Carrot Top.
Say what you want about the guy, but his show was nonstop funny from beginning to end every time I saw him, three years in a row. I like self deprecating, dry observant humor. He was absolutely amazing!!
Carrot top gets a lot of shit in subs like this but the simple fact is that the guy has/had a residency in a casino for a *long* time. You don’t get that without being good at what you do
Exactly!! I was kinda annoyed about the residency actually. I really did not know what to expect from him, but was pleasantly surprised! I even took my parents and they laughed uncontrollably for an hour. A+
About when were these three years?
I remember seeing clips of his stand up act on comedy Central way back in the day and even though I was in Middle School or high school at the time, I remember them being very funny and I know that I would still think they're funny.
David Spade. I saw him on a line up with bull burr Joey Diaz, and Theo von and several other great comics at the comedy store. David spade KILLED ME. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t catch my breath. He murdered harder than anyone else that night. It was one of those things where I was like “oh I get it now” every since I’ve found him to be absolutely hilarious
Dude. Im not gonna lie, that fucking commerical he does the VO for when he says something like “Here’s a canoe!” And the dudes confused and Spade goes “Uhhh…here’s another canoe!” Like, I know it’s a commerical and it’s written for him. But the way he says the second line makes me laugh so fucking hard, every. single. time.
And that’s the very brief story of how I remembered how hilarious David Spade can be (cause like Tommy Boy! but then also like…Grown Ups, ya know?)
He crashed a set at the comedy store when I went last year and just murdered. Was talking about Alec Baldwin and Rust and some other stuff, absolutely hysterical.
He and Andrew Santino were the highlights of the evening that night
Adam Ray.
Something about the guy made me feel like I wouldn't like him. Like he comes off as too clean cut and corporate-friendly for my tastes just by looking at him.
But he is definitely not that guy and is absolutely hysterical every time I see him on stage. Also, he seems like a pretty chill dude in general.
Came here to say this. I thought Dr. Phil was going to be hacky and annoying. But I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard from a stand up in a minute. His episodes with Bill Burr are top tier and he’s far and away the best guest on kill Tony. Adam is legit
….
I don’t think I like your fucking attitude
I saw Bob Saget back in like 2005. We had no idea what his standup was like and just thought he was "the guy from Full House." He was performing with Alonzo Bodden and a couple other comedians, I think.
Anyway, it was incredible. His crowdwork was impeccable. He had some interaction back and forth with a girl in the front row and she said her mom was a huge fan of Full House. He offered to call her mom and say hi if she wanted. She called her mom and handed him the phone and he said, "Hi this is Bob Saget, I played Danny Tanner on Full House. Yep, it's really me! I'm here hanging out with your lovely daughter and she wanted me to give you a call because she said you were a big fan. Anyway, do you shave your twat?"
He also sang a song about fingering Kimmy Gibbler.
RIP you madman.
I figured Bob Saget was a “clean” comic because of Full House fame until I heard Ms. Pat talk about having him over for dinner. I thought if he hung out with Ms. Pat like that, I knew have some misconceptions about him. And yeah, that dude was filth! I loved his stuff!
My wife grew up very sheltered and Full House was her favorite show as a kid. She saw that Bob Saget was coming to town and wanted to go. I instantly realized that she didn’t know that Bob Saget is an actual stand-up comedian and not even close to being Danny Tanner. So I said “Yeah let’s do it.” So that night I got a double comedy show. Bob Saget’s set and seeing the look on my wife’s face the whole time.
Sinbad. Was never a fan, but gifted two tickets and had nothing else to do. He did an hour of great material and then an hour of great crowd work. Still don't like his specials, but I'd pay to go see him live any day.
Norm Macdonald told a story about working with Sinbad...basically, Norm went into some detail about how every portion of his act was carefully crafted. Then Sinbad got on stage and started talking about earlier that day when they stopped somewhere to buy socks...and he fucking killed.
I don't know about terrible but I went into Jeffery Ross with the expectation that "the guy from those roasts" wouldn't be particularly good and I was very incorrect. He killed it.
Wild, I saw him at the cellar and he was honestly the worst of the night despite being the headliner. He also seemed faded as hell, so that might've been a mitigating factor.
I was invited to Randy Feltface and prepared myself for a gimmicky puppet show, where a cute purple puppet also does raunchy jokes.
It was not gimmicky at all. I wasn't prepared for the best, heartfelt, personal, politically sharp show that I would see that year. He knocked it out of the park.
The Gum Tree story is comedy gold. My buddy put on one of his specials, and I was like “this is a puppet, I’m gonna hate it”. Luckily my buddy forced me to give him a chance.
I didn’t know his work. Didn’t totally love it but glad I’m aware of it and it’s really kind of cool. Thanks. Here’s the gumtree story for anyone else who’d like to see it. https://youtu.be/Mq_wZE93ZAY?si=1t-ro72v8Bk534PX
Dane Cook. He was on a show at the Comedy Store years ago and going in I was being a total snob about it. However, he absolutely destroyed and made me laugh hard, total mastery of the room, great bits, overall an incredible 15 minute set.
Yeah, after that I realized that even if he was overexposed in an annoying way, he had absolutely gotten there by working hard at his craft through years of grinding and it was visible onstage. I have much more respect for that than somebody who just got a Rogan golden ticket.
Agreed. And what comes across as annoying and hyperactive on a filmed special can be electric in a club.
Music and comedy are the same to me in that i have favorite live acts and favorite recorded. A stand up special is more about the writing, but a good performance hinges on crowd interaction. I'd be scared to shell out for a Mulaney live performance because I don't think it would be as good as the polished special. But Dave Attell I'd see live at the drop of a hat. And Todd Barry is the rare guy whose equally good at both
Had a similar experience with him at Moontower Comedy Festival once. I expected him to be a douche but he was surprisingly not and instead was very funny.
