Dec. 28, 2025

Reaction to Billboard's Top 25 Stand-Up Comedians Of The Century List - are Jim Gaffigan and Sarah Silverman too LOW?

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac dives into Billboard.com's list of the 25 best stand-up comedians of the 21st century. Reacting to the list for the first time, Mack discusses the rankings and shares his candid thoughts on each comedian featured from positions 25 to 16.

00:51 Meet the Expert Panel
02:27 Billboard's Ranking Process
03:01 Reacting to the List: 25 to 16
08:40 Final Thoughts and Speculations

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Callaroga Shark Media. Hey there, Johnny Mack with your daily

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comedy news. I'm on Billboard dot com. They put out

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a list the twenty five best stand up comedians of

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the twenty first century so far numbers twenty five to sixteen.

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I have not looked at this yet. When I do

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these lists, I like to react to them cold. This

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one was published in early December. I'm scrolling down now

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and the first picture I'm seeing is of Sarah Silverman.

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Is she number twenty five this list? There's no way

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I'm going to look at this list and be like, oh,

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that was a good list. Right, Well, let's say they right.

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As the first quarter of the twenty first century comes

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to an end, Billboard set out to determine the best

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of the A list the top twenty five stand up

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comics of the last twenty five years. To come up

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with these rankings, we pulled experts, all right? Who were

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the experts? The panel consists of William Burdette Coots, who

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heads the Assembly venues at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Okay,

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seems reasonable. Michael Cox, who books a stand up for

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The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon that seems reasonable. Adam

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Eget a booker at the Comedy Mothership in Austin, Texas,

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all right, that seems reasonable too. That means we're not

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going to ignore the bro dudes because you could get

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really up aty on this. Bruce Hill's a friend of mine.

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He for thirty six years ran Montreal's Just for Laughs

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Comedy Festival. That's good. Caroline Hirsch, founder of Caroline's Comedy Club,

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and she runs in New York Comedy Festival. The Mazilly Brothers,

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I know Chris Massilly. They own the Gotham in Manhattan.

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These are good people, all right. So before I even

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look at this list, these are people that know what

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they're talking about. Like I always say, you know, I

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know more about comedy than say, ninety eight ninety nine

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percent of the general population, just because of what I

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have done for a living in these past twenty five years.

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But everyone I just named knows more about it than

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I do. So I am not at all claiming to

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be like the expert. The way I phrase it is,

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if we're in a bar, I'm probably the expert. But

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if Chris Massili's there, Caroline Hirsch is there. A booker

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from the Tonight Show. Bruce Hills. Oh yeah, they blow

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me away, absolute one hundred percent. This is great. Let's

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see who else. Patrick Milligan, who is the booker for

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the Stand in New York City, Susan Provin, the director

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of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and Samantha Schlez, director

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of the south By Southwest Festival. Okay, I really like

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who they asked here. So before I even look at

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this list, and I haven't looked at at all, I

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respect these people, so hopefully this is a fantastic list.

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Billboard explains the process began with the panel helping put

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together a ballot of more than one hundred and fifty nominees.

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The talent pool was limited to comedians with active stand

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up careers over the last twenty five years, as opposed

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to sketch, sitcom, film or improp performers such as the

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cast of SNL or Second City or UCB Overseas. Comedians

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with the presidents in the US were also considered. From there,

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judges ranked their top twenty five. Voting was anonymous. There

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was a weighted system to determine the top twenty five.

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Today we will take a look at numbers twenty five

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through sixteen, they have at number twenty five John Stewart. Okay, interesting,

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he's not. He's just not. Is he one of the

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top four comedic TV personalities of the century. Absolutely, if

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we start some sort of hall of fame, should John

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Stewart be inn in Absolutely first ballot? But stand up?

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That seems insane. Bill Board explains Stuart began as a

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stand up Yeah. Sure. His muscular sets, like his anchor job,

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often deal with the political and cultural state of the country,

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and they still kill. This year, he toured with Pete

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Davidson and John Mulaney. See which is again? And I

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host this thing every day. I forgot that that's even

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a thing. Maybe John Stewart is out there quietly killing again.

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I respect the hell out of this panel. I'm not

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here to dump on this list. But John Stewart at

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twenty five, Yeah, okay, twenty four Billy Connolly. Now some

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of you are gonna be like, what is this list whatever?

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But I appreciate that this list has a worldview. I

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personally really don't connect with Billy's material, but you know,

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I wouldn't throw you off the bus for saying that.

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One number twenty three Trevor Noah. Okay, so John's gonna

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struggle here because Trevor Noah also best known for hosting

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The Daily Show. But I was into Trevor Noah before

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he hosted The Daily Show because he was a really

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good stand up. I personally like Trevor a lot. He's

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got a lot to say. So yeah, all right, really

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interesting lists so far? Okay, twenty two Jim Gaffigan. That

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seems low to me, Like who else is going to

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be on this list? That Gaffigan is only coming in

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at twenty two. You know, I give him a lot

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of guff on the show for the bourbon stuff, and

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you know, maybe he didn't call people back who helped

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him early in their career, But twenty two seems really

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low for Jim Gaffigan. Twenty one Gabriel Fluffy Iglesias. Now

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so here, let me scroll back up to the top.

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So this is the twenty five best stand up comedians. Now,

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Gabe really nice guy. I've worked with him. He will

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call you back, sells out stadiums huge. But is he

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a better stand up than Jim gaff Again, I don't know, No, no,

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you know, let's say the bad guys are gonna you

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know hurt you and you got to pick a stand

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up comedian to save your life, and they got to

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make them laugh. You're gonna go with Gabe or Jim.

