Listosaurus Rex

The website The Top Tens has polled readers and created a list of the top 10 funniest comedians of all time.

In my opinion, comedy is one of the most subjective forms of entertainment.  Great movies, music, and books are very often universally acclaimed, but it’s comedy is usually so one-dimensional (funnier=better), then it’s little more than personal taste.  There’s so much room disagreement that it’s hard to imagine a list of greatest comedians without controversy.

And if you’re going to trust anyone’s opinions on what is funny, are you sure a random, probably small sampling of people’s opinions on the Internet is the best option?

What I’m hinting at is that I don’t think this list is particularly great.  It could be useful if you’re just looking for names of a bunch of comedians to check out.  But there’s no reason to respect it as an authoritative list.  Here are the Top 10.  The site also has some runners up.

1. Jerry Seinfeld
2. Russell Peters
3. Dane Cook
4. George Carlin
5. Dave Chappelle
6. Mitch Hedberg
7. Steve Martin
8. Katt Williams
9. Robin Williams
10. Chris Rock

I suppose a lot of these picks are respectable, but I’m sort of surprised the ever-divisive and gradually-more-loathed Dane Cook was able to make his way to the top.  My two favorite comedians are Mitch Hedberg as the runner up and Demetri Martin, who is listed as a #18 in the runners up section, as by far my favorite.  I’m glad to see Mitch making the top ten and sort of wish Demetri would receive more votes.

The explanations as to who was why the comedians receive different spots are just quotes from voters, and never really insightful.  Very often the quotes voters included are just quotes from the comedians themselves.

Overall, an unexciting list of best comedians.