In my opinion, the comedians that I can relate to are much more hilarious than the “greats” of comedy. Don’t get me wrong, George Carlin, Chris Rock, and the rest of ‘em on those internet Top 10 lists are funny, and always get a good laugh out of me, but their jokes would be much better if they were told by someone who can dress it up with the slanguage from the 2000’s, someone who is a little younger. Having said that, here is my list of the comedians that I think are the funniest out there today.
Nick Swardson
Nick Swardson has always been on my list from day one. You probably have heard of him, or maybe even seen him on Reno 911, or as a supporting character in a movie, like “I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry” or “Grandma’s Boy” (if you haven’t seen Grandma’s Boy, stop reading this right now, and go rent it! Trust me… Its one of those movies that no one ever saw in theaters, or even saw a trailer for. I heard of it from a friend, who heard of it from a friend, etc…It’s well worth your time, and don’t worry this article will still be here when you get back.) Anyways, Swardson really comes into his own doing stand up. He has been on Comedy Central Presents twice, once in 2001 and again in 2006, and finally got his own special in 2009 titled “Seriously Who Farted”. Swardson is a hilarious comic who’s material is mostly about drinking, drugs, and partying.
Okay, so this clip is from Swardson’s “Seriously Who Farted Special”, where he talks about playing video games. If you have ever played Halo online past midnight, people may think this about you…
Russell Brand
I fell in love with Russell Brand when I saw him in the movie “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, staring him, Jason Segal, and the rest of the crew (Remember how Adam Sandler always had all of his friends play different characters in his movies, well it seems the trend caught on, and now Jason Segal, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, and Seth Rogen all are inseparable). Anyways, after seeing that movie, I went searching through YouTube for clips of him, and have been obsessed ever since. Brand has had much success in England, and has finally been able to make the transition into the States through movies and by hosting the MTV VMA’s twice now. Some of his stand-ups that I recommend are (U.K. and USA) “Russell Brand in New York” and “Russell Brand: Doing Life”. Brand’s stand up is a witty act filled with 25¢ words from his large vocabulary (Brand is very well educated , and has a wonderful command of the language) spoken in a beautiful British accent. One of my favorite parts of his act is when he does an American accent, which is hysterical, and spot on.
This clip is from “Russell Brand in New York”, where he talks about all the death threats he got from people after he hosted the VMA’s for the first time. This clip is a little long, but absolutely hilarious, especially the last letter from WhiteBoy, so make sure you check that part out.
Daniel Tosh
Daniel Tosh is just an absolute riot. I only recently found out about him from Tosh.0 (which is also a great show on Comedy Central, by the way) and so his stand-up act is still new to me, which is refreshing because when I YouTube his name, I still find clips which I have never seen before. Tosh’s act is primarily just little topics that he thinks about, like living along the coastline, or what a good job would be, which is funny, because they are such random thoughts. The thing that turns his act from “chuckle inside your head” funny to “laugh out loud” funny, is the pretend situations he proposes after the initial introduction of the topic. Tosh will make up these abstract predicaments that one might find themselves if they were part of the scenario and just runs with it. He eventually gets so off topic, (kinda like what happens when you find yourself on Wikipedia anytime past 1:00 am) and the outcome is just comic genius.
This is one of the clips that was referenced above. It starts out with Tosh talking about a good job, then comes the ridiculous tangent from his story, and ends out talking about “Making it hail”, Tosh’s version of making it rain.
Russell Peters
Last, but not least, is Russell Peters. I have never really seen too much from him, in fact, I have only seen 2 stand-up specials from him on Comedy Central, one title “Russell Peters: Outsourced” back in 2006, and another just this year, called “Russell Peters: Red, White and Brown” in 2009. Actually, Comedy Central is airing “Red, White, and Brown” on Saturday, December 19 at 10pm/9c, so if you have a chance, check it out, it is a riot. Anyways, Peters’ act focuses mostly on the difference between people’s cultures. He talks about everyone, White, Black, Asian, Arab, and his own people, Indians. His jokes are great, and he loves to play off of stereo types, but the best part of his act for me, is the accents. When he talks about a certain type of people, he loves to really get into character, and bring it to life for the audience by talking in an accent.
Ok, so what we got going on here, is Peters is talking about going shopping at a Chinese store. Probably one of his most famous sketches, where he does a Chinese impression worthy of a standing ovation, maybe even a couple days off of school. The best part is, it’s not only the accent that he nails, but just the way the some Chinese do business in general.
Honorable Mention: The Amazing Johnathan
Okay, okay, so I know that this is supposed to be about modern stand-up comics, but I couldn’t resist. The Amazing Jonathan is one of my favorite comedians, and seeing as how I’m the one writing the article, I figured it would be okay if I bent the rules a bit.
The Amazing Jonathan is a whole hodge-podge of stuff all just through onto the stage, which is why I love him. To put it simply, he is a Shock-Comic/ Magician that does a little bit of crowd participation. It’s actually really difficult to try to explain his act, so I’ll just leave it at that. Your just gonna have to trust me, and check him out for yourself.
So, this is just great overview of what The Amazing Jonathan is all about. He messes with the audience, employs really dry humor, and just has a good time on stage.