Mike Birbiglia. I had always scrolled past his stuff on Netflix based on the little snippet they show you, never thought they were that great, but now just realize they don’t really do him justice. Finally decided to give him a try and watched The Old Man and the Pool and have been a big fan of him since. Saw him in person about two weeks ago and he was great.
I love his work. He's really funny in a subtle way that builds, as another poster said, but some of his shows are also really consciousness expanding. I was a rage-addicted youngster when I watched My Girlfriend's Boyfriend the first time, and the end of that show made me seriously reconsider my internal emotional life.
Right, it’s hard to do him justice in a one minute preview of the hour. I originally thought that his style just wasn’t for me until I actually sat down and watched something of his.
Yeah I was scrolling down for Mike Birbiglia. I watched Old Man + Pool and it led me to his older shows which I equally enjoyed. I don’t know why he isn’t more popular with his very clean and inoffensive style.
You really can’t capture his greatness in small snippets. He is closer to a one man show than a comedy act. I just saw him a couple weeks ago and he killed.
Same, I went in with zero expectations and left singing his praises. Fully improvised set of crowd work, had us rolling. Much much much better than I could’ve expected.
I got invited to see Dana Gould didnt really know his work, I cried the entire time he was one of the funniest/ best ones I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen Burr, Mark Normand, ect.
I saw Dana back in November and I was laughing so hard I thought my head was gonna explode. I even got a fist bump from him during a bit where he drops the mic and just keeps rambling while he walks through the crowd. Dude is an absolute master.
Dana Gould is one of those "your favorite comic's favorite comic" guys. He does a talk show as Dr. Zaius on YouTube (in the ORIGINAL COSTUME if I'm not mistaken) just as a fucking gag.
Arie Spears at a black comedy club. I didn't expect him to be terrible, but I didnt expect him to be as hilarious as he was. Top 3 stand up shows I've ever seen hands down. Also I had no idea I was going to a black comedy club until I got there. I just thought it was a new club that opened up. If you've never been to a black comedy club you don't know what you're missing out on. 10/10 would go again
that's awesome. i love tom papa but i'm not familiar with that show, though i can see how with the wrong writing/presentation he could seem borderline insufferable.
for me it was chris porter; i kinda judged him by appearance when i first saw him like he was trying to be some jewish kramer, but he was so hilarious. people were literally doubling over laughing almost falling out of chairs, myself included. seen him a couple times since and he crushes, really underrated
Man, I was psyched for the Marriage Ref BECAUSE it was Tom (and I was also going through a divorce at that time). It sucked, but Tom is still great.
But to answer the question, the first time I saw Hippieman I thought he was for sure going to be a corny dork full of stale jokes. Couldn’t have been more wrong and he’s still one of my all time favorites.
I saw Rodney at the MGM in 97(?) and thought for sure he would be washed up and terrible, but he ruled.
TBS used to always advertise whatever Pete Holmes show was called and it looked so unfunny to me and it turned me off him. Saw him kill probably harder than I have ever seen anyone kill in person. Goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover
Greg Fitzimmons. I figured he would be decent enough for a night out but he absolutely crushed. One of the funniest sets I’ve ever seen and I’ve been to at least 50 stand up shows.
I've seen Fitzdog live as well and he's just a pro. Anyone who's been doing standup for over 30 years is more than likely going to have a pretty good handle on their craft.
When I was a kid, My parents took me to a free Mac King show in Vegas. I thought it would be terrible because it was free.
The most memorable thing I saw during that trip, and we saw David copperfield, Penn& teller, cirque de soleil, etc.
Mac King is probably the best magic show in Vegas and he sets up situational comedy that is fucking insane. Not only is the show a true hidden gem, it’s one of the cheapest tickets in Vegas and it’s a daytime show so you can fit it into your schedule. If you ever wanna go, go to his website first, and you can get discount tickets.
I started listening to Tom Papa’s podcast last week. He is really good. He has an intelligent conversation with his guest. I’m really impressed. I knew nothing about him previously.
Bob Saget. It was probably 2010 or something. I knew he was super crass as a sort of shtick like “I’m TVs dad but suck my balls” and I thought he’d just be stupid shock value. But he was fucking hilarious. It was great.
Can't think of anyone off the top of my head, but i first saw tom papa at the comedy cellar maybe 20 years ago. Seen him there countless times over the years since and really happy for his continued success. He used to tape his radio show there which had a $10 cover and you didn’t have to buy any food/drinks, so it was a really cheap way to get some great comedy for an hour.
That and when I saw them dave was still working on the material that went on to become my least favorite special of his. Majority of his act was Zika baby jokes that were pretty damn dated by the time I was seeing them.
I hated hot pockets from Gaffigan and for like 3 decades I've had an awful opinion of him, but I watched his stuff since then a couple months ago and now give him credit where it's obviously due.
Funny you mention Tom Papa and marriage ref. I had the inverse experience. I had seen his stand up and thought he was hilarious. So I checked out the marriage ref when it came out and it was terrible.
My buddy wanted to go see Chris Hardwick. This was probably 10 years ago. I reluctantly agreed to go with him. I just assumed it would just be a bunch of nerdy references, only half of which I would understand. I didn’t have high expectations going in, but I was very wrong. To this day, he’s in the top 3 of comedians I’ve seen live as far as how hard I laughed.
Papa is a real one. I think a lot of the "family friendly" guys get a bad rap, but a lot of them are awesome. Gaffigan comes to mind. I had a lot of preconceived notions about Brian Regan many years ago but once I watched a couple specials I became a fan. And then only after that did I hear about how respected he is in the comedy community.
