Dane Cook is the de facto King of Stand-Up, and that sucks

[Petros]

Short version of this post: who are some good stand-up comedians?

Longer version:

The state of stand-up today is miserable. The problem is that there is a HUGE market for more comedians, but nobody is stepping up to the plate. The entire scene is an untapped gold mine for whoever can be the next Mitch Hedberg. I like well thought-out comedy, and anyone who has ever listened to Mitch, Brian Regan, or some of George Carlin's material (from his younger days) knows what I'm talking about.

Dane Cook just annoys me. I had high hopes for him, but after listening to two of his albums, I don't think I can stand another 10-minute monologue about a clitoris, a bizarre sexual fetish, or a parade of the words "f***" or "s***" in different parts of speech.

Brian Regan doesn't seem to be putting out any material lately, and Mitch Hedberg is dead. Are there any other comedians more cerebral than Dane Cook that don't rely on people being shocked to laugh?

 

[BouncingSoul]

I liked Dane for a while but I find him grating now. Maybe its his delivery. At any rate the best comics I've found are (in no particular order) Lewis Black, Dave Attel, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Mitch Fatel and Russell Peters. There are probably others.

Yet another reason to love Sirius, 5 min tracks from comics almost non stop. Of course they do balance out the brilliant with the crappy (blue collar comedy, Ralphie May, Dane Cook et al) thankfully there are other channels.

 

[Aprox]

You mentioned George Carlin, have you check out some of his Books on tape stuff? They are pretty funny, not as good as live performance recordings but still original Carlin style comedy.

I know what you mean about Standup being stagnant, but I'm sure there are lots of talented people out there, they just don't have CD's. Steven Lynch is pretty funny, he plays guitar and sings funny songs and stuff. Its a different style, but pretty damn funny. His first CD is his best, the second one was pretty weak not sure if he has more now.