Best Comedians of All Time

Who doesn't enjoy a good laugh now and then? Laughter is a great stress buster and makes you feel like you're not the only one facing troubles, because everybody around the globe is ! So when you laugh at your problems, know this, that the whole world is laughing with you. Since humor causes such a mass ripple of solidarity among us, making a list of some of the best comedians of all time seemed like a great idea! This list spans a century of never-ending entertainment and the people who kept us laughing and falling off our chairs. It starts from the 1900s until the year 2012. Each era mentioned below describes the different genres of comedy that was popularly practiced during that time by the comedians. The names of the comedians have been specifically assorted, in the alphabetical order and does not intend to rank any of the comedians as better or superior than one another. They were all great and will remain forever time less.



The genre of humor that was most popularly practiced during this era was 'Vaudeville', which consisted of a series of variety acts of different orders. Vaudeville was a mixture of movies, theater plays, musicians, dancers, performing artists, and everything else that could be thought of as a means of entertainment then. Even though, stand up comedy had already spread far and wide in Britain and the United Kingdom, it was because of American vaudeville, that stand up jokes began and became a hot favorite among Americans.

This period between 1880s to the 1930s is also famously known as the, 'Great Silent Era'. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse made in 1921 was one of the highest-grossing silent films ever to have been made it had a tremendous cultural impact. Even 'The Kid' by Charlie Chaplin was not a worthy competitor, in front of this epic silent movie. 'Black Face' a popular form of humor was carried forward into vaudeville and remained alive until the American Civil Rights Movement of 1960s. It played a revolutionary role is breaking the stereotypical attitude among people of different skin color, especially African-Americans. Black face comedy helped bring people closer as human beings.

Best Comedians Between 1900-1930	Some of Their Best Works
Ambrose Bierce	Devil's Dictionary An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Chickamauga
Ben Turpin	Mr. Flip Keystone Hotel (1935) Saps at Sea (1940)
Buster Keaton	The General Sherlock Jr Three Ages (1928)
Charlie Chaplin	Tillie's Punctured Romance Making a Living (1914) Kid Auto Races at Venice
Charley Chase	Fluttering Hearts Mighty Like a Moose Crazy Like a Fox
Harold Clayton Lloyd	Safety Last! (1923) The Freshman (1925) The Kid Brother (1927)
Harry Langdon	The Strong Man (1926) Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926) Long Pants (1927)
Larry Semon	Wizard of Oz The Head Waiter (1919) School Days (1920)
Mark Twain	Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle	Ben's Kid Keystone Cops Miss Fatty's Seaside Lovers
W. C. Fields	Never Give a Sucker an Even Break My Little Chickadee The Old Fashioned Way

By the late 1920s sound had been introduced into films. With it followed the onset of verbal and physical humor that added to visual entertainment. Sound enhanced the interpretation of comedy like never before. People could relate to the characters, who were playing roles that portrayed the common man's mundane existence and daily life experiences, in a comic fashion. Slapstick and physical humor continued to lead, and popular comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy contributed in making famous silent everlasting comedy movies.

During the World War II, comedy was based on war, combat, boot-camp scenes and of course, of women going crazy over sailors and war heroes. It was hugely popular among the Americans and even their troops. It was only in late 1940s that TV began to evolve as a major competitor for the Hollywood movie industry. TV was convenient because people could get entertained sitting at home with a variety of shows and channels to select from.

Best Comedians Between 1930-1960	Some of Their Best Works
Alan King	Just Tell Me What You Want Night and the City Bye Bye Braverman
Amos and Andy	Amos 'n' Andy Show (1946) Check and Double Check The Perfect Song
Bob Burns	Quick Millions (1931) Rhythm on the Range (1936) Waikiki Wedding (1937)
Bob Hope	The Arkansas Traveler (1941-43) The Bob Burns Show (1943-49) Quick Millions (1931)
Edgar Bergen	His ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy The Chase and Sanborn Hour The Goldwyn Follies (1938)
Jim and Marian Jordan	Fibber McGee & Molly Show(1935-1959) Look Who's Laughing (1941) Here We Go Again (1942)
Fred Allen	The Fred Allen Show Vogues and Greenwich Village Follies (Comics) The Little Show (1929-30) and Three's a Crowd (1930-31)
George Burns	International House (1933) A Damsel in Distress (1937) College Swing (1938)
Gracie Allen	Six of a Kind (1934) A Foggy Day (Song) Many Happy Returns (1934)
Jack Benny	The Jack Benny Program (1932-1948) Love Thy Neighbor It's in the Bag!
Lenny Bruce	The Lenny Bruce Originals Let The Buyer Beware How to Talk Dirty and Influence People
Oliver Hardy & Stan Laurel	The Music Box (1932) Sons of the Desert (1933) Way Out West (1937)
The Three Stooges	Good Luck, Mr. Yates Columbia Laff Hour Stop, Look and Laugh

This era saw the emergence of dark, satirical and dry humor, that used the portrayal of social issues and factors as a medium to reach out to people. The topic of death was broached through another genre of comedy known as the Black Humor as the need to discuss death as a part of life was increasingly felt. Black humor movies such as Catch 22 and M-A-S-H exploded on-screen, especially after the many casualties suffered during the World War II and the hugely unpopular Vietnam War.