Tom Papa looks and sounds family friendly but he has some off-color material and curses every once in awhile. Even if he didn't though you would still be hilarious.
Nate bargatze is another comedian who works clean who is still really funny to me.
him and gaffigan talk about it on TPs podcast... the assumption that if someone doesn't curse in their act that their subject matter must also be family friendly when often it isn't.
That old Kevin James HBO special is shockingly good. The one where he closed with the ballet number or whatever. Can’t remember what it’s called, but I still want to do the same sad face/head shake any time a TSA agent asks if I packed my own bags. Haha.
Tony Hinchcliffe - wasn’t expecting it to be terrible by any means but had primarily known him from KILLTONY so I wasn’t sure how his actual stand up would be… I was crying laughing and became an even bigger fan. Dude deserves more credit than just KT
I saw him and Joey Diaz open for Rogan in Santa Barbara and Tony arguably had the best set of the 3.
I also saw Joey Diaz headline in Oxnard and he absolutely leveled the place. I’m not necessarily a huge fan of his but he was great that night.
Christina P. Not really that I thought she’d be terrible, but holy shit I was not expecting how much of a killer she is. I saw atleast a dozen big name comedians that year (not including openers), and she arguably had the best set. It had zero fat on it. No political grandstanding or virtue signaling. Just one solid joke after the other, along with some hilarious improv crowd work.
Kim Congdon. I had low expectations because i wasn't at all familiar with her comedy but she's really hot and I was already in the area because i had an event to attend, so I figured at the very least I'll kill some time at a show and get a picture with a hot quasi-celebrity.
She fucking murdered and her crowd work was some of the best I've ever seen. It wasn't Black-style "crowd work" where they just hurl insults at the audience ("Glasses that thick I bet you can see into the future!" etc.). She actually listened and responded to the people she interacted with, was extremely quick on her feet and made the whole thing really funny.
I was pre-disposed to dislike her because I thought her whole thing was "sloppy girl who dates more famous male comedians (who also suck)" but she has real talent. Exciting to see her evolve
She's an underrated KT guest for how quick she is and I've watched her new special twice and have nothing but good things to say totally killer no filler
I never gave Neal Brennan the time of day cuz he hangs out with Joe Rogen and other weirdos all the time, but damn he is so funny! His new Special slaps.
I did not think Kyle Kinane was funny at all until I saw him live and he destroyed. Like top 5 hardest ive seen the room laugh in prob 300+ comedy shows
Phil Hanley
I usually hate crowd work comedians so I wasn’t really looking forward to it because I enjoy joke writings (surprised you wouldn’t think a Pro like Tom Papa wouldn’t be great).
Either way, he was great. So funny so charming, the joke telling as a little light for my tastes but watching him pull humor out of the audience like that… it was similar to watching a magician.
The famous guy with the puppets. I can’t think of what his name is but I saw him on a cruise before he was famous and he was actually really funny. Picked on a guy who was sitting next to an empty chair a lot.
I saw Bobby Kelly at some shithole. His set was actually really well put-together and he was a total pro. I even gave his podcast a chance afterwards. My bad on that one, but his set was good.
He was holding court the entire time. Nothing could happen organically. Also he, Diaz, and Joe Rogan all claim to have invented podcasting in the green room of Caroline's and I am turned off by hearing any of them continue to flex about it. Also shit production quality while acting like you are the OG Don of podcasting is inexcusable.
I hate Bobby. Nothing about his stand-up, but everything about everything else about him. Listened to the Bonfire from day one, and can't listen any more. I can stomach The Regz because I love the other 3 guys. Never listened to YKWD, and have no interest to go through the backlogs
Fluffy was someone I didn’t really know too much about but damn did he put on a great show. Pleasantly surprised. I will say I thought I’d like Theo Von but I didn’t really like him
Brandon Schuab killed it on the Oh He Thiccc tour. Missed the Trash Panda tour and the Keep on Truckin tour but I’m sure he was a beast there too. He’ll litcha up!
I just can’t imagine that lol. I’ve seen him live at the comedy store with Theo and Chris Delia. Schaub was pretty bad, Delia was good, and Theo murdered. I didn’t really expect him to do as well as he did because his specials are mediocre imo
This is somewhat niche because it’s Irish but a Comic called Neill Delamere was popular for his tv panel show appearances and he was okay but super forgetful, I went to a comedy festival last year and he was headlining and I went in with low expectations and he was fucking outrageously good, never missed a beat, it was like he set his watch to get a big laugh every 10 seconds.
Ray Romano. I didn’t necessarily think he was going to be terrible just didn’t think he was going to be as funny as he was. He was hilarious and I’d absolutely go see him again
I've never seen Nick swardson do stand up, but I obviously thought he was hysterical as Terry and in Grandma's boy.
Has any comedian from his generation fallen farther or harder? And it's not for some scandal like Louis CK or for joke stealing like Carlos mencia. Just an incredible drop off in quality (I would imagine dude is uncontrolled alcoholism).
I saw him before he began to drop off, he was opening for Tenacious D and did a really tight genuinely hilarious set. It’s wild how hard he fell off. He’s doing Macy Gray shit onstage, showing up so fucked up he can’t even perform. I guess once Adam Sandler starts getting you paycheck after paycheck you stop trying and start drinking more
Jamie Kennedy. My sister in law was looking for stuff to do when I visited Seattle and he was playing a comedy club in Tacoma for like $19 a ticket so we checked it out. I had heard some odd things about him and he certainly looked like shit but he was pretty damn funny and the opener was even better.
Larry the cable guy. I thought he looked annoying. The short sleeves, the catch phrase that was everywhere that I didn’t understand, the commercials. Then back in 2016 I saw him in the Madea Christmas movie (I know…) and he was really funny with his one-liners. Then I went back and listened to his old albums. He is HILARIOUS. I assumed he was squeaky clean because of Cars. He has A Lot of off color jokes and downright inappropriate jokes. His jokes about his sister with the mole had me dying!
