This has been a weird, topsy turvy decade for stand-up. Ten years ago, stand-up was coming out of a down period. The Comedy Boom’s bubble had burst in the mid-1990′s and only saw a brief resurgence after HBO specials like Chris Rock’s Bring the Pain and Bigger & Blacker proved that stand-up wasn’t all that bad. Now we’re seeing stand-up’s popularity rise again. And it’s not just in clubs. It’s in indie rock venues and on the Internet. It can be broad or totally niche. Well, here are our choices for the 10 most-influential comedians of the 2000s. Enjoy.
10. Louis C.K.
This is the guy (along with guys like Bill Burr) that a lot of comics are touting as ‘the best in the biz’ right now. He’d be higher on the list, except for the fact that his style of filthy (and gut busting) style of storytelling has just recently gained influence and replaced the most-often-copied styles of other comics. If you watch his last two specials, you’ll probably find yourself in agreement with ‘a lot of comics.’
9. Doug Stanhope
If you haven’t heard of Doug Stanhope, it’s probably only because you’re not hip enough to. Stanhope’s complete independence from the club circuit, controversial act and pure brutality on stage have influenced a lot of politically-inclined potty mouths since he gained popularity at the beginning of the decade. This is probably pretty close to what Lenny Bruce would look like in present day.
8. Larry the Cable Guy
He has been both the biggest-touring and most-hated (no offense to Carlos Mencia) comedians in America during the past ten years. And it all came about after the Blue Collar Comedy Tour from 2003. Say whatever you want, but a lot of southern comics owe him a debt of gratitude. As do several anti-comics, who like to mock his “Git-r-done” style. In his case, the backlash was just as important as the popularity.
7. Dave Attell
If the New York ‘cringe humor’ genre is its own scene, then Dave Attell is probably its biggest star… with a hat tip to Jim Norton. College kids from around the country begged Attell to come to their town to tape Insomniac from 2001-2004. You might have been one of them.
6. Patton Oswalt
If David Cross laid down the groundwork for the indie rock venue comedy movement, the Patton Oswalt took the torch and ran with it. The 2005 tour Comedians of Comedy introduced a lot of people to alt comedy, as well as the acts of Zach Galifianakis, Maria Bamford and Brian Posehn. And to a certain extent, Eugene Mirman. The current alt scenes of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, etc. thank him for his work.
5. Sarah Silverman
Is it just us, or have less and less people tried to claim that women aren’t funny lately? Some of that is due to the style of comedy ushered in by Sarah Silverman. She’s shocking and adorable at the same time. And that’s something that a good amount of women (and men) have tried to emulate since her 2005 special, Jesus is Magic. Not even Lisa Lampanelli could be shocking and adorable.
4. Dane Cook
Love him or hate him, Dane Cook was (and still is) giant. He’s the guy that figured out how to use the Internet to market himself into superstardom. Even before that, people were hailing 2003′s Harmful if Swallowed as genius. Yeah, there was a backlash after his HBO special, Vicious Circle, proved to be little more than act-outs and hype. But Dane has a particular style and it’s been bitten by plenty of aspiring comics throughout the country (and particularly in Los Angeles). At some point in 2006, you were probably MySpace Friends with Dane Cook. Admit it.
3. Mitch Hedberg
A lot of people reading this might be saying, “Who?” But that’s because Hedberg (who died in his prime in 2005) was the quintessential comic’s comic. He did it with his words, rather than flash and marketing and talked about weird subjects that made hipsters think it was okay to laugh at stand-up. He even had hundreds of newbie comics across the country copying his style and cadence. We’ve heard countless comics say they were influenced to try stand-up comedy because of Mitch Hedberg.
2. The Original Kings Of Comedy
The 2000 Spike Lee-directed stand-up movie featuring Steve Harvey, Bernie Mac, D.L. Hughley and Cedric the Entertainer inspired infinite spin-offs, including the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, the Queens of Comedy, the Latin Kings of Comedy, the Kims of Comedy, the Comedians of Comedy, etc, etc, etc. You can thank this movie and this tour’s success for all of that.
1. Dave Chappelle
“I’m Rick James, bitch!” How many times did you hear that quoted since Chappelle’s Show debuted in 2003? It became the best selling TV DVD in history, made Dave head off to South Africa and cemented him as the most-influential comedian of the decade. He also came out with two comedy specials – 2000′s Killing Them Softly and 2004′s For What It’s Worth. He might be the only hugely-popular comic of the decade to not receive a backlash amongst his peers. He may have taken the torch from Chris Rock. But it’s also possible he doesn’t want it.
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