My favorite stand up comedians

1. Eddie Izzard

Best-known for her surreal and digressive stand-up, British comedian and actor Eddie Izzard was born on February 7, 1962, in Aden, Yemen, where her English parents -- Dorothy Ella, a nurse and midwife, and Harold John Izzard, an accountant -- worked for British Petroleum.

Izzard worked as a street ...

2. Jerry Seinfeld

Producer | Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Betty (Hesney) and Kalman Seinfeld. His father was of Hungarian Jewish descent, while Jerry's maternal grandparents, Salha and Selim Hosni, were Syrian Jewish immigrants (from Aleppo). He moved with his family, including sister Carolyn, to ...

3. Norm MacDonald

Actor | Dirty Work

Macdonald was born Norman Gene Macdonald in Quebec City, Quebec. He began his career in stand-up comedy. Macdonald's first job was writing for The Dennis Miller Show (1992) and then Roseanne (1988). While writing for Roseanne (1988), he was noticed by Lorne Michaels, who liked Norm's stand up, and ...

4. Louis C.K.

Writer | Louie

Louis C.K. was born on September 12, 1967 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Louie (2010), American Hustle (2013) and Horace and Pete (2016). He was previously married to Alix Bailey.

5. Daniel Tosh

Actor | The Love Guru

Daniel Tosh was born on May 29, 1975 in Germany. He is a producer and writer, known for The Love Guru (2008), Daniel Tosh: Happy Thoughts (2011) and Tosh.0 (2009). He has been married to Carly Hallam since April 15, 2016.

6. Dave Chappelle

Writer | Chappelle's Show

Dave Chappelle's career started while he was in high school at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC where he studied theatre arts. At the age of 14, he began performing stand-up comedy in nightclubs. Shortly after graduation, he moved to New York City where he quickly established ...

7. Jim Jefferies

Writer | Legit

Jim Jefferies was born on February 4, 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is a writer and producer, known for Legit (2013), Jim Jefferies: Freedumb (2016) and The Librarians (2014). He has been married to Tasie Lawrence since September 2020. They have one child.

8. Ricky Gervais

Writer | The Office

Ricky Dene Gervais was born in a suburb of Reading, Berkshire, to Eva Sophia (House) and Lawrence Raymond Gervais, who was a hod carrier and labourer. His father was born in Ontario, Canada, of French-Canadian descent, and his mother was English. He was educated at Ashmead Comprehensive School and ...

9. Bill Burr

Actor | Old Dads

Bill Burr is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and podcaster. He is best known for playing Patrick Kuby in the crime drama series Breaking Bad (2008), and creating and starring in the Netflix animated sitcom F Is for Family (2015).

In 2008, Burr's voice was featured in the game Grand ...

10. Don Rickles

Actor | Kelly's Heroes

Donald Jay Rickles was born May 8, 1926 in New York. Following the Golden Era of Hollywood, he remained active until early 2017. He got his start in night clubs, toiling for over 20 years, until 1958, when he made his film debut in Run Silent Run Deep (1958). The movie was a big hit. Afterward, ...

11. Lewis Black

Actor | Inside Out

Lewis Black was born on August 30, 1948 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Inside Out (2015), Man of the Year (2006) and Accepted (2006).

12. Mark Normand

Actor | Horace and Pete

Mark Normand is known for his "relentlessly punchy writing and expert delivery" (The Laugh Button) that has made him an internationally known touring comedian. 2016 has included multiple appearances on Louis CK's "Horace and Pete", an appearance on Seeso's "What's Your F@%king Deal?!", a stand-up ...

13. Gary Gulman

Actor | Joker

Boston's Gary Gulman has appeared on just about every television show a young stand-up comedian can appear on, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman. His brand of clever, original comedy has delighted audiences of all ages all over America. While Gary has ...

14. John Mulaney

Actor | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

John Mulaney is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. A native of Chicago, Illinois, he started his career working as a writer for Saturday Night Live (1975) in 2008, where he co-created the recurring character of Stefon with Bill Hader and occasionally appeared on the show's Weekend ...

15. Sarah Silverman

Actress | Wreck-It Ralph

Sarah Silverman was most recently the host of the two-time Emmy-nominated weekly topical series, I Love You America, which streamed on Hulu and also received a Writers Guild Awards nomination.

Silverman is currently working on a musical adaptation of her 2010 memoir and New York Times Bestseller ...

16. Whitney Cummings

Writer | Whitney

Whitney Ann Cummings is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, director, producer and pod-caster. A native of Washington, D.C., Cummings pursued a comedy career in Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, where she had studied with the intention of becoming a ...

17. Jon Stewart

Producer | The Daily Show

Jon Stewart was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz in New York City, New York, to Marian (Laskin), a teacher, and Donald Leibowitz, a physics professor. His family is Ashkenazi Jewish (from Austria, Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus). Stewart moved to Lawrenceville, New Jersey during his childhood. He ...

18. Bill Maher

Producer | Politically Incorrect

Bill Maher was born William Maher in New York City, New York, and grew up in River Vale, New Jersey. His father, William Aloysius Maher Jr., who was of Irish Catholic descent, was a radio announcer and news editor. His mother, Julie (Berman), was a nurse, who was of Jewish descent. Maher was raised...

19. John Oliver

Writer | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

John Oliver was born on April 23, 1977 in Birmingham, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014), The Lion King (2019) and The Smurfs (2011). He has been married to Kate Norley since October 2011. They have two children.

