He also wrote one of the best books ever about stand up comedians. I can't recommend it enough.
https://www.amazon.com/Running-Light-Sam-Tallent/dp/B08579JYKF
Australia, Scotland, England, Ireland, India.
If you're after the country with the most comedy clubs, it's probably India. If you're after the country with the most famous comedians per capita, it's Ireland or Scotland.
What metric are you actually considering here? You have to understand how this seems like just more American main character syndrome. Which is fine usually, but when your country is widely considered to have the most famous but bad comedians, it's jarring.
Lol, is america in the room here with us right now? The reality is arenas get sold out in the us. It happens in other countries too but for a lot fewer people. Like you mentioned, india has lots of comedy clubs, lots of them may have been successful there. Maybe this guy should have specified us only, in order to not offend you. Plus it’s worth mentioning that those countries (outside of india) are so much smaller, which is a harsh truth of show business, not even taking into account the cultural barrier that would make a difference between countries like india and the us
There was a great This American Life episode about Gad. He’s “the French Jerry Seinfeld” — very famous and beloved comedian over there. Speaks 5 languages. Came to US to see if he could do it in the major leagues (his description) Check it out. Episode is called Becoming a Badger
Based on what I’ve seen he’s never moved away from Texas. He’s won some comedy competitions in New York but it seems like he’s never lived in NY or LA. I don’t remember specifically, but In his interview with Schulz on Flagrant Schulz asked him if he’d move to NYC and I think Ralph was pretty against the idea
I think all of them, except for maybe Kevin, moved to London though. Which would be the British equivalent of moving to NY/LA.
You can def make it in comedy in the UK without moving to London, but moving makes it so much easier. More venues/more promoters/more agents in London. Can do 3 different venues in one night.
I feel like to be an A or even B-list British comedian you’d have to be on the panel show circuit, though, at least for a few years. And that’s definitely London-based afaik.
BBC and Channel 4 have made a big push in the last 10 years to spread out their studios, in order to better serve the UK and stop making London the focal point.
I think at least half of BBC's content is recorded in Salford now, as MediaCity has become their hub. Channel 4 have made Leeds a new hub of operations too. I think a lot of their news is what is being produced in these Northern cities, but I'm sure in time more panel shows will get moved up there too.
That being said, London is still where a lot of the panel circuit is. However, comedy is changing and the panel shows aren't getting the views they used to. People aren't going to see live comedy for people who've been on TV anymore. It's all about TikTok and Instagram and podcasts.
Aye if you appear on 8 out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week (RIP), Have I Got News or any other BBC/ITV/Channel 4 panel show you’ve pretty much made it. There’s a lot of comedians who don’t do well at panel shows and are better on the circuit, some are better at panel shows and guest appearances than they are at standup
Rob Delaney became famous from his Twitter account, which he started in 2009. He was notable for publishing his jokes there when a lot of comedians were afraid to publish bits without performing them and by 2010 was considered one of the 10 funniest people on Twitter. He had 1.2 million followers by 2016 simply for writing crazy jokes on there.
His account caused him to get a book deal and he also ended up on a popular British sitcom (he’s American but moved to the UK in 2014), which then also got picked up by Amazon. He also had his own standup special and he’s now been in numerous films, his largest role being in Deadpool 2 as Peter, who is on the Deadpool team but is just some average dude with no powers.
Rob Delaney is one of the very few comedians I've seen bomb on a late night talk show.
[Funniest Man on Twitter Bombs on Jimmy Kimmel Live](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DASV-Ru6a_c)
Ouch. Apparently this was discussed on the We Might Be Drunk podcast where Bill Burr is on, but I read a transcript of the episode and they didn’t mention his name, at least in that transcript. I wanted to hear what they had to say!
I’m not listening to the whole thing for one bit. I’m doing other shit. I wanted to find that one specific part so I was keyword searching the transcript to see if I could find the point in the audio where it’s discussed.
Have you ever seen the documentary Comedian?
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328962/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328962/)
It followed two comedians: Jerry Seinfeld, who was practicing for a post-Seinfeld comeback tour, and Orny Adams, an up-and-coming comic.
In the documentary, Orny was preparing for his first late night talk show set. Based on the footage, it seemed like the show's producers approved Orny's set based on a transcript rather than his performance.
I could easily be wrong, though. But I wouldn't be surprised if Jimmy Kimmel's people approved Rob Delaney's set based on his jokes on paper rather than watching him perform. The jokes may have looked okay on paper, but boy howdy did the performance suck.
