Names to Know in Comedy

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This page is part of the "Names to Know" project.

The groundbreaking, the influential, the seminal... but not necessarily the most famous people in Comedy -- Stand-Up or otherwise.

These people are the genre definers, the Trope Makers, the people that other people in the Comedy field look to for inspiration.

The Greats

 * Carol Burnett
 * George Carlin
 * Cheech and Chong
 * Bob Hope
 * Mae West
 * Robin Williams

General Stand-Up

 * Woody Allen
 * Bill Bailey
 * Richard Belzer
 * Lewis Black
 * Russell Brand
 * George Carlin
 * Johnny Carson
 * Billy Connolly
 * Dane Cook
 * Billy Crystal
 * Rodney Dangerfield
 * Larry David
 * Gilbert Gottfried
 * Bill Hicks
 * Bob Hope
 * Eddie Izzard
 * Sam Kinison
 * Denis Leary
 * Jay Leno
 * Bill Maher
 * Bob Monkhouse
 * Patton Oswalt
 * Emo Philips
 * John Pinette
 * Richard Pryor
 * Don Rickles
 * Joan Rivers
 * Chris Rock
 * Sarah Silverman
 * Yakov Smirnoff
 * Christopher Titus
 * Robin Williams
 * Steven Wright

Black Comedians

 * Bill Cosby
 * Eddie Murphy
 * Richard Pryor
 * Chris Rock
 * Flip Wilson

Borscht Belt

 * Jackie Mason

Comic Music and Parodies

 * Barnes & Barnes
 * Bill Bailey
 * Benny Bell
 * Jasper Carrott
 * Flanders and Swann
 * Stan Freberg
 * Sam Kinison ("Wild Thing")
 * Allan Sherman
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic

Country Comedy

 * Bill Engvall
 * Jeff Foxworthy
 * Larry the Cable Guy
 * Ron White

Radio Comedy

 * Dr. Demento
 * The Firesign Theatre
 * The Frantics

Rant Comedy

 * Lewis Black
 * George Carlin
 * Dane Cook
 * Bill Hicks
 * Sam Kinison
 * Denis Leary

Recorded Comedy

 * Jim Gaffigan
 * Jerry Lewis
 * Bob Newhart
 * Mike Nichols and Elaine May
 * Monty Python
 * Robin Williams
 * Steven Wright

Sketch Comedy

 * Rowan Atkinson
 * Jack Black
 * Carol Burnett
 * Cheech and Chong
 * Bill Dana
 * Eugenio Derbez
 * The Firesign Theatre
 * The Frantics
 * Stan Freberg
 * Jerry Lewis
 * David Mitchell and Robert Webb
 * Monty Python
 * Saturday Night Live
 * Catherine Tate

Storytellers

 * Rowan Atkinson
 * Bill Cosby
 * Billy Crystal
 * Gabriel Iglesias
 * Flip Wilson

Surreal Comedy

 * Armando Iannucci
 * Rowan Atkinson
 * The Firesign Theatre
 * Jerry Lewis
 * Spike Milligan
 * Monty Python
 * Steven Wright

Ventriloquists

 * Edgar Bergen
 * Jeff Dunham
 * Señor Wences
 * Paul Winchell

Comedy Teams

 * Cheech and Chong
 * The Firesign Theatre
 * The Frantics
 * Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
 * David Mitchell and Robert Webb
 * Dudley Moore and Peter Cook
 * Mike Nichols and Elaine May
 * Monty Python
 * Dan Rowan and Dick Martin
 * Stiller and Meara

Mine candidates from Category:Comic Actors and Category:Recorded and Stand Up Comedy