01
Mark Twain
platform humor and lectures
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Vote for the Legends: the greatest comedians, era by era.
This is the ballot for the legends: the eras run oldest first, twelve starting points in each, and you decide who's IN, who gets SWAPPED and who is missing entirely. The comics working now go in Your D.O.C.
Your Legends vote · 0 voted in
The first twelve you vote IN, oldest ballot first, fill the circles; “This is my 12” votes a whole ballot in. Your ballot stays on this device — nothing is sent or counted. The comics working now go in Your D.O.C.
Era by era
Oldest first, then who is coming next.
Each era's twelve is a starting point, not a ranking — the numbers are only places on the ballot. A comic whose work landed in two eras is on both ballots. Tap a face for the comic's SUCDb record: the facts, and where each one comes from.
Before the Clubs
The vaudeville, radio, resort, theater and nightclub circuit that created the language of stand-up.
02
Will Rogers
topical monologue
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03
Moms Mabley
Chitlin’ Circuit truth-teller
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04
Bert Williams
vaudeville pioneer
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05
W. C. Fields
vaudeville verbal comedy
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06
Jack Benny
radio timing
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07
George Burns
vaudeville to television
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08
Bob Hope
vaudeville and USO stages
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09
Redd Foxx
party records and nightclub circuit
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10
Henny Youngman
the king of the one-liners
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11
Milton Berle
vaudeville to television
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12
Timmie Rogers
stand-up without blackface
BALLOT ONLY
Your ballot
1950s
Nightclubs, resorts, records and television begin turning individual comic voices into national names.
01
Moms Mabley
social observation
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02
Redd Foxx
adult party records
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03
Henny Youngman
one-liners
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04
Mort Sahl
topical satire
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05
Lenny Bruce
free-form provocation
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06
Jonathan Winters
improvisation
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07
Shelley Berman
character storytelling
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08
Phyllis Diller
domestic inversion
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09
George Burns
vaudeville precision
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10
Bob Hope
topical polish
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11
Jack Paar
conversational television
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12
Dick Shawn
physical absurdism
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Your ballot
1960s
The comic becomes an authorial voice—political, personal, confrontational and unmistakably individual.
01
Lenny Bruce
free speech
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02
Dick Gregory
political satire
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03
Bob Newhart
understatement
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04
Joan Rivers
confession
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05
Bill Cosby
storytelling
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06
Woody Allen
neurotic persona
07
Godfrey Cambridge
racial satire
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08
Flip Wilson
characters
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09
George Carlin
transitional mainstream
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10
Richard Pryor
emerging confession
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11
Totie Fields
body comedy
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12
David Steinberg
provocation
Your ballot
1970s
Albums, late-night television and a growing club circuit make stand-up a cultural force.
01
Richard Pryor
confessional revolution
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02
George Carlin
language and systems
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03
Steve Martin
absurdist superstar
04
Rodney Dangerfield
persona one-liners
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05
Robert Klein
observational craft
06
Joan Rivers
late-night force
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07
Freddie Prinze
identity and charisma
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08
Andy Kaufman
anti-comedy
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09
Lily Tomlin
characters
10
David Brenner
observation
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11
Elayne Boosler
club independence
12
Paul Mooney
political authorship
BALLOT ONLY
Your ballot
1980s
The comedy-club boom turns stand-ups into film stars, television hosts and arena acts.
01
Eddie Murphy
arena charisma
02
Robin Williams
improvisational velocity
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03
Jerry Seinfeld
observational engineering
04
Sam Kinison
scream and release
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05
Steven Wright
surreal one-liners
06
Roseanne Barr
domestic rebellion
07
Whoopi Goldberg
character theater
08
Jay Leno
club workhorse to television
09
Andrew Dice Clay
constructed persona
10
Richard Lewis
anxious confession
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11
Paul Reiser
relationship observation
12
Gilbert Gottfried
voice and abrasion
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Your ballot
1990s
Cable specials, sitcoms and alternative rooms split stand-up into multiple thriving languages.
01
Chris Rock
social precision
02
George Carlin
late-career essays
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03
Jerry Seinfeld
mainstream observation
04
Bill Hicks
philosophical provocation
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05
Bernie Mac
commanding storyteller
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06
Martin Lawrence
physical storytelling
07
Ellen DeGeneres
clean observation
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08
Jeff Foxworthy
identity formula
09
Janeane Garofalo
alternative comedy
10
Margaret Cho
personal identity
11
Sinbad
clean storytelling
12
Brian Regan
physical clean craft
Your ballot
2000s
DVD, cable and the early internet give distinctive voices a global afterlife.
01
Dave Chappelle
social storytelling
02
Chris Rock
argument and rhythm
03
Louis C.K.
confessional discomfort
04
Brian Regan
clean precision
05
Jim Gaffigan
food and family
06
Mitch Hedberg
compressed surrealism
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07
Sarah Silverman
innocent provocation
08
Katt Williams
persona and social commentary
09
Patton Oswalt
geek specificity
10
Maria Bamford
voices and vulnerability
11
Wanda Sykes
pointed observation
12
Gabriel Iglesias
voices and connection
Your ballot
2010s
Streaming breaks the gatekeepers and lets audiences build their own comedy canon.
01
Bill Burr
confrontational reasoning
02
Kevin Hart
high-energy stories
03
John Mulaney
precision writing
04
Sebastian Maniscalco
physical family comedy
05
Ali Wong
ambition and motherhood
06
Nate Bargatze
understated clean stories
07
Tom Segura
controlled storytelling
08
Bo Burnham
form-breaking performance
09
Amy Schumer
sexual candor
10
Tig Notaro
minimalist truth
11
Hannah Gadsby
form critique
12
Anthony Jeselnik
dark misdirection
Your ballot
2020s
Podcasts, clips, streaming and arenas now work as one discovery system.