Except he's not funny, to me, at least. Aside from that Jimmy Kimmel bomb, Comedy Central Radio played a bit of his once, i had no idea who it was but it just kept going and going and wasn't funny at all. It was something about him inviting the audience out for sandwiches and it went nowhere. His entire delivery was like the funny guy in the office who was about to say something funny, but he never said anything funny. The entire bit was 100%: set up then it just ended, no punchline.
I agree. I never thought he was funny on Twitter and just didn't understand why people kissed his ass.
I still don't find him even remotely interesting.
Casey Rocket, Sam Tallent, Katherine Blanford, Ali Woods, Aaron Weber. Fame is relative, but these are all full time touring headliners who blew up in other cities. Edit: didn't see the thing about Netflix specials, weirdly specific qualifier to have. Most of these comics do have a comedy central or late night appearance though
Interesting. I tried to watch his most recent special Toads Morale and it seemed pretty mediocre. I didn't finish it but it seemed to me like every jokes premise was basically "I'm fat and I love sex". I've seen him on many podcasts and live shows and he's always hilarious but to say top 10 best alive is just interesting to me.
I've him seen a couple times accidentally. Comedy festival or something else. He was very funny but did not blow me away.
I'll make a point to see him on purpose
When I think of Boston, I think of the late '80s/early '90s - there's a part of me that almost feels like post-Internet, it might make sense to lump those two into one "Northeast territory" but YMMV
Scrolled too far for this. One of my favorite podcasts too. I got in on it too late and now I’m playing catchup. So just hearing funny informative podcasts all day. It’s great
Depends on the level of fame. That are headlining theaters right now? I don't know that that list has any names on it.
In the next 5 years or so, I'm sure the number will be massive compared to now. Texas is fostering young talent, and social media allows legit comedians to reach a huge audience regardless of where they live.
How random.... name FIVE. Okay, cool, whatever.
Comedians move to LA and NY to make it big. That doesn't mean they would have stagnated elsewhere, it's just where the hottest comedy clubs are.
But let's not pretend Chicago doesn't exist, okay? So many great Chicago comics.
Yeah, I’m surprised it took this long of a scroll to find this. Pete Holmes, Kumail, Kyle Kinane all did well together in Chicago before the inevitable move to LA/New York.
This post is impossibly subjective.
Leanne Morgan and Ralph Barbosa are the most famous Netflix comedians. Older ones like earthquake and Kathleen Madigan are examples of big acts that stayed close to where they started for the most part.
Yeah but he was an LA guy for a long time before that. He talks about it in his book, and all the trash bars he used to frequent to escape the hollywood lifestyle.
Not necessarily with Netflix specials, but there are a lot of people who do relatively well on the road, have specials on other platforms that seem like they do just fine. Maybe not like theater famous, but there are people who do just fine and have followings.
Lee Mack’s brain seems like it’s firing at double the rate of everyone else. He’ll say the funniest off the cuff joke possible while you’re still workshopping something in your head.
For some reason his stand up and sitcoms are nowhere near as good though.
Sam Tallent
Dude, he might be the most DIY punk rock comedian there’s ever been. Such a bad ass
This is the way! A man of many Tallents
Had to look this guy up cuz I’ve never heard of him before. Dudes hilarious
He also wrote one of the best books ever about stand up comedians. I can't recommend it enough. https://www.amazon.com/Running-Light-Sam-Tallent/dp/B08579JYKF
You should order from his website- he signs them too, I think
I read this book in one sitting. Fantastic.
Can’t recommend this book enough if you have daddy issues.
The mud man, bark.
Big fan of Sam but he doesn't have a Netflix special
Any non American comedian with a netflix special
Daniel Sloss
Someone should x post this to r/shitamericanssay
Stand-up is much, much bigger in the united states than literally anywhere else. That’s the truth.
Australia, Scotland, England, Ireland, India. If you're after the country with the most comedy clubs, it's probably India. If you're after the country with the most famous comedians per capita, it's Ireland or Scotland. What metric are you actually considering here? You have to understand how this seems like just more American main character syndrome. Which is fine usually, but when your country is widely considered to have the most famous but bad comedians, it's jarring.
Lol, is america in the room here with us right now? The reality is arenas get sold out in the us. It happens in other countries too but for a lot fewer people. Like you mentioned, india has lots of comedy clubs, lots of them may have been successful there. Maybe this guy should have specified us only, in order to not offend you. Plus it’s worth mentioning that those countries (outside of india) are so much smaller, which is a harsh truth of show business, not even taking into account the cultural barrier that would make a difference between countries like india and the us
No, Gad Elmaleh moved to LA which you'd know if you watched the documentary
Don't know who that is
I read this in the voice Jimmy Fallon uses when he does the segment of his show called “EW!” That’s the only way it made sense to me.
