Best Stand-Up Show You've Seen....

"It's great to be in Blacksburg - Gateway to Yellow Sulphur. Wait - that's a real town? Were all the good names taken? Yellow Sulphur? My gosh - there are terminal diseases with better sounding names."
"But enough about my skin tone...."
"Yes, Virginia Tech - home of the Ho-KIES! What the hell is a Hokie? Were you going for Honkies and you couldn't afford the N?"

 

Saw Richard Belzer in 1991, I think. His act had some slow parts, but others where I was in physical pain from laughing so hard. Which is what you want when you pay for a comedy ticket, I think.

 

I've seen Seinfeld live twice and both times he was fantastic. Probably the best shows I've seen.

I saw Louis CK last year and he was good, but it wasn't his best hour.

Way before The Hangover, I saw Zach Galifianakis in Athens, Ga., and it was probably my most memborable act I've seen. So weird and hilarious at the same time.

 

A club opened in a mall near me and my wife and I go every few months. It makes for a nice night out, though we haven't seen any big names there. D.L. Hughley, who was funny but not anything special. We've seen comics whose names I don't even remember who were better.

 

Marcell Ledbetter says howya'll. His pet Lynx just growls.

 

George Carlin. Once in New Haven (in like 1998). Second time in Vegas in 2004. For me, he's the gold standard still.

 

Rodney Dangerfield in the early '80's. Such a pro, his timing was amazing. He'd get off a line, give it just enough time for the audience to laugh and just as they started to catch their breath he'd hit them again. He made even the lamest old jokes funny just off of timing and delivery. Something like "I went to the dentist and said "Doc, my teeth are yellow" and he said "Wear a brown tie!" would get a huge laugh even though it's a shit joke.

I remember that line and two others thirty plus years later - one was "Have you seen my Lite Beer commercials?" *audience applauds* "Yeah, my wife says since I started drinking Lite Beer I'm less filling but I taste better."

The other one - after the show proper he had them bring up the house lights and took questions from the audience. He gets "How did you get started?", "Do you write all your own jokes?", etc, then some clown asks "Yeah, what do you do for a living?" (Audience "Oooohhhh") Rodney gives him the eye and says "I find men for your mother." (Audience howls).

My ribs hurt the next morning.

 

I saw Dangerfield about that same time too. He was great.

So was Eddie Murphy on the Raw tour. Even though I had heard much of the act of on the Delirious album, it was still hilarious.

I saw Redd Foxx in Vegas in early 80s. Don't remember much, but he was as foul as advertised. The joke I do remember was Redd asking who in the audience was a mother effer. A few guys hollered. He then asked who has kids, and if they still sleep with their wives. "Y'all mother effers then."

 

Wish I would have seen more standup than I have. I've watched a ton on TV, but of the few I've seen live, the best I've seen was, believe it or not, Mitch Hedberg. Comes across as someone making his debut at an open mic but clearly has command of the stage. The show I watched, he was on the entire night, not a single dud in his set.

 

George Carlin is #1. Lewis Black is #1A