Top 10 Stand Up Comedians

Though I numbered this list of my favorite stand up comedians, my favorites often fluctuate according to my mood. I love comedy, so picking only ten was tough. One thing this list proves, you don't have to be filthy to be a great comedian, you just have to be funny.

1. George Carlin
Starting out George Carlin was the laid back hippie of stand up comedians. After a few stagnant years, he came back bigger than ever as the angry comedian. It takes a special kind of funny to face real issues and say exactly what many of us want to say, but aren't brave enough. Then he got us to laugh at our ranting selves.

2. Richard Pryor
Raunchy stand up was Richard Pryor's act. He told stories as if he were living them right there on stage for the first time. He suffered the drug problems of many stand up comedians. Later after overcoming them, Pryor joked about the time he caught himself on fire while doing drugs.Richard Pryor was one of the earliest black comedians to break the racial boundaries and succeed in major comedy films too.

3. Steve Martin
Steve Martin is one of the few great stand ups with a relatively clean act that sold out major venues. I'm slightly biased to this "wild and crazy" guy since it was my first concert ever. I was only a child, but there was only one time my mom reached to cover my ears, and it was a false alarm. Part of Martin's act was a banjo solo. He is also a gifted musician.

4. Robin Williams
The near manic Robin Williams was too much for me in his early concert days. Through his admitted cocaine habit, his brilliance was still obvious. Williams has aged into a much more tolerable, and understandable comic genius. He has crossed over to dramatic roles for movies, a feat I never saw coming from a stand up great.

5. Joan Rivers
The scathing comedy of Joan Rivers is not for the faint of heart. I grew up watching Joan substitute regularly for Johnny Carson, so nothing she says offends me. She gives more to charity than the average celebrity and does not expect anything back. As for her stand up, Joan Rivers was the biggest female comedian in the 70's. She earned the right to say what she wants in her act. I believe her motto is and always has been 'make fun of everyone equally', including herself.

6. Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby has been keeping major venues at standing room only capacity for decades. His stand up is mostly stories. Like visiting a favorite uncle, the listener never wants the visit to end. Cosby's early albums were some of my favorites. The kids in the neighborhood would all gather at on house several times a week to listen to his latest comedy album. We were in junior high, and there would be pure silence and giggles for hours. That's how powerful Bill Cosby's comedy is.

7. Don Rickles
Don Rickles has become one of the most respected stand up comedians in the business. His comic style is the same blistering style of Joan Rivers, but he can get away with more. Rickles has been a Las Vegas icon since the Rat Pack days. It helps that he is a genuinely nice man in person. My uncle was lucky enough to be called up on stage by Rickles during a Vegas show. He was hit with a barrage of insults, and said he was never treated so nicely as he was after the show.

8. Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy will make you laugh, whether you want to or not. His act is not just laced with profanity, but almost boasts about his uses of the language. It doesn't matter, he cussed right through a story about growing up poor and the joy the ice cream man brought... to some. I still laugh hard thinking of it.

9. Jonathon Winters
Comedy icon Jonathon Winters relied on just plain silliness for the bulk of his act. You may have thought you were too mature for his style of humor, until you find yourself doubled over. He just forces you to laugh at his stand up comedy.

10. Heywood Banks
A personal all time favorite is Heywood Banks. I've seen his act more than once, usually in very small venues, and both times came away with tears. If Bank's nonstop comedy is not enough, watching others in the crowd laughing through tears will put you over the top... or on the floor.

Comedy is so subjective. There are thousands of really funny people doing stand up comedy today, but I don't think any have neared these greats... yet. Don't be shy, tell me who your favorite comedian is, and why.