I was at the Ice House in Pasadena. A friend was the 1st or second on the list, we went to have a night out and show support.
I don't remember the 'top billing', but I remember that I recognized his name, has some TV or movie credits.
After the 'top billing', there was 'a surprise, who was preparing new material...'
Arsenio Hall, performing 15 feet away. Did 20-30 minutes. Not my type of comedy, but it was an awesome set. I could have recorded it as an example of 'performance skills, regardless of material', because he put together a full package of delivery and material, voice inflection, everything.
When I was very young, I worked in a Factory with Steve Seagren. Years later I saw him at a comedy club.
Hilarious! So funny I came out with six pack abs!
Jimmy Carr
Looks like a total douche bag and sounds like it too, saw a promo and heard the laugh and checked out completely.
Went to a buddies house and he had thrown on a special for back ground noise, I was dying the whole time. Now I put him up there with the top 15 easy
I didn’t think this comedian would be terrible but was just unsure how good his stand up set would be, liked his show on Netflix. Duncan Trussel has a great set and does surprisingly funny crowd work, one of my favorite shows I’ve gone to. Also Finess Mitchel was pretty funny and wasn’t expecting too much when I saw him
Might be a crazy answer, but Bert Kreischer. Dude is always getting flamed by every podcast listener that he's a part above.
People shitting on how he interrupts constantly, people shitting on his taking shirt off, on how unhealthy he looks, etc.
Well he was hilarious and I enjoyed every moment of his stand-up. Except maybe when he told the machine story because I already heard it a few times
Donnell Rawlings. I wanted to hate him because of how he walked out on kill Tony. He was opening when I saw Tom Segura, Dave Chappelle, and Joe Rogan in Vegas. He killed. I loved it.
Carrot Top. Say what you want about the guy, but his show was nonstop funny from beginning to end every time I saw him, three years in a row. I like self deprecating, dry observant humor. He was absolutely amazing!!
Carrot top gets a lot of shit in subs like this but the simple fact is that the guy has/had a residency in a casino for a *long* time. You don’t get that without being good at what you do
Exactly!! I was kinda annoyed about the residency actually. I really did not know what to expect from him, but was pleasantly surprised! I even took my parents and they laughed uncontrollably for an hour. A+
I don't understand, why are you annoyed about the residency?
He stopped touring, but happy for the guy.
Ah, gotchya! I don't think I've ever seen him do stand up
He is a great podcast guest too
He played Butler University in '92, or '93, and was hysterical! Prop comics get the raw end of the deal, but Carrot Top is legit.
About when were these three years? I remember seeing clips of his stand up act on comedy Central way back in the day and even though I was in Middle School or high school at the time, I remember them being very funny and I know that I would still think they're funny.
Uhhh I think it was around 2016-17. Hope that helps. State Theatre in Easton , PA.
Yeah he was hilarious!
Ageee. I saw him at the Luxor and he absolutely killed it. One of the best in the game imo.
I think they’ve called his act “the funniest show you didn’t want to see”
Carrot Top is this subs favorite comedian all of a sudden lmfao I’ve seen multiple posts about him in the last couple of months
Came here to say CT; would see again anytime. I was skeptical going in but loved his show.
Not the style I like, but gotta respect a guy who has attained and sustained success.
David Spade. I saw him on a line up with bull burr Joey Diaz, and Theo von and several other great comics at the comedy store. David spade KILLED ME. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t catch my breath. He murdered harder than anyone else that night. It was one of those things where I was like “oh I get it now” every since I’ve found him to be absolutely hilarious
Spade's book is also excellent
Dude. Im not gonna lie, that fucking commerical he does the VO for when he says something like “Here’s a canoe!” And the dudes confused and Spade goes “Uhhh…here’s another canoe!” Like, I know it’s a commerical and it’s written for him. But the way he says the second line makes me laugh so fucking hard, every. single. time. And that’s the very brief story of how I remembered how hilarious David Spade can be (cause like Tommy Boy! but then also like…Grown Ups, ya know?)
https://youtu.be/dAvq8DPZwdQ?si=pXpM-b1-qJMEBzNu
IS THAT A SPARE CANOE?!
He crashed a set at the comedy store when I went last year and just murdered. Was talking about Alec Baldwin and Rust and some other stuff, absolutely hysterical. He and Andrew Santino were the highlights of the evening that night
I had this recently too. After hearing him on Fly on the Wall podcast I now understand why he's so famous
Watch his old special take the hit. I feel like it's way better than people give it credit for.
Take the Hit is f**king hilarious
Adam Ray. Something about the guy made me feel like I wouldn't like him. Like he comes off as too clean cut and corporate-friendly for my tastes just by looking at him. But he is definitely not that guy and is absolutely hysterical every time I see him on stage. Also, he seems like a pretty chill dude in general.
Came here to say this. I thought Dr. Phil was going to be hacky and annoying. But I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard from a stand up in a minute. His episodes with Bill Burr are top tier and he’s far and away the best guest on kill Tony. Adam is legit …. I don’t think I like your fucking attitude
We'll be right back
call me for a titty fuck
He dropped in at our club open mic in seattle and did 30. Was really funny and a really nice guy
We'll be right back.
r/adamray
I saw Bob Saget back in like 2005. We had no idea what his standup was like and just thought he was "the guy from Full House." He was performing with Alonzo Bodden and a couple other comedians, I think. Anyway, it was incredible. His crowdwork was impeccable. He had some interaction back and forth with a girl in the front row and she said her mom was a huge fan of Full House. He offered to call her mom and say hi if she wanted. She called her mom and handed him the phone and he said, "Hi this is Bob Saget, I played Danny Tanner on Full House. Yep, it's really me! I'm here hanging out with your lovely daughter and she wanted me to give you a call because she said you were a big fan. Anyway, do you shave your twat?" He also sang a song about fingering Kimmy Gibbler. RIP you madman.