01
Nate Bargatze
quiet arena storytelling
02
Shane Gillis
club voice at scale
03
Nikki Glaser
confession and roasting
04
Sebastian Maniscalco
physical arena comedy
05
Taylor Tomlinson
anxiety and relationships
06
Theo Von
surreal Southern stories
07
Leanne Morgan
family and late breakthrough
08
Mark Normand
rapid joke construction
09
Josh Johnson
prolific topical stories
10
Sam Morril
setup-punch craft
11
Matt Rife
social discovery
12
Tony Hinchcliffe
live roast platform
Your ballot
Up Next
The newest wave—comics building audiences now through clubs, touring, short sets, podcasts and direct-to-audience video.
01
Jeff Arcuri
crowd-work storyteller
02
Jordan Jensen
fearless personal comedy
03
Ralph Barbosa
laid-back precision
04
Gianmarco Soresi
theatrical joke writing
05
Leslie Liao
dry modern observation
06
Zarna Garg
family and cultural collision
07
Asha Ward
emerging writer-performer
08
Sabrina Wu
identity and storytelling
09
Kam Patterson
fast-rising club voice
10
Geoffrey Asmus
provocative misdirection
11
Tommy Brennan
new-generation club comic
12
Veronika Slowikowska
digital-to-stage voice
Your ballot
Five more ballots
Other routes through the same history.
Twelve women, twelve Black voices, twelve Hispanic and Latino voices, twelve from outside the US, and twelve the screen took. Plenty of them are on an era ballot too; this is a separate ballot, so they get a separate vote.
Twelve Women
Twelve voices across generations—not a side category, but a second route through the main history.
01
Moms Mabley
Chitlin’ Circuit pioneer
BALLOT ONLY
02
Phyllis Diller
constructed comic persona
BALLOT ONLY
03
Joan Rivers
confession and confrontation
BALLOT ONLY
04
Lily Tomlin
character performance
05
Elayne Boosler
independent club path
06
Whoopi Goldberg
character theater
07
Roseanne Barr
domestic rebellion
08
Ellen DeGeneres
observational control
BALLOT ONLY
09
Wanda Sykes
political and personal precision
10
Maria Bamford
voice and vulnerability
11
Ali Wong
ambition and motherhood
12
Nikki Glaser
confession and roasting
Your ballot
Twelve Black Voices
A lineage running from vaudeville and the Chitlin’ Circuit through records, television, clubs, film and streaming.
01
Moms Mabley
Chitlin’ Circuit truth-teller
BALLOT ONLY
02
Bert Williams
vaudeville pioneer
BALLOT ONLY
03
Dick Gregory
political truth
BALLOT ONLY
04
Redd Foxx
nightclub and party records
BALLOT ONLY
05
Richard Pryor
confessional revolution
BALLOT ONLY
06
Flip Wilson
characters and television
BALLOT ONLY
07
Paul Mooney
political authorship
BALLOT ONLY
08
Eddie Murphy
arena charisma
09
Whoopi Goldberg
character theater
10
Chris Rock
social precision
11
Bernie Mac
commanding storyteller
BALLOT ONLY
12
Dave Chappelle
social storytelling
Your ballot
Twelve Hispanic & Latino Voices
Twelve distinct routes through family, language, immigration, region, identity and American life.
01
Freddie Prinze
identity and charisma
BALLOT ONLY
02
Paul Rodriguez
Mexican-American observation
03
George Lopez
family and class
04
John Leguizamo
solo-stage storytelling
05
Gabriel Iglesias
voices and connection
06
Cristela Alonzo
family and working-class stories
07
Felipe Esparza
outsider storytelling
08
Aida Rodriguez
political and personal truth
09
Marcello Hernández
bilingual character energy
10
Ralph Barbosa
laid-back precision
11
Jesus Trejo
family storytelling
12
Gina Brillon
identity and relationships
Your ballot
Around the World
Twelve international voices showing how stand-up changes when language, class, politics and national character change.
01
Billy Connolly
Scotland · conversational storytelling
BALLOT ONLY
02
Eddie Izzard
England · surreal history
03
Ricky Gervais
England · provocation
04
Jimmy Carr
England · precision one-liners
05
Trevor Noah
South Africa · political storytelling
06
Hannah Gadsby
Australia · form and autobiography
07
Jim Jefferies
Australia · confrontational stories
08
Russell Peters
Canada · cultural observation
09
Vir Das
India · global political comedy
10
Daniel Sloss
Scotland · dark storytelling
11
Fern Brady
Scotland · identity and candor
12
Aisling Bea
Ireland · storytelling and performance
Your ballot
Before the Screen
Twelve familiar film and television faces with a documented stand-up chapter. This is a discovery ballot—not a claim that their stand-up was “best,” or even the part of their career you like most.
01
Steve Martin
clubs and arenas → Only Murders and films
02
Jim Carrey
Toronto clubs → Ace Ventura and The Truman Show
03
Robin Williams
Bay Area stand-up → Mork and major films
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04
Eddie Murphy
teen stand-up → SNL and movie stardom
05
Adam Sandler
Boston clubs → SNL and films
06
Jamie Foxx
open-mic stand-up → Ray and screen stardom
07
Whoopi Goldberg
solo comedy stage → Ghost and Sister Act
08
Larry David
New York stand-up → Seinfeld and Curb
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09
Billy Crystal
club stand-up → Soap and When Harry Met Sally…
10
Martin Lawrence
club circuit → Martin and Bad Boys
11
Seth Rogen
teen stand-up → Freaks and Geeks and films
BALLOT ONLY
12
Eric Bana
Melbourne stand-up → Chopper and Munich
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Your ballot