America is the country in which the so-called black humor was born. American comedians talked about those things that no one had ever said before. And in general, they did not just talk about it, but also began to make fun of all these things. It is in America that new branches of humor appear. So, for example, just 10 years ago in the CIS countries, few people knew what a stand-up was, but there it was already very famous. Now - it is a popular humorous genre on the territory of Russia. But American comedians never read written lines from a piece of paper; they don’t palm off well-known jokes. Their humor is actually humor. Consider the five most popular comedians of all time.
Richard Prior
This comedian is one of those who had to create in the mid-50s of the last century. And he did it expertly. Jerry Seinfield even called him "Picasso of Humor." Of course, this is not entirely true, because there are comedians better, but at one time he was really one of the most successful. He was the son of a boxer and a prostitute, raised by his grandmother, who owned a brothel. But this did not stop him from getting on his feet. He began his productive activities in the mid-50s and was a completely traditional comedian. But in the late 60s, he was reborn and took up a stand-up. Like other American comedians, he built his performances on autobiographical materials. And he had a lot of them, since he led a rather crazy way of life. After that, when he was world famous, he doused himself with rum and started making cocaine. Because of this, he caught fire and began to run down the street. Friends thought it was a suicide attempt. But Richard used this story in his jokes, and it turned out to be very funny.
George Carlin
George Carlin is in the American Comedian Actors category. After all, in addition to the stand-up, he was also engaged in acting and writing. All this made him very successful, so Karlin is famous throughout the world. This is the pillar of the American standup, because he laid the foundation for many of this genre. Almost all of Karlin’s jokes had a social basis. He was a supporter of expanding the boundaries of what was allowed to be shown on television. He even had the number “Seven Words That Cannot Be Expressed on TV”. Because of this, he was tried, since censorship was then above all.
Louis Cay
It can be safely attributed to the category "Best American Comedians of All Time". After all, he is not only a copycat of Karlin. He transformed this genre for himself, so his activities became very successful and multifaceted. His every joke is hilariously funny. In the early 90's, he began his career and was a court wit. Nobody singled out it from the total mass. This continued until 2005, until he touched on a topic that became a watershed in his career. His golden streak was the tales of a midlife crisis divorced by a loser with children. And although on stage he pretends to be a villain, a rude, constantly irritated man, in the real world he is a very good person. He constantly calls children assholes, dreams of the death of friends, but this is only on stage. In every joke he feels that Kei has a big and kind heart. Since 2010, he has been shooting the series Louis, for which he writes jokes for himself.
Andy Kaufman
This is one of the most mysterious personalities in the history of stand-up. All American comedians are very different from him. After all, it is generally difficult to call him a comedian. Kaufman is the founder of trolling. He himself said that he never knew how and did not want to joke. His stage image was assembled from various fictional characters. In general, it is unlikely that he wrote stories about himself, as representatives of the stand-up do. Many still believe that the real Andy was never in his jokes. He has said many times that he would like to stage his death. He died early, in 1984, from lung cancer. And most of his viewers still do not believe him, but this is so. By the way, in the movie "Man on the Moon" in 1998, he was played by Jim Carrey. As you know, this is one of the best representatives of the category "American comedian actors."
Ricky Jervaise
Usually comedians go from stand-up to their own show. But in Jarweise, everything happened exactly the opposite. First, he became the creator of the series "Office", which in a short period of time became very successful. Therefore, when he first appeared on the stage, he was already a superstar. Of course, in professionalism, he is slightly inferior to his colleagues. But the missing experience pays off with his charm. Ricky laughs at everything that surrounds him: starting with fat men and ending with dwarfs. All viewers really like it. For his work, he receives the main prize - a lot of applause and enthusiastic looks. Usually he devotes his speeches to serious topics (Politics, Glory). Unfortunately, now he has almost abandoned his passion for stand-up. Although he promised that he would soon release a new show - "Humanity."
Of course, there are other American comedians whose photos will cause laughter in any viewer. But the humorists who actually deserve attention were listed above, because they became the founders of the Stand Up genre.