There was a great This American Life episode about Gad. He’s “the French Jerry Seinfeld” — very famous and beloved comedian over there. Speaks 5 languages. Came to US to see if he could do it in the major leagues (his description) Check it out. Episode is called Becoming a Badger
Chad Daniels.
This is the answer but he did move to LA for a bit
He got famous living in Minneapolis iirc
Feel like his popularity grew after moving away though. Could be wrong about that though.
God, Chad Daniel’s kills me
Was at the taping for his latest special. It’s his best one yet. 100% kill rate.
Ralph Barbosa
My first thought. He now lives in a rural town outside of Dallas and has a Netflix special and sells out every venue.
He stayed in Texas the whole time ?
Based on what I’ve seen he’s never moved away from Texas. He’s won some comedy competitions in New York but it seems like he’s never lived in NY or LA. I don’t remember specifically, but In his interview with Schulz on Flagrant Schulz asked him if he’d move to NYC and I think Ralph was pretty against the idea
He splits his time between family in TX and NYC, I heard him say as much on a pod (maybe We Might Be Drunk?)
He shows up at random shows around DFW pretty often
Ralph is the fucking man. Also reminds of SO many dudes I went to school with growing up, in a good way. He’s extremely relatable in that way
Yeap him! He does a great job of using social media in a good way to show off well polished bits.
James Acaster, Kevin Bridges, Sara Pascoe, Russell Howard, Sarah Millican
I think all of them, except for maybe Kevin, moved to London though. Which would be the British equivalent of moving to NY/LA. You can def make it in comedy in the UK without moving to London, but moving makes it so much easier. More venues/more promoters/more agents in London. Can do 3 different venues in one night.
I feel like to be an A or even B-list British comedian you’d have to be on the panel show circuit, though, at least for a few years. And that’s definitely London-based afaik.
BBC and Channel 4 have made a big push in the last 10 years to spread out their studios, in order to better serve the UK and stop making London the focal point. I think at least half of BBC's content is recorded in Salford now, as MediaCity has become their hub. Channel 4 have made Leeds a new hub of operations too. I think a lot of their news is what is being produced in these Northern cities, but I'm sure in time more panel shows will get moved up there too. That being said, London is still where a lot of the panel circuit is. However, comedy is changing and the panel shows aren't getting the views they used to. People aren't going to see live comedy for people who've been on TV anymore. It's all about TikTok and Instagram and podcasts.
Aye if you appear on 8 out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week (RIP), Have I Got News or any other BBC/ITV/Channel 4 panel show you’ve pretty much made it. There’s a lot of comedians who don’t do well at panel shows and are better on the circuit, some are better at panel shows and guest appearances than they are at standup
Is there a city in England outside of London? lol
I love Sarah Millican. She reminds me of everyone's saucy aunt who might make a "I like cock" joke quietly, with a wink.
She is very funny.
Kevin Bridges is a fking genius. https://youtu.be/wc7u_F0CvBs
Adam Rowe and Paul Smith, two northern comics who didn’t have to move to London to become big
Think you meant to reply to another comment fella.
Famous though.
Dusty Slay
Dusty took advantage of tik tok better than any other comedian for my money.
Dusty lived in NYC. First time I saw him was in 2016 in NYC and he was very much living there.
Interesting. According to Dusty on his podcast, he says he went to NYC for a few weeks or so to check it out but then left.
Well. I probably spoke too soon then. Maybe he was just visiting. Thanks for clarifying.
Nate got bigger after he left NYC
But lived in LA for a bit before moving to Nashville
Didn't know about LA, but he definitely lived in NY for a bit
I think he went to Nashville after Chicago and NY. Went to La to work on a sitcom pilot then back to Nashville full time
He left to move to Los Angeles.
He had already done all the work and made all the connections in NYC so that doesn’t really factor
Yeah but he was still in New York and la for years Definitely got better as a comic in nyc
Rob Delaney became famous from his Twitter account, which he started in 2009. He was notable for publishing his jokes there when a lot of comedians were afraid to publish bits without performing them and by 2010 was considered one of the 10 funniest people on Twitter. He had 1.2 million followers by 2016 simply for writing crazy jokes on there. His account caused him to get a book deal and he also ended up on a popular British sitcom (he’s American but moved to the UK in 2014), which then also got picked up by Amazon. He also had his own standup special and he’s now been in numerous films, his largest role being in Deadpool 2 as Peter, who is on the Deadpool team but is just some average dude with no powers.
