Who really makes you laugh?
First and foremost, myself. In fact, I’ve been named my favorite comedian several years in row. There isn’t even a close second. But if we aren’t dealing in the realm of the obvious then there are some who stand out to me.
The short answer is: “The Absurdist”. The deadpan and the absolutely committed are the ones who always stood out to me. The guy that is willing to sell the character 100%. He’s in on it, we are in on it and it doesn’t matter.
My absolute favorite comedian of all time is Andy Kaufman. Which is ironic considering the fact that he often said he WAS NOT a comedian. He tended to refer to himself as a song and dance man. In fact, I’m not sure he ever even wrote an actual joke. What made him so funny was how uncomfortable and unsure he made his audience. He made them second guess themselves and their normal human response to this unsettling feeling they were having? Laughter.
This is something I really love to work in to my own stand up. The audience is laughing and most don’t even know why. As long as they are laughing, I don’t care if they understand the jokes. I’ve done my job. Kaufman also taught me the importance of silence. Sometimes, it’s what you don’t say that is the funniest. Sometimes it’s just who or what you’re looking at and in what way that sells the laugh. Some of the best and hardest laughs from the audience comes out of the silence and uncomfortableness. To me, that is better than landing a punch.
Another person who I honestly couldn’t live without is Jim Carrey. Again, not a traditional stand up (we are seeing a pattern here). More of an impressionist, contortionist style on stage but what really did it for me was the TV and the movies. Ace Ventura Pet Detective is by far my favorite movie of all time. I watch it monthly. The larger than life character Carrey played just made everything a joke. He took nothing seriously. There’s a huge sense of freedom in that. It made me feel like it’s ok to go through REAL LIFE like that and be happy. Life can be very fun! Ironically he played Andy Kaufman in the movie, Man on the Moon.
As far as current and more traditional stand ups go, there have been so many that has influenced me along the way for various reasons. I watched most of these people do their stand up specials on Comedy Central as a child over and over again. The list is long but I will name some of my favorites in no order. If you’ve never heard of some these people, do yourself a favor and look them up. And yes, Dr. Cosby is on the list……deal with it.
Theo Von
George Carlin
Todd Barry
Mitch Hedberg
Phil Hanley
Bill Cosby
Norm McDonald
Dana Carvey
Anthony Jeselnik
Martin Short
Don Rickles
Gallagher
Bill Hicks
Maria Bamford
John Pinet
There are probably dozens more but I’m hungry.