Check out these 25 comedians if you want to chuckle a bit and forget about your problems. The list includes all types of comedy, whether for males or females, political or not. They’re either American or English and famous or not, but they all have something in common: people love them and consider them hilarious.
1. Bob Newhart
Bob Newhart was born in 1929. He is an American actor and comedian and is one of the most recognizable comedians in history. He was very successful on stage but also on T.V., starring in several comedy shows. He’s been nominated for an Emmy Award and won numerous awards for his work.
2. Bernie Mac
Bernard Jeffrey McCullough was born in 1957 – died in 2008. He was better known by his stage name Bernie Mac and was an American comedian and actor. Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, Mac gained popularity as a standup comedian. He was well known for his role in movies like Mo’ Money, Booty Call.
3. Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Cherrie Barr is an American actress, comedian, writer, and television producer. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy at clubs before gaining notoriety for her role in Roseanne’s television sitcom (1988–1997; 2018).
4. Norm Macdonald
Norman Gene Macdonald was born in 1959 – died in 2021. He was a Canadian standup comedian, actor, and writer. Norman Macdonald is famous for his role as Scott Ian Montgomery in the 1990s Canadian sketch comedy show. This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Macdonald is also known for his appearances as a guest comedian and panelist on the late-night talk shows Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and David Letterman’s talk show.
5. Jim Carrey
James Eugene Carrey, Jr. was born in 1962. He was a Canadian-American artist and actor known for his comedy and dramatic roles. Jim is best known for his comedic roles, such as Dumb and Dumber and The Mask. He received an Academy Award nomination for the film “Dumb & Dumber”, and two Golden Globe nominations for the same role, one of which he won. He was nominated for an Emmy Award (1998) for his function in The Truman Show.
6. Bill Cosby
William Henry Cosby, Jr. was born in 1937. He was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Bill is best known for his character Ed Huxtable on the television sitcom “The Cosby Show”, for which he won five Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Bill also starred in the NBC sitcoms The New WKRP in Cincinnati and A Different World, as well as the short-lived T.V. Land sitcom The Bill Cosby Show.
7. Bill Hicks
William Melvin Hicks was born in 1961 – died in 1994. He was an American standup comedian and satirist. He is best known for his unique brand of observational comedy and dark, often disparaging social commentary. His performances were characterized by exaggeration, extended metaphor, and non-sequiturs. Hicks was also known for his extensive use of props such as anti-comic books and magic tricks in his routines.
8. Steven Wright
Steven Alexander Wright was born in 1955. He is an American standup comedian, actor, writer, and film producer. Wright was ranked as the 15th Greatest Comedian on its 2017 list of the 50 Greatest Stand-Up Comics. His accomplishments include winning the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for his work on the short film The Appointments of Dennis Jennings, which he also wrote, directed, and produced.
9. Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais was born in 1961. He is an English actor, comedian, director, and writer. He is most known for playing David Brent, the main character in the comedy series “The Office,” as well as its worldwide spinoffs and an American remake.
10. Lewis Black
Lewis Niles Black was born in 1948. He is an American standup comedian, author, playwright, and social critic. He is widely known for his aggressive comedic rants and rising vocal pitch. He has hosted a weekly radio show on the Air America Radio network and spent four seasons as the star of “The Root of All Evil”, also on Air America.
11. Don Rickles
Donald Jay Rickles was born in 1926 – died in 2017. He was an American standup comic, actor, and retired boxing referee, nicknamed “Mr. Warmth”. He is known for his catchphrases such as “It’s good to be the king”, “You look like a million dollars,” and “I never forget a face, but in your case, I’ll make an exception.
12. Jim Gaffigan
James Christopher Gaffigan was born in 1966. He is an American standup comedian, actor, writer, and producer. Gaffigan’s brand of humor focuses primarily on fatherhood and observations about life, such as eating and obesity. On December 15, 2016, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
13. Kevin Hart
Kevin Darnell Hart was born in 1979. He is an American standup comedian, actor, writer, and producer. Kevin is best known for his comedic rants, as well as for creating and starring in the MTV series “The Real Husbands of Hollywood” as well as the BET reality show “For their Own Good”. He has since appeared in Scary Movie 3, Soul Plane, Little Fockers, Paper Soldiers, and Scary Movie 3.
14. Mitch Hedberg
Mitchell Lee Hedberg was born in 1968 – died in 2005. He was an American standup comedian, actor, and writer. He is known for his “slurred, stammering” delivery of ironic observations about everyday life and popular culture. In his act, Hedberg’s material was almost entirely improvised, consisting of observational humor.
15. Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield was born in 1921 – died in 2004. He was an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. Known for his sharp and biting humor, he is probably best known for his comedy routines about his weight problems and alcohol abuse. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, his catchphrase “I don’t get no respect!” and his monologues on that theme.
16. Bill Burr
William Frederic Burr was born in 1968. He is an American standup comedian. Burr was a finalist on the fifth season of the reality television series “Last Comic Standing”, and his hour-long standup special “Let It Go” aired on Comedy Central in 2006. He performed in a Comedy Central Presents special in April 2006.
17. Steve Martin
Steven Allan “Steve” Martin was born in 1945. He is an American actor, writer, comedian, and musician whose career has spanned seven decades as a standup comic and film/television actor. He is known for his improvisational comedy style and his deadpan demeanor. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and an Honorary Academy Award in 2013.
18. Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Allen Seinfeld was born in 1954. He is an American standup comedian and television personality. He is best known for creating several comedic characters and playing a version of himself in the sitcom “Seinfeld”. Seinfeld has received twenty Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work on Seinfeld and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and four Grammy Awards nominations for his comedy albums.
19. Louis C.K
Louis Alfred Székely was born in 1967, known professionally as Louis C.K. He is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director. He began his career writing for comedians, including David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, on their shows before gaining notoriety for his online comedy skits as part of the web series The Louis C.K. Project from 2001 to 2010. He formerly hosted the NBC series Lucky Louie and the F.X. sitcom Louie and currently co-stars in the F.X. series SNL Korea.
20. Chris Rock
Christopher Julius Rock was born in 1965. He is a comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer, and director from the United States. After working as a standup comedian and playing tiny parts in movies, Rock gained more notoriety in the early 1990s when he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live. He later had several notable film appearances and produced several critically praised comedy specials on HBO.
21. Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan Murphy was born in 1961. He is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, singer, and director. He is best known for his standup comedy and his comedic and musical film roles, including such hits as 48 Hrs., The Nutty Professor, Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop. In an acting role, he portrayed himself in the semi-autobiographical Dr. Dolittle series of films.
22. Dave Chappelle
David Chappelle is an American standup comedian, screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He is known for using observational comedy, provocative material, and sociopolitical commentary. Chappelle is also known for his collaborations with actor/comedian Chris Rock.
23. Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams was born in 1951 and died in 2014. He is an American actor, comedian, and activist. Williams began performing standup comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the mid-1970s and rose to fame playing the alien Mork in the ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy.
24. Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. was born in 1940 and died in 2005. He is an American standup comedian, actor, and entertainer. He is renowned for his controversial standup comedy routines that get audiences laughing and for his acting roles in several movies and television series.
25. George Carlin
George Dennis Carlin was born in 1937 and died in 2008. He is an American standup comedian, actor, writer, and social critic. Carlin began performing at local nightclubs in Washington, D.C., gained a following as a semi-scripted television host, and was the star of the PBS series The George Carlin Show from 1982 to 1985.