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Actually maybe with the bad guys. Maybe Gabe's style of

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humber would work better with the bad guys. I guess

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it depends on who the bad guys are, but that

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just seems seems out of sync to me. Now I'm

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thinking ahead when we get to the top, who's gonna

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be at the time. It's gotta be Chappelle and despite

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his travail, c K that's gonna be the one too,

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And Burr's gonna ring pretty high. I bet those three.

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And I'm getting ahead of myself on number twenty Sarah

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Silverman very underrated Sarah Silverman. I don't know it's because

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of her style or her other appearances, but I'll tell

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you every time I put a Sarah Silverman special on

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the television there it goes way out my list. So, yeah,

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a lot of respect for twenty Sarah Silverman. Nineteen Alle Wong, Yeah,

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really again, respect the panel, but yeah, let's just I mean,

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I don't even know if Folly Wong should be on

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the list, But ahead of Sarah just No eighteen. Patrise O'Neil.

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I'm biased here. I never enjoyed this man's company. I

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found him to be kind of a just a jerk.

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He would just come at people for no reason, just

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like he was one of those guys that would mess

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with people just to see how people would react. Never,

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never enjoyed being around Patrise O'Neil. He has been forgotten,

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but I will tell you when he was around. All

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the comedians love Patrise O'Neil. His material is pretty good.

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So I'm really biased here, and I just don't like

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the guy. Billboard rides. O'Neil's candor extended to his own mortality.

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He carried some three hundred pounds on his six' four

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frame and suffered from type two. Diabetes he, Joked i'm

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the leader of the fat. People I'm MALCOLM, Xxl and

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then he joked on A Comedy central, SPECIAL i got

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to lose some weight now to stay, alive and that's

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not enough motivation for. Me In october of twenty, eleven

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his diabetes brought on a. STROKE a month, later he

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had passed away at age forty. One Bill burr produces

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an annual comedy benefit in memory Of. Patrese some of

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the people At patrese's, Funeral Chris, Rock Kevin, hart Want Of,

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sykes And Jim. Norton Colin quinn at the wake said

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IF i somehow could be looking at him in heaven

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right now and watched him Meet, GOD i Know i'd

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be thinking the same thing everybody else will be, Thinking, uh, Oh,

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god shouldn't have said. That now he's going to get

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hammered By. Patrese that is How patrise was and WHY

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i didn't really enjoy. HIM a, RIGHT i gotta get

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a break in, here and we'll come back and we'll

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look at more of the. List this is Bill board's

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twenty five best stand Up comedians of the twenty first

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century so, far number twenty five through. Sixteen at number,

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Seventeen Wanda. Sykes that's. Interesting do you think Of Wanda

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sykes as a great stand Up but, Again i'll say

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for the ninety fifth time this episode The Respect House,

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Panel But Wanda sikes. Really Wanda sykes was one of

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the co hosts on The oscars the night that you

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think That Chris rock was, Hosting Remember Will, Smith Chris.

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Rock Wanda sykes is one of the hosts that night

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along With Amy. Schumer Is Amy schumer gonna be on

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this list ahead of some of the people we've mentioned she,

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is isn't? She that's gonna be insane when we get.

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THERE i don't. Know i'm struggling with, this Like i'm

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just thinking of random, people like Is Craig ferguson going

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to be on this? List BECAUSE i Take Craig ferguson

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over one Of sykes any day of the, week and

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twice On sunday as they, say, SO i don't. Know

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Sixteen Ricky. Gervais that seems low to. Me his specials

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are actually really. Funny billboard. Writes jervase has released eight

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comedy specials and created The office, franchise but the best

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example of his comedic brilliance is his opening monologue at

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the twenty Twenty Golden GLOBES Yep Legendary hall Of. Fame

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so what do you? Think come in The facebook Group

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Daily Comedy news podcast, group and as they post the

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rest of the, LIST i will do a sequel episode

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to this. One i'm really. Curious i'm just trying to

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think off the top of my. Head let me just

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type the word comedian Into. Google it's twenty first. Century

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google is putting in front of. Me chappelle's gotta be.

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Up Burr, Ck they'll all make the. List, Mulaney, Jessel

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nick A. Tell hopefully it tells on this, list especially

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with the people who were. Quoted It tell's going to

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be a sleeper. Pick hopefully it tells a really HIGH

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A tell is. Great Nate, PERGATZI i, mean Is nate?

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Great Amy, Batton, Oswalt Jimmy. CARR i would Put jimmy

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way up in the. List hannibal Burr is kind of

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had a moment, There Sam, Morrel Will sam make? It

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sibashian man Of? Scalco would they do? That Jim jeffries

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could be an interesting. Pick all, Right so those are

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just some names to think about and we'll see who

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they put. Up but just to fly through this again

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so you can. React twenty, Five John, Stewart, yeah okay twenty,

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Four Billy connolly twenty, Three Trevor noah twenty, Two Jim

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gaffigan two low in my opinion twenty, One Gabe iglesias,

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Twenty Sarah silverman, Nineteen Ally wong, Eighteen patrese, O'Neal which

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is a good pick despite me not liking him, Seventeen

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want Of sykes Sixteen Ricky. Gervais all, right that is

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your comedy news for. Today see you. Tomorrow