Best Comedians
List activity
21 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
8 people
- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
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 himself as a major young talent. At the age of 19, Chappelle made his film debut in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). Chappelle then starred in the short-lived sitcom, Buddies (1996) and had a featured role in The Nutty Professor (1996).- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
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 in his father's Catholic faith. While attending Cornell University, he decided to try stand-up comedy. His first stand-up routine was in a Chinese restaurant on Route 17 in Paramus, New Jersey. He soon landed a regular gig at Catch a Rising Star in New York City. After a few years, he became a regular host at the club and was spotted by a scout for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). Maher made numerous appearances on the show, and Carson had been a hero of his since childhood, but he always felt constrained by the rules of network television. During this time, he appeared in films and made guest appearances on numerous sitcoms.
In 1993, Maher was offered his own talk show by Comedy Central. Maher developed the show as a round table discussion on current events. Politically Incorrect (1993) premiered to critical acclaim and attracted major celebrities as well as politicians and pundits. In 1997, the show moved to ABC where it aired to continued success. On September 17, 2001, Maher made controversial comments regarding the terrorists who orchestrated the September 11 attack on the US. Sponsors pulled their ads and affiliates refused to air the show. ABC canceled the show in 2002, citing "low ratings". Maher had been nominated for 11 Emmys for his work on the show. In 2003, he was able to continue his television work with a similar program on HBO titled Real Time with Bill Maher (2003). He remains single and lives in Los Angeles.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Andrew Cameron Schulz is an American stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and pod-caster. In addition to his stand-up, he is known for his work on MTV2's Guy Code (and its two spin-offs), the Flagrant 2 podcast, and The Brilliant Idiots podcast. Schulz's first Netflix special, Schulz Saves America, premiered on December 17, 2020. As an actor, he has appeared in IFC's Benders and the Amazon original series Sneaky Pete.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Anthony Jeselnik was born on 22 December 1978 in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Anthony Jeselnik: Thoughts and Prayers (2015), Anthony Jeselnik: Fire in the Maternity Ward (2019) and Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert for Autism Education (2010).- Writer
- Music Department
- Actor
By August of 1994, Craig Ferguson was established as one of Great Britain's leading comedians - he had just had huge success at the Edinburgh Festival. In January 1995 he moved to Los Angeles where he now works as an actor-writer-director-producer-creator.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Greg is the writer and star of critically lauded Channel 4 sitcom "Man Down". After playing infamously psychotic Head of Sixth Form 'Mr Gilbert' in "The Inbetweeners" (Channel 4) and its two spin off feature films, Greg went on to appear in BBC Three's Cuckoo alongside Andy Samberg and Taylor Lautner, which earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme. In 2015 Greg began hosting UKTV's new comedy show "Taskmaster". Greg has been on two sell out stand-up tours, most recently "The Back of My Mum's Head" in 2013. Greg's debut solo stand up show "Firing Cheeseballs At A Dog" was nominated for the prestigious Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2010. The DVDs of both shows were Top 10 bestsellers.
Greg's TV appearances include hosting "Would I Lie To You" (BBC1), "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" (BBC Two) and "Live At The Apollo" (BBC One). He has also made guest appearances on "The Royal Variety Show", "Room 101" (BBC One), "Mock The Week" (BBC Two), "Let's Dance For Comic Relief and Sport Relief" (BBC One), "The Graham Norton Show" (BBC One), "Live At The Apollo" (BBC One), "Frank Skinner's Opinionated" (BBC Two) and "8 Out Of 10 Cats" (Channel 4). Greg was team captain on two series of "Ask Rhod Gilbert" (BBC One) with whom he also appeared on BBC Two's "Dangerous Roads". Greg is one third of the anarchically brilliant sketch act "We Are Klang", who performed four sell-out Edinburgh Festival shows and was nominated in 2006 for the Edinburgh Comedy Award. With We Are Klang, Greg wrote and starred in the group's own sitcom series and a one-off comedy entertainment special for BBC Three.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford Motor Company executive from Indiana. Williams had English, German, French, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.
Robin briefly studied political science at Claremont Men's College and theater at College of Marin before enrolling at The Juilliard School to focus on theater. After leaving Juilliard, he performed in nightclubs where he was discovered for the role of "Mork, from Ork", in an episode of Happy Days (1974). The episode, My Favorite Orkan (1978), led to his famous spin-off weekly TV series, Mork & Mindy (1978). He made his feature starring debut playing the title role in Popeye (1980), directed by Robert Altman.
Williams' continuous comedies and wild comic talents involved a great deal of improvisation, following in the footsteps of his idol Jonathan Winters. Williams also proved to be an effective dramatic actor, receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), and The Fisher King (1991), before winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Good Will Hunting (1997).
During the 1990s, Williams became a beloved hero to children the world over for his roles in a string of hit family-oriented films, including Hook (1991), FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), Flubber (1997), and Bicentennial Man (1999). He continued entertaining children and families into the 21st century with his work in Robots (2005), Happy Feet (2006), Night at the Museum (2006), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Happy Feet Two (2011), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). Other more adult-oriented films for which Williams received acclaim include The World According to Garp (1982), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Awakenings (1990), The Birdcage (1996), Insomnia (2002), One Hour Photo (2002), World's Greatest Dad (2009), and Boulevard (2014).
On Monday, August 11th, 2014, Robin Williams was found dead at his home in Tiburon, California USA, the victim of an apparent suicide, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office. A 911 call was received at 11:55 a.m. PDT, firefighters and paramedics arrived at his home at 12:00 p.m. PDT, and he was pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m. PDT.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
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, Rickles continued acting, starring in films like X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963), Bikini Beach (1964), Enter Laughing (1967), and Kelly's Heroes (1970). In 1973, Don became a regular on Dean Martin's Celebrity Roasts.
From 1973-84, he appeared frequently on Dean's show, paying tribute to some of his friends, like Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, and was even the roast master on the roast for Dean Martin himself. In 1976, he had his own TV series CPO Sharkey (1976), which enjoyed a two year run. After 1984, he slowed down, appearing in a few minor film roles. In 1995, he made a comeback, appearing with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in Toy Story (1995) in the role of the grouchy Mr. Potato Head. In 1999, he returned as Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story 2 (1999). He died on April 6, 2017, in Los Angeles, California, aged 90. He is interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California, in the Courts of Tanach.