Many controversial topics such as war crimes, suicide, rape and infidelity began to be introduced into the movie mainstream. People were familiar with these realistic issues and had dealt with such hurdles in their personal lives at some point or the other. The time was right for people to discuss their problems and express their feelings freely. This period also saw the rising of many African-American comedians who went on to create history in the world of comedy and are still among the top comedians of all time.

Best Comedians Between 1960-1990	Some of Their Best Works
Albert Brooks	Broadcast News The Simpsons Show The Simpsons Movie
Andrew 'Dice' Clay	The Day The Laughter Died Making The Grade Adventures of Ford Fairlane
Andy Kaufman	Mighty Mouse Stick Around (Sitcom) My Breakfast with Blassie
Bill Cosby	The Bill Cosby Show Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Kids Say the Darnedest Things!
Bill Hicks	Sane Man I'm Sorry Folks It's Just A ride, Revelations & Dangerous (Songs)
Bobby Slayton	Bandits The Rat Pack The Mind of the Married Man
Dane Cook	Harmful If Swallowed Retaliation Vicious Circle
David Letterman	Late Night with David Letterman Everybody Loves Raymond The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Jay Leno	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno The Jay Leno Show
Jerry Seinfeld	Seinfeld (1989-1998) The Ratings Game (1984) Bee Movie
Richard Pryor	That Nigger's Crazy Bicentennial Nigger Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip
Robin Williams	Moscow on the Hudson (1984) Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) Dead Poets Society (1989)
Woody Allen	Annie Hall (1978) Manhattan (1980) The Purple Rose of Cairo (1986)

This decade saw the making of some of the world's best comedians. Here we see the onset of romantic comedies that made us laugh and cry at the same time! Serious black humor also had its own major fan following. Cultural discrepancies were also shown through comedy movies that brought out the racial disputes among various communities from all over the world. Gross-out Humor or vulgar humor took center stage for a while, which portrayed adolescence and sexual experiences by youngsters today. Stoner comedies also are still famous which talks about being spaced out by hallucinogenic drugs and going on an imaginary flow of thought and action. Comedy central and SNL (Saturday Night Live) became an all time favorite American comedy show all over the world.

Best Comedians Between 1990-2010	Some of Their Best Works
Adam Sandler	Happy Gilmore Big Daddy Little Nicky
Ben Stiller	Starsky and Hutch There's Something About Mary Meet the Parents
Chris Farley - (1964-1997)	Tommy Boy Black Sheep Beverly Hills Ninja
Chris Rock	Beverly Hills Cop II Beverly Hills Ninja Madagascar
Dave Chappelle	Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) The Nutty Professor Con Air
Eddie Murphy	The Nutty Professor Shrek Dreamgirls
Jack Black	Kung Fu Panda Nacho Libre School of Rock
Jim Carrey	Bruce Almighty (2003) Ace Ventura: Pet Detective The Mask (1994)
Jon Stewart	The Jon Stewart Show The Daily Show Evan Almighty (2007)
Martin Lawrence	Bad Boys Big Momma's House Open Season
Mike Myers	Austin Powers Wayne's World The Shrek
Owen Wilson	Wedding Crashers Zoolander Marley & Me (2008)
Rob Schneider	Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo The Animal The Hot Chick
Tom Hanks	Forrest Gump (1994) You've Got Mail (1998) Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Will Ferrell	A Night at the Roxbury (1998) Stranger than Fiction (2006) Blades of Glory (2007)
Vince Vaughn	The Break-Up (2006) Into the Wild (2007) Couples Retreat

Best Comedians of 2011-2012
Aziz Ansari	Billy Crystal
Chelsea Handler	Dane Cook
Donald Glover	Doug Stanhope
Ellen DeGeneres	Fortune Feimster
George Lopez	Greg Proops
Howie Mandel	Ian Bagg
Ian Harvie	Jackie Kashian
Jay Malone	Jen Kirkman
Jeff Dunham	Jon Dore
John Mulaney	Kyle Kinane
Louis C.K.	Maria Bamford
Marc Maron	Marlon Wayans
Matt McKenna	Michael Ian Black
Nick Frost	Russell Peters
Tig Notaro	Simon Pegg
Wyatt Cenac	Chris Rock

Well folks so these were the best comedians of all time, who have been encapsulated into a nutshell for you. Even though many names may not have been mentioned here in this list, it does not make them any less talented or significant for what they have left behind and given to the world through laughter.