stars like Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, etc and just listed 10 of my favs that I have personally seen at the club level.  

BTW, my vote goes to Stanhope.  Got his start in Minneapolis.  Been my hero ever since and always will be.

Gotta go with Mitch! Loved his delivery and laid back, (stoned) presence.

Thrasher73 wrote:

Gotta go with Mitch! Loved his delivery and laid back, (stoned) presence.

Another Twin Cities guy. One of my close comedian buds, Michael Thorn, was with him the night before he passed. Crappy deal.

The only one I ever heard doing stand up on that list is Norm so I will go with him. Been watching the Drew Carey show and he's been a guest a few times.

My favorites (I will also exclude the mega stars) were John Pinette (RIP), Steven Wright, and one of the best "clean" comedians Brian Regan:

I have seen performances by about half of those people and the ones I've seen have all been funny enough; wouldn't call them favorites but at least entertaining.  The one exception would be Emo Phillips.  Good grief; I've never found that guy even entertaining much less funny.

TBH, not really a fan of any of those except Stanhope and Posehn. I went with Brian. My comedy heroes would be Bill Hicks, Jon Pinnette, Dom Irerra, Robin Harris, and Dice and Kinnison. I know half the list is dead, but, these people slayed me in the '80's and '90's,

Gonna go with Norm MacDonald. He's just so bizarre. His talk show on Netflix is great. Mitch would be a close second though.

Louis CK would have been up there, but in light of his former "habits", it's hard to watch him anymore. Brian Posen is pretty good and he's metal as f**k.

DallasBlack wrote:

The only one I ever heard doing stand up on that list is Norm so I will go with him. Been watching the Drew Carey show and he's been a guest a few times.

My favorites (I will also exclude the mega stars) were John Pinette (RIP), Steven Wright, and one of the best "clean" comedians Brian Regan:

Yes Brian Regan is hilarious! I remember the first time I saw him on Comedy Central, I laughed so hard I was crying.

Thrasher73 wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

The only one I ever heard doing stand up on that list is Norm so I will go with him. Been watching the Drew Carey show and he's been a guest a few times.

My favorites (I will also exclude the mega stars) were John Pinette (RIP), Steven Wright, and one of the best "clean" comedians Brian Regan:

Yes Brian Regan is hilarious! I remember the first time I saw him on Comedy Central, I laughed so hard I was crying.

Yes, he is a riot! I think my absolute favorite bit is the one about the Emergency Room:

Norm Macdonald.

Norm Macdonald is hilarious! He’s totally underrated.

Troublezone wrote:

Norm Macdonald is hilarious! He’s totally underrated.

And, from what his friends say? The sweetest guy in comedy. Dennis Miller can F off for what he did behind the scenes to Norm [and, basically, everything else that POS has attempted since then]. And, Norm knows where his bread was buttered 15 years ago. You're not going to get him to speak about his and King Miller's disputes publicly. But, Dennis Miller is a cut throat. And, a hack, if you ask me.

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

Norm Macdonald is hilarious! He’s totally underrated.

And,  from what his friends say?  The sweetest guy in comedy.  Dennis Miller can F off for what he did behind the scenes to Norm [and, basically, everything else that POS has attempted since then].  And, Norm knows where his bread was buttered 15 years ago.  You're not going to get him to speak about his and King Miller's disputes publicly.  But, Dennis Miller is a cut throat.  And, a hack, if you ask me.

I musta missed this. What did Dennis Miller do to Norm? I used to think Miller was funny, but the last time I checked, he's just a shill for the Republican party these days.

What I heard firsthand was Miller was buds with some bigshot at NBC. Name escapes me. But when Norm was doing Weekend Update, he said something negative about NBC or conservatives or something. Forgive my absent mind.. Regardless, Miller bitched to NBC bigshot whom bitched to Lorne Michels whom, I guess, felt like he needed to fire Norm immediately. Really sidetracking a good dude's, and a sensational comedian's, career. Forgive me for not having the capacity to rtemember the whole story. But, I can tell ya I was sitting at the bar in Rochester, Minnesota immediately after I moved back from shitty Tampa - 97? 98?, and discussed the state of affairs with Jim Short about SNL. My attention to detail sucks. But, from what I took from that convo, Dennis Miller is a dick and Norm got screwed.

He seems to get along with Miller fine.

Taken from Wikipedia...

In early 1998, Don Ohlmeyer, president of NBC's West Coast division, had Macdonald removed as Weekend Update anchor, citing declining ratings and a drop-off in quality. Macdonald and others believed that the real reason for his dismissal was his series of jokes calling O. J. Simpson a murderer during and after the trial; Ohlmeyer was good friends with Simpson and supported him during the proceedings.

Norm MacDonald for sure.

Norm MacDonald for me too. I even saw Dirty Work in the theater when it came out. Judging from the box office I think only myself and Norm's parents saw it in the theater. Lol.

Witchfinder wrote:

Norm MacDonald for me too. I even saw Dirty Work in the theater when it came out.  Judging from the box office I think only myself and Norm's parents saw it in the theater. Lol.

Dirty Work is an hilarious film!

007 wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

Norm MacDonald for me too. I even saw Dirty Work in the theater when it came out.  Judging from the box office I think only myself and Norm's parents saw it in the theater. Lol.

  Dirty Work is an hilarious film!

I just watched it last night. Lol

One of the better SNL related movies.

Troublezone wrote:

Taken from Wikipedia...

In early 1998, Don Ohlmeyer, president of NBC's West Coast division, had Macdonald removed as Weekend Update anchor, citing declining ratings and a drop-off in quality. Macdonald and others believed that the real reason for his dismissal was his series of jokes calling O. J. Simpson a murderer during and after the trial; Ohlmeyer was good friends with Simpson and supported him during the proceedings.

That's the story I've heard, directly from Norm himself when he was on the Stern show back in the day. Olhmeyer told Norm to lay off of his friend OJ, which just caused Norm to ramp things up even more every weekend on SNL, which eventually got him fired. Weather Dennis Miller had anything to do with that is unknown to me.

Witchfinder wrote:

Norm MacDonald for me too. I even saw Dirty Work in the theater when it came out.  Judging from the box office I think only myself and Norm's parents saw it in the theater. Lol.

I think I saw that in the theater too. Wouldn't mind seeing it again.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

Norm MacDonald for me too. I even saw Dirty Work in the theater when it came out.  Judging from the box office I think only myself and Norm's parents saw it in the theater. Lol.

I think I saw that in the theater too. Wouldn't mind seeing it again.

Saw it with my best friend Erik at the theater back in high school. We both loved it!

From the list provided Hedburg, hands down. I'd rather see some Bill Burr or Hannibal Buress though. Still love old Dice, & Patrice as well.

Of the ones listed, I choose Norm. My favorites are actually Nick Dipaolo and Gary Mule Deer. I also like Jay London too.