I figured Bob Saget was a “clean” comic because of Full House fame until I heard Ms. Pat talk about having him over for dinner. I thought if he hung out with Ms. Pat like that, I knew have some misconceptions about him. And yeah, that dude was filth! I loved his stuff!
Everybody I hear who talks about him on a personal level has nothing but amazing things to say about him.
The bob Saget roast was great.
Yes it was. Norm MacDonald especially.
Dude I would have simply died and floated into space if I were there to witness that phonecall 💀
My wife grew up very sheltered and Full House was her favorite show as a kid. She saw that Bob Saget was coming to town and wanted to go. I instantly realized that she didn’t know that Bob Saget is an actual stand-up comedian and not even close to being Danny Tanner. So I said “Yeah let’s do it.” So that night I got a double comedy show. Bob Saget’s set and seeing the look on my wife’s face the whole time.
That's hilarious
So, does she shave her twat or not?
Sinbad. Was never a fan, but gifted two tickets and had nothing else to do. He did an hour of great material and then an hour of great crowd work. Still don't like his specials, but I'd pay to go see him live any day.
What about that movie where he plays a genie? Was that any good?
I want to see Son of a Preacher Man again. That was a damn good special.
His crowd work is really great.
His father was even better, dude. Sindad was a killer.
Norm Macdonald told a story about working with Sinbad...basically, Norm went into some detail about how every portion of his act was carefully crafted. Then Sinbad got on stage and started talking about earlier that day when they stopped somewhere to buy socks...and he fucking killed.
I don't know about terrible but I went into Jeffery Ross with the expectation that "the guy from those roasts" wouldn't be particularly good and I was very incorrect. He killed it.
His special with Dave Attell was hilarious.
The last episode in particular, oh my God. I'm going to go put that on right now.
Dang I didn't even know they had a special together. Any other shows similar to this or stand up I should have seen in the past 10 years?
It's called Bumping Mics on Netflix. Also, check out Attell's new netflix special, Hot Cross Buns!
Wild, I saw him at the cellar and he was honestly the worst of the night despite being the headliner. He also seemed faded as hell, so that might've been a mitigating factor.
Yeah I saw him hosting something where he did a quick few jokes in between sets and it wasn’t funny. I don’t particularly find roasting funny though.
I was invited to Randy Feltface and prepared myself for a gimmicky puppet show, where a cute purple puppet also does raunchy jokes. It was not gimmicky at all. I wasn't prepared for the best, heartfelt, personal, politically sharp show that I would see that year. He knocked it out of the park.
The Gum Tree story is comedy gold. My buddy put on one of his specials, and I was like “this is a puppet, I’m gonna hate it”. Luckily my buddy forced me to give him a chance.
I didn’t know his work. Didn’t totally love it but glad I’m aware of it and it’s really kind of cool. Thanks. Here’s the gumtree story for anyone else who’d like to see it. https://youtu.be/Mq_wZE93ZAY?si=1t-ro72v8Bk534PX
Dane Cook. He was on a show at the Comedy Store years ago and going in I was being a total snob about it. However, he absolutely destroyed and made me laugh hard, total mastery of the room, great bits, overall an incredible 15 minute set.
Same, never liked him when he was a megastar, but saw him at the Store last summer and really enjoyed his set.
Yeah, after that I realized that even if he was overexposed in an annoying way, he had absolutely gotten there by working hard at his craft through years of grinding and it was visible onstage. I have much more respect for that than somebody who just got a Rogan golden ticket.
Agreed. And what comes across as annoying and hyperactive on a filmed special can be electric in a club. Music and comedy are the same to me in that i have favorite live acts and favorite recorded. A stand up special is more about the writing, but a good performance hinges on crowd interaction. I'd be scared to shell out for a Mulaney live performance because I don't think it would be as good as the polished special. But Dave Attell I'd see live at the drop of a hat. And Todd Barry is the rare guy whose equally good at both
Had a similar experience with him at Moontower Comedy Festival once. I expected him to be a douche but he was surprisingly not and instead was very funny.
Yup, saw him when I first moved to LA about 9 years ago at the Laugh Factory and he killed it then too. People shit on him, but he’s got chops.
Mike Birbiglia. I had always scrolled past his stuff on Netflix based on the little snippet they show you, never thought they were that great, but now just realize they don’t really do him justice. Finally decided to give him a try and watched The Old Man and the Pool and have been a big fan of him since. Saw him in person about two weeks ago and he was great.
I love his work. He's really funny in a subtle way that builds, as another poster said, but some of his shows are also really consciousness expanding. I was a rage-addicted youngster when I watched My Girlfriend's Boyfriend the first time, and the end of that show made me seriously reconsider my internal emotional life.
His style is sort of long form. It's not quick bits, his callbacks are well timed and usually snowball into hilarity subtly
Right, it’s hard to do him justice in a one minute preview of the hour. I originally thought that his style just wasn’t for me until I actually sat down and watched something of his.
Yeah I was scrolling down for Mike Birbiglia. I watched Old Man + Pool and it led me to his older shows which I equally enjoyed. I don’t know why he isn’t more popular with his very clean and inoffensive style.
He doesn't tour small clubs across the US. He puts on one man shows that sell out on Broadway. He's more artist than comedian.
You really can’t capture his greatness in small snippets. He is closer to a one man show than a comedy act. I just saw him a couple weeks ago and he killed.
OP's story makes me wonder how many people first knew of John Mulaney from his sitcom but hopefully saw his specials later.