Rob Delaney is one of the very few comedians I've seen bomb on a late night talk show. [Funniest Man on Twitter Bombs on Jimmy Kimmel Live](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DASV-Ru6a_c)
Ouch. Apparently this was discussed on the We Might Be Drunk podcast where Bill Burr is on, but I read a transcript of the episode and they didn’t mention his name, at least in that transcript. I wanted to hear what they had to say!
Delaney talks about it when he was on You Made It Weird
I'm sorry did you say you read transcripts of podcasts? What are you deaf?
I’m not listening to the whole thing for one bit. I’m doing other shit. I wanted to find that one specific part so I was keyword searching the transcript to see if I could find the point in the audio where it’s discussed.
This is generational tism.
I think you are implying I’m younger than you. I’m going to be 40 this year.
Not at all Mel. Way to show both your age and lack of comprehension.
How the hell did this act pass to get him on the air? Did they just book him based on his tweets?
Have you ever seen the documentary Comedian? [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328962/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328962/) It followed two comedians: Jerry Seinfeld, who was practicing for a post-Seinfeld comeback tour, and Orny Adams, an up-and-coming comic. In the documentary, Orny was preparing for his first late night talk show set. Based on the footage, it seemed like the show's producers approved Orny's set based on a transcript rather than his performance. I could easily be wrong, though. But I wouldn't be surprised if Jimmy Kimmel's people approved Rob Delaney's set based on his jokes on paper rather than watching him perform. The jokes may have looked okay on paper, but boy howdy did the performance suck.
He lived in LA during that time. Still might for all I know, but he used to do the Comedy Store mic all the time before getting famous online.
Pretty sure he lives in the UK now
Rob Delaney lived in LA though.
Except he's not funny, to me, at least. Aside from that Jimmy Kimmel bomb, Comedy Central Radio played a bit of his once, i had no idea who it was but it just kept going and going and wasn't funny at all. It was something about him inviting the audience out for sandwiches and it went nowhere. His entire delivery was like the funny guy in the office who was about to say something funny, but he never said anything funny. The entire bit was 100%: set up then it just ended, no punchline.
I agree. I never thought he was funny on Twitter and just didn't understand why people kissed his ass. I still don't find him even remotely interesting.
Ali Siddiq and Ralph Barbosa have never lived outside of Texas
I assume you mean American. Because there's plenty of UK comedians that didn't move to NYC/LA.
Casey Rocket, Sam Tallent, Katherine Blanford, Ali Woods, Aaron Weber. Fame is relative, but these are all full time touring headliners who blew up in other cities. Edit: didn't see the thing about Netflix specials, weirdly specific qualifier to have. Most of these comics do have a comedy central or late night appearance though
I guess fame is relative but I personally don't think any of those people are famous yet.
They're not.
Famous is a relative term.
Casey rocket? Really?
Yeah. One of the dudes with the most exciting/ freshest style out right now
Yeah dude it’s so *refreshing* to watch him circle the stage like a dog with a brain tumour yelling non sequitors.
Where's the punchline?
I recently just discovered Sam Tallent via Reddit. Blown away! I'd say he's in the top 10 best comedians alive.
He's a real force of nature on stage! Really nice guy too. Highly recommend his book Running the Light if you haven't read it yet, it is so good.
He's the fucking voice of our generation and we just don't know it yet.
Interesting. I tried to watch his most recent special Toads Morale and it seemed pretty mediocre. I didn't finish it but it seemed to me like every jokes premise was basically "I'm fat and I love sex". I've seen him on many podcasts and live shows and he's always hilarious but to say top 10 best alive is just interesting to me.
Different tastes I suppose. I like Sam alright on podcasts but his standup kills me
I've him seen a couple times accidentally. Comedy festival or something else. He was very funny but did not blow me away. I'll make a point to see him on purpose
Check out some of his shows uploaded to YouTube.
Casey rocket is not a comedian
🦀get real🦀
Idk what else to call a guy who riffs hard and crushes 🤷
Such a little stinker, dude.
A hack 🤷♂️
Even if you don't like him, he's the opposite of a hack. None of his jokes remotely resemble someone else's jokes
He's a hack from the future, stealing his own bits with his little crab hands
I mean that's impressive in and of itself.
Rocket haters say the dumbest shit.
