Ok, don't know about you guys, but I'm a big