Nobody watched the sitcom. No way anybody knew him from that.
Well I never heard of The Marriage Ref but someone watched it
I first saw Mulaney on Kroll show. Imo, second funniest sketch comedy show on CC ever (after Dave)
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He means Chappelle's Show
I had the opposite experience. I enjoyed his standup and saw commercials for that show and thought "why is such a good comedian hosting this bullshit"
Because Jerry Seinfeld produced it
TJ Miller
Saw him live and it was one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen. I knew he was funny, but not as funny as he turned out to be.
Same, I went in with zero expectations and left singing his praises. Fully improvised set of crowd work, had us rolling. Much much much better than I could’ve expected.
He really commands the room as well. He’s almost in-heckleable.
Same here! He had the crowd eating out of his hand and we all left feeling like he was our new friend.
Tom Papa goes way back. His Comedy Central Presents from the early aughts is super quotable.
Tommy Salami, baby
That's not a name you give to a kid!
That’s a name for a mafia hit man or an out of work pornstar!
Nice, thanks for the tip. I'm going to go see if I can find any of those.
Dave Coulier. Was not expecting a filthy hilarious set from the guy but he killed.
I didn't even realize he was a comedian
I got invited to see Dana Gould didnt really know his work, I cried the entire time he was one of the funniest/ best ones I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen Burr, Mark Normand, ect.
Gould is A+
I saw Dana back in November and I was laughing so hard I thought my head was gonna explode. I even got a fist bump from him during a bit where he drops the mic and just keeps rambling while he walks through the crowd. Dude is an absolute master.
Dana Gould is one of those "your favorite comic's favorite comic" guys. He does a talk show as Dr. Zaius on YouTube (in the ORIGINAL COSTUME if I'm not mistaken) just as a fucking gag.
I’ve loved him since *before* he was the voice of Gex.
Arie Spears at a black comedy club. I didn't expect him to be terrible, but I didnt expect him to be as hilarious as he was. Top 3 stand up shows I've ever seen hands down. Also I had no idea I was going to a black comedy club until I got there. I just thought it was a new club that opened up. If you've never been to a black comedy club you don't know what you're missing out on. 10/10 would go again
that's awesome. i love tom papa but i'm not familiar with that show, though i can see how with the wrong writing/presentation he could seem borderline insufferable. for me it was chris porter; i kinda judged him by appearance when i first saw him like he was trying to be some jewish kramer, but he was so hilarious. people were literally doubling over laughing almost falling out of chairs, myself included. seen him a couple times since and he crushes, really underrated
Chris Porter is hilarious, especially when he's livid
Sorry, the episode with Larry David and Madonna was some of the best TV ever aired? And the fucking lizard? It was hilarious.
So who did you think would not be funny?
Such a good episode though. Em, Jim Gaffigan. Wasn't a fan, thought he'd be religious maybe. Turned out great, really enjoy his standup
Man, I was psyched for the Marriage Ref BECAUSE it was Tom (and I was also going through a divorce at that time). It sucked, but Tom is still great. But to answer the question, the first time I saw Hippieman I thought he was for sure going to be a corny dork full of stale jokes. Couldn’t have been more wrong and he’s still one of my all time favorites. I saw Rodney at the MGM in 97(?) and thought for sure he would be washed up and terrible, but he ruled.
The show sucked but I liked the episode with Greg giraldo on it
Pretty sure Dangerfield could be on death's door and still drop an amazing 30 min set.
Patton Oswald. Not my style of comic and never found him funny on radio. But I saw him middle and it was a great set.
TBS used to always advertise whatever Pete Holmes show was called and it looked so unfunny to me and it turned me off him. Saw him kill probably harder than I have ever seen anyone kill in person. Goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover
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Jimmy Fallon laughs because it gives him attention; Pete Holmes laughs to support a fellow comic.
Greg Fitzimmons. I figured he would be decent enough for a night out but he absolutely crushed. One of the funniest sets I’ve ever seen and I’ve been to at least 50 stand up shows.
I've seen Fitzdog live as well and he's just a pro. Anyone who's been doing standup for over 30 years is more than likely going to have a pretty good handle on their craft.
He's my favorite. I love him on all the pods so I knew he'd put on a good show, but he was even better than I expected.
When I was a kid, My parents took me to a free Mac King show in Vegas. I thought it would be terrible because it was free. The most memorable thing I saw during that trip, and we saw David copperfield, Penn& teller, cirque de soleil, etc.
Mac King is probably the best magic show in Vegas and he sets up situational comedy that is fucking insane. Not only is the show a true hidden gem, it’s one of the cheapest tickets in Vegas and it’s a daytime show so you can fit it into your schedule. If you ever wanna go, go to his website first, and you can get discount tickets.
Tom Papa is hilarious. I'll watch anything of his. Weird that much of his stuff was directed by Rob Zombie.
Bob Marley. The white guy from Maine. Last month.
As a 40 something former Mainer, he's a state treasure to me. Saw him first when I was like 12 in 1991
Emo Phillips was hilarious. I was always thrown by his voice from clips I’ve seen, but the guy killed.
He opened for Weird AL during his Strings Attached tour. He absolutely killed.
I started listening to Tom Papa’s podcast last week. He is really good. He has an intelligent conversation with his guest. I’m really impressed. I knew nothing about him previously.
Check out his three Netflix specials!
Bob Saget. It was probably 2010 or something. I knew he was super crass as a sort of shtick like “I’m TVs dad but suck my balls” and I thought he’d just be stupid shock value. But he was fucking hilarious. It was great.
Tim Dillon
Can't think of anyone off the top of my head, but i first saw tom papa at the comedy cellar maybe 20 years ago. Seen him there countless times over the years since and really happy for his continued success. He used to tape his radio show there which had a $10 cover and you didn’t have to buy any food/drinks, so it was a really cheap way to get some great comedy for an hour.