20. Moshe Kasher

Actor | Zoolander 2

Moshe Kasher was born on July 6, 1979 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Zoolander 2 (2016), Another Period (2013) and Betty (2020). He has been married to Natasha Leggero since October 11, 2015. They have one child.

21. Kumail Nanjiani

Actor | The Big Sick

Kumail Nanjiani was born on May 2, 1978 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. He is an actor and writer, known for The Big Sick (2017), Life as We Know It (2010) and Stuber (2019). He has been married to Emily V. Gordon since July 14, 2007.

22. Tig Notaro

Actress | One Mississippi

Tig Notaro is an American stand-up comedian, writer, radio contributor, and actress. Her acclaimed album Live was nominated in 2014 for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. The special Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted was nominated in 2016 at the 68th ...

23. Daniel Sloss

Writer | Daniel Sloss: X

Daniel Sloss is an internationally acclaimed Scottish comedian, who has toured in 50 countries, released 2 comedy specials for Netflix ("DARK" and "Jigsaw", 2018) and "Daniel Sloss: X" on HBO (USA & Canada, 2019). He has appeared on 'Conan' multiple times, as well as Comedy Central's 'Drunk History...

24. Ryan Hamilton

Writer | 94th Oscars

Ryan Hamilton is known for The Oscars (2022), The Comedian (2016) and Life & Beth (2022).

25. Jen Kirkman

Writer | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Jen Kirkman is a podcaster, television writer, comedian, author, and actor. Her comedy specials are streaming now on Netflix; "I'm Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine)" was hailed by the Atlantic as the best of 2015. "And perhaps best of all....Jen Kirkman's I'm Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine), a ...

26. Michelle Wolf

Actress | Horace and Pete

Michelle Wolf is known for Horace and Pete (2016), The Oscars (2016) and Michelle Wolf: Nice Lady (2017).

27. Beth Stelling

Producer | Good Boys

Beth Stelling is a stand-up comedian, writer, and actress based in Los Angeles who most recently wrote for season 3 of The Last O.G. on TBS, as an on-set writer for Good Boys, a feature film produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and Sarah Silverman's Hulu series, I Love You America. Beth tours ...

28. Garfunkel & Oates

Soundtrack | The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

Garfunkel & Oates are a Los Angeles, California-based comedic folk-rock duo consisting of Riki Lindhome (Garfunkel) and Kate Micucci (Oates). Lindhome and Micucci knew each other from several commercial auditions. They became best friends at a show featuring their mutual friend, comic Doug Benson ...

29. Cameron Esposito

Actress | Take My Wife

Cameron Esposito is a nationally touring stand-up comedian, actor and writer based in Los Angeles known for her appearances on CBS, NBC, Comedy Central, E!, TBS, IFC and the Cartoon Network.

Cameron is the host/creator of Buzzfeed's Ask A Lesbian series and the host of the popular Put Your Hands ...

30. Eric André

Actor | The Eric Andre Show

Eric Samuel André is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, television host and writer. He is best known as the creator, host, and co-writer of the Adult Swim comedy series The Eric Andre Show (2012-present). He also played Mike on the FXX series Man Seeking Woman (2015-2017) and voiced ...

31. Natasha Leggero

Actress | He's Just Not That Into You

Natasha Leggero is an American comedian, actress and writer. She rose to fame after appearing as the host of the MTV reality television series The 70s House in 2005, and as a regular round-table panelist on Chelsea Handler's late-night talk show Chelsea Lately from 2008 to 2014. Leggero created the...

32. Tiffany Haddish

Actress | Girls Trip

Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2018, and The Hollywood Reporter listed her among the 100 most powerful people in entertainment in both 2018 and 2019.

After ...

33. Mary Lynn Rajskub

Actress | 24

Mary Lynn Rajskub is an American actress, comedienne and singer who is best known as a co-star of Kiefer Sutherland on the popular television series 24 (2001).

Born June 22, 1971, in Detroit, Michigan, Rajskub comes from a family of Irish, Czech, and Polish ancestry. In 1989 she graduated from ...

34. Kelsey Cook

Actress | The (206)

Kelsey Cook is known for her multiple appearances on The Tonight Show (2018, 2023), Comedy Central's This is Not Happening (2018), her comedy special The Hustler (2023), A Little Late with Lilly Singh (2020), Unprotected Sets on EPIX (2021) and her web series Wrists of Fury (2018). Her podcast ...

35. JC Coccoli

Actress | Tooken

JC Coccoli is known for Tooken (2015), Love 10 to 1 (2009) and Our Footloose Remake (2011).

36. Chelsea Peretti

Actress | Parks and Recreation

Chelsea Vanessa Peretti is a stand-up comedian, actress and writer who appeared in FOX's Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013). The show won two Golden Globe Awards in 2014 including one for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy.

Peretti starred alongside Andy Samberg, Terry Crews and Joe Lo Truglio as '...

37. Megan Gailey

Actress | Pause with Sam Jay

Megan Gailey is known for Pause with Sam Jay (2021), Dealing with Dad (2022) and Kwaczala (2019).

38. Annie Lederman

Actress | Grand Theft Auto V

Annie Lederman was born on July 20, 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Grand Theft Auto V (2013), The Long Dumb Road (2018) and Bert and Arnie's Guide to Friendship (2013).

39. Iliza Shlesinger

Actress | Spenser Confidential

Iliza Vie Shlesinger is an American comedian, actress and television host. She was the 2008 winner of NBC's Last Comic Standing and went on to host the syndicated dating show Excused and the TBS game show Separation Anxiety. In 2017, Shlesinger hosted her own late-night talk show called Truth & ...