Top 10 Stand-Up Comedians

By Heather Huntington on March 8th, 2010

I love me some good stand-up comedy. Even as a teen back in the dark ages of the ’90s I used to watch Stand Up Spotlight on cable looking for some good comics. Unfortunately, the art of actually doing a good comedy show is a hard one. But these guys and gals have done some of the funniest gigs I’ve ever seen.

My Top Ten Pick

10. Janeane Garofalo

Hard to believe she’s been around for such a long while, but her biting wit is still awesome–as seen in this new little gem.

9. Jon Stewart

You love him on The Daily Show for a good reason. And he also does stand up gigs. Yes!

8. Daniel Tosh

Okay, I haven’t actually seen him do stand up, but his show, Tosh.0, basically has a lot of his stand up type stuff in it, from which I have high hopes. Am very much wanting to catch a set of his when he’s on taping hiatus.

7. Aziz Ansari

I thought Aziz’s character, Tom Haverford, on Parks & Recreation was half funny and half annoying, but I decided to catch his stand up special, Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening, on Comedy Central recently, and I am a total convert. This dude is hilarious. Love him. Check it out!

6. Dave Chappelle

Okay, he’s elusive after the whole Chappelle’s Show-suddenly-over-going-to-Africa-meltdown thing. But he does periodically still do tours, and when he does, damn.

5. Margaret Cho

When I saw Margaret Cho do stand up she was so funny that I got a urinary tract infection. Well, that might not be why I got the UTI, but she’s still great. Oh, I love when she impersonates her mother.

4. Aisha Tyler

Aisha Tyler does a lot of acting these days, but don’t let that fool you. She is one good stand up. And that bitch is tall, too.

3. Kathy Griffin

I love her on My Life on The D List, and I love her more doing stand up. Luckily, she works a lot, so she’s pretty easy to catch on tour.

2. John Oliver

Like most people, I know John Oliver as a correspondent on The Daily Show. But he has recently started hosting John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central, for which he does the opening set. New stuff every time and really, really funny. I’m super into seeing him the next time he’s doing dates here.

1. Eddie Izzard

My favorite British transvestite comedian of them all. And not just because he loves badgers. And jam.

(Photo Via: Gaelen Hadletand Collider)