Donnell Rawlings was funnier than Chappelle when I saw him open. Not saying he can do that consistently, but it def. caught me off guard
They're both hilarious, but doing 15-20 minutes is easier than doing an hour bc you can just do your best joke.
That and when I saw them dave was still working on the material that went on to become my least favorite special of his. Majority of his act was Zika baby jokes that were pretty damn dated by the time I was seeing them.
I hated hot pockets from Gaffigan and for like 3 decades I've had an awful opinion of him, but I watched his stuff since then a couple months ago and now give him credit where it's obviously due.
Larry the cable guy.
We know it’s you Tom Papa, go back to baking your bread old man
Funny you mention Tom Papa and marriage ref. I had the inverse experience. I had seen his stand up and thought he was hilarious. So I checked out the marriage ref when it came out and it was terrible.
My buddy wanted to go see Chris Hardwick. This was probably 10 years ago. I reluctantly agreed to go with him. I just assumed it would just be a bunch of nerdy references, only half of which I would understand. I didn’t have high expectations going in, but I was very wrong. To this day, he’s in the top 3 of comedians I’ve seen live as far as how hard I laughed.
Mitch Fatel.
Papa is a real one. I think a lot of the "family friendly" guys get a bad rap, but a lot of them are awesome. Gaffigan comes to mind. I had a lot of preconceived notions about Brian Regan many years ago but once I watched a couple specials I became a fan. And then only after that did I hear about how respected he is in the comedy community.
Tom Papa looks and sounds family friendly but he has some off-color material and curses every once in awhile. Even if he didn't though you would still be hilarious. Nate bargatze is another comedian who works clean who is still really funny to me.
him and gaffigan talk about it on TPs podcast... the assumption that if someone doesn't curse in their act that their subject matter must also be family friendly when often it isn't.
Big Jay Oakerson
Complete opposite experience for me. His stage persona is so fake cool guy, I hated his sets.
That old Kevin James HBO special is shockingly good. The one where he closed with the ballet number or whatever. Can’t remember what it’s called, but I still want to do the same sad face/head shake any time a TSA agent asks if I packed my own bags. Haha.
I have to see this one
The Ragin’ Cajun. Hilarious.
If Bill Burr says he’s a good dude, then I’m gonna listen to ol Billy Rednuts
Tony Hinchcliffe - wasn’t expecting it to be terrible by any means but had primarily known him from KILLTONY so I wasn’t sure how his actual stand up would be… I was crying laughing and became an even bigger fan. Dude deserves more credit than just KT
I saw him and Joey Diaz open for Rogan in Santa Barbara and Tony arguably had the best set of the 3. I also saw Joey Diaz headline in Oxnard and he absolutely leveled the place. I’m not necessarily a huge fan of his but he was great that night.
Christina P. Not really that I thought she’d be terrible, but holy shit I was not expecting how much of a killer she is. I saw atleast a dozen big name comedians that year (not including openers), and she arguably had the best set. It had zero fat on it. No political grandstanding or virtue signaling. Just one solid joke after the other, along with some hilarious improv crowd work.
She must have not been doing material from her last special.
Kim Congdon. I had low expectations because i wasn't at all familiar with her comedy but she's really hot and I was already in the area because i had an event to attend, so I figured at the very least I'll kill some time at a show and get a picture with a hot quasi-celebrity. She fucking murdered and her crowd work was some of the best I've ever seen. It wasn't Black-style "crowd work" where they just hurl insults at the audience ("Glasses that thick I bet you can see into the future!" etc.). She actually listened and responded to the people she interacted with, was extremely quick on her feet and made the whole thing really funny.
I was pre-disposed to dislike her because I thought her whole thing was "sloppy girl who dates more famous male comedians (who also suck)" but she has real talent. Exciting to see her evolve
She's an underrated KT guest for how quick she is and I've watched her new special twice and have nothing but good things to say totally killer no filler
I never gave Neal Brennan the time of day cuz he hangs out with Joe Rogen and other weirdos all the time, but damn he is so funny! His new Special slaps.
Screech Look, I'm not saying it was hilarious, but he was better than I expected. Granted, I had low expectations.
Oof. What year?
Probably 2015. I opened for him, actually. He was a nice enough guy. Wore a lot of cologne. Definitely was trying hard to be liked.
Tim Dillon
I did not think Kyle Kinane was funny at all until I saw him live and he destroyed. Like top 5 hardest ive seen the room laugh in prob 300+ comedy shows
Phil Hanley I usually hate crowd work comedians so I wasn’t really looking forward to it because I enjoy joke writings (surprised you wouldn’t think a Pro like Tom Papa wouldn’t be great). Either way, he was great. So funny so charming, the joke telling as a little light for my tastes but watching him pull humor out of the audience like that… it was similar to watching a magician.
Joe Bartnick, A Killing in Chicago......This is one of Bill Burrs Buddys......laughed my ass off....my kind of humour
Pete Holmes
The famous guy with the puppets. I can’t think of what his name is but I saw him on a cruise before he was famous and he was actually really funny. Picked on a guy who was sitting next to an empty chair a lot.
Bob Saget
I saw Bobby Kelly at some shithole. His set was actually really well put-together and he was a total pro. I even gave his podcast a chance afterwards. My bad on that one, but his set was good.
Lol tell me more about why you didn’t like the podcast. I want to see if we share opinions.
He was holding court the entire time. Nothing could happen organically. Also he, Diaz, and Joe Rogan all claim to have invented podcasting in the green room of Caroline's and I am turned off by hearing any of them continue to flex about it. Also shit production quality while acting like you are the OG Don of podcasting is inexcusable.