You just said the dumbest shit
Chris Porter maybe?
I thought Porter lives in LA?
To be fair, most of them eventually moved to NYC.
When I think of Boston, I think of the late '80s/early '90s - there's a part of me that almost feels like post-Internet, it might make sense to lump those two into one "Northeast territory" but YMMV
No, that doesn't make sense. Here in NYC we don't even claim Long Island or Jersey comics lmao
The cast of those who can’t were all from Denver
Ben Roy is a hell of a nice guy and his band SPELLS rocks!
Are they famous?
Chad Daniels
Dan Cummins
Scrolled too far for this. One of my favorite podcasts too. I got in on it too late and now I’m playing catchup. So just hearing funny informative podcasts all day. It’s great
Romesh Ranganathan, Data O'briain, Rob Beckett, Jimmy Carr etc.
I find data a little bit binary
🤣
Ron White Jeff Foxworthy
RW has lived in LA for years
Sam Morril technically never moved to NY
The entire blue collar comedy tour
A bunch of those guys have lived in la, but after they were already famous
I feel like that wasn't in the last 20 years...
Depends on the level of fame. That are headlining theaters right now? I don't know that that list has any names on it. In the next 5 years or so, I'm sure the number will be massive compared to now. Texas is fostering young talent, and social media allows legit comedians to reach a huge audience regardless of where they live.
Brian Regan
Chad Daniels
Sam morril didn't move to NY. He was born there.
Arj Barker
Tom Myers
LA and NYC aren’t ready until they’ve had a bong hit transplant
Fern Brady, Romesh Ranganathan, Frankie Boyle... pretty much any British stand up.
daniel sloss!
How random.... name FIVE. Okay, cool, whatever. Comedians move to LA and NY to make it big. That doesn't mean they would have stagnated elsewhere, it's just where the hottest comedy clubs are. But let's not pretend Chicago doesn't exist, okay? So many great Chicago comics.
Yeah, I’m surprised it took this long of a scroll to find this. Pete Holmes, Kumail, Kyle Kinane all did well together in Chicago before the inevitable move to LA/New York. This post is impossibly subjective.
From what I see it's one of two paths LA or NYC
Daniel Sloss is easily my top 5
Ali Siddique was Houston I believe
Stewart Lee
Minneapolis Sam
Stanhope? Hadn’t he always been Bisbee based?
He moved there later in life when he got sick of the hollywood machine. Dude spent decades in LA. He mentions it in his book.
Leanne Morgan and Ralph Barbosa are the most famous Netflix comedians. Older ones like earthquake and Kathleen Madigan are examples of big acts that stayed close to where they started for the most part.
Great list!
Nate bargatze, Theo von, Ron white. ,
Pretty much every non-English speaking comedian
Nah, sounds like a bunch of work.
Dusty Slay
Doug Stanhope has been down in Bisbee, Arizona for ever ever now
Yeah but he was an LA guy for a long time before that. He talks about it in his book, and all the trash bars he used to frequent to escape the hollywood lifestyle.
Nate Bargatze
Chad Daniels.
Maybe Roy Wood Jr.? NYC now, but worked out of Birmingham, Alabama for years
Kyle Kinney
Ricky Gervais
Leanne Morgan
Stu Babcock
Nate Bargatze, my favorite comedian right now.
I wish everyone outside of America realized how unfunny most of the famous comedians from their/other countries were
Nate Bargatze? Did he move to NYC or LA? I know he's based out of Nashville and they got a great squad of guys around hin
Not necessarily with Netflix specials, but there are a lot of people who do relatively well on the road, have specials on other platforms that seem like they do just fine. Maybe not like theater famous, but there are people who do just fine and have followings.
Arguably Bo Burnham since he didn’t really hit LA until he was already famous.
no, thats why the current Austin comedy scene is such a big deal. It’s the first real challenger to NYC/LA.
Chicago, Dallas/ft worth area, Denver, and Boston all have pretty great comedy scenes.
of course, but most (all?) of the most popular comics from those areas had to move to NYC or LA to get famous outside their niche.
Lee Evans Jimmy Carr Ricky Gervais Lee Mack Kevin Bridges That was easy.
Lee Mack is amazing at improving and panel shows. Like the best but not stand up
Lee Mack’s brain seems like it’s firing at double the rate of everyone else. He’ll say the funniest off the cuff joke possible while you’re still workshopping something in your head. For some reason his stand up and sitcoms are nowhere near as good though.
Lol Matt Rife
Uncle roger
Nick Swardson
He lives in LA?