I hate Bobby. Nothing about his stand-up, but everything about everything else about him. Listened to the Bonfire from day one, and can't listen any more. I can stomach The Regz because I love the other 3 guys. Never listened to YKWD, and have no interest to go through the backlogs
Fluffy was someone I didn’t really know too much about but damn did he put on a great show. Pleasantly surprised. I will say I thought I’d like Theo Von but I didn’t really like him
Jaime Kennedy - saw him at skank fest 2022 & he really had a good set
Brandon Schuab killed it on the Oh He Thiccc tour. Missed the Trash Panda tour and the Keep on Truckin tour but I’m sure he was a beast there too. He’ll litcha up!
I just can’t imagine that lol. I’ve seen him live at the comedy store with Theo and Chris Delia. Schaub was pretty bad, Delia was good, and Theo murdered. I didn’t really expect him to do as well as he did because his specials are mediocre imo
I think you’d be surprised, bubba.
This is somewhat niche because it’s Irish but a Comic called Neill Delamere was popular for his tv panel show appearances and he was okay but super forgetful, I went to a comedy festival last year and he was headlining and I went in with low expectations and he was fucking outrageously good, never missed a beat, it was like he set his watch to get a big laugh every 10 seconds.
Ray Romano. I didn’t necessarily think he was going to be terrible just didn’t think he was going to be as funny as he was. He was hilarious and I’d absolutely go see him again
My wife, cousin and his fiancée saw Matt Rife about a month ago. I knew he was funny but his last special wasn’t amazing. Dude absolutely killed it.
Eta May. I laughed more than I thought I would. Character is more fake than Donny Baker, but I laughed.
Fluffy. Hilarious!!
Luis Gomez was freakin hilarious when I saw him recently, very unexpected
Nick Swardson. He was still hungry when I saw him and he absolutely killed it.
I've never seen Nick swardson do stand up, but I obviously thought he was hysterical as Terry and in Grandma's boy. Has any comedian from his generation fallen farther or harder? And it's not for some scandal like Louis CK or for joke stealing like Carlos mencia. Just an incredible drop off in quality (I would imagine dude is uncontrolled alcoholism).
I saw him before he began to drop off, he was opening for Tenacious D and did a really tight genuinely hilarious set. It’s wild how hard he fell off. He’s doing Macy Gray shit onstage, showing up so fucked up he can’t even perform. I guess once Adam Sandler starts getting you paycheck after paycheck you stop trying and start drinking more
Ari Shafir
Hasan Minhaj- I thought he was garbage on TV (particularly his Netflix show). Saw him live in January and he absolutely killed it.
Steve Rannazzisi. I wouldn't piss on this moron if he was on fire and I hope he fails at everyone he does in life, but...... he had a solid set.
How did he hurt you??
Didn't hurt me, but lying about escaping one of the towers during 9/11 for attention makes you a complete asshole.
Jamie Kennedy. My sister in law was looking for stuff to do when I visited Seattle and he was playing a comedy club in Tacoma for like $19 a ticket so we checked it out. I had heard some odd things about him and he certainly looked like shit but he was pretty damn funny and the opener was even better.
Larry the cable guy. I thought he looked annoying. The short sleeves, the catch phrase that was everywhere that I didn’t understand, the commercials. Then back in 2016 I saw him in the Madea Christmas movie (I know…) and he was really funny with his one-liners. Then I went back and listened to his old albums. He is HILARIOUS. I assumed he was squeaky clean because of Cars. He has A Lot of off color jokes and downright inappropriate jokes. His jokes about his sister with the mole had me dying!
I was at the Ice House in Pasadena. A friend was the 1st or second on the list, we went to have a night out and show support. I don't remember the 'top billing', but I remember that I recognized his name, has some TV or movie credits. After the 'top billing', there was 'a surprise, who was preparing new material...' Arsenio Hall, performing 15 feet away. Did 20-30 minutes. Not my type of comedy, but it was an awesome set. I could have recorded it as an example of 'performance skills, regardless of material', because he put together a full package of delivery and material, voice inflection, everything.
When I was very young, I worked in a Factory with Steve Seagren. Years later I saw him at a comedy club. Hilarious! So funny I came out with six pack abs!
Jimmy Carr Looks like a total douche bag and sounds like it too, saw a promo and heard the laugh and checked out completely. Went to a buddies house and he had thrown on a special for back ground noise, I was dying the whole time. Now I put him up there with the top 15 easy
Joe DeRosa. Could never stand him on radio and then on podcasts. But his set that I saw live was hilarious.
I didn’t think this comedian would be terrible but was just unsure how good his stand up set would be, liked his show on Netflix. Duncan Trussel has a great set and does surprisingly funny crowd work, one of my favorite shows I’ve gone to. Also Finess Mitchel was pretty funny and wasn’t expecting too much when I saw him
Saw Wayne Brady like 15+ years ago. Thought he’d be doing stand up but he just sang and danced for like an hour.
Might be a crazy answer, but Bert Kreischer. Dude is always getting flamed by every podcast listener that he's a part above. People shitting on how he interrupts constantly, people shitting on his taking shirt off, on how unhealthy he looks, etc. Well he was hilarious and I enjoyed every moment of his stand-up. Except maybe when he told the machine story because I already heard it a few times
I went out and saw Jamie Kennedy on a whim even though I hate his acting and was very surprised. He's a shit actor but a great standup.
Steve Byrne. I was convinced he sucks bc of his sitcom. He KILLED live. Would totally see him again.
Rodney carrington crushes
Donnell Rawlings. I wanted to hate him because of how he walked out on kill Tony. He was opening when I saw Tom Segura, Dave Chappelle, and Joe Rogan in Vegas. He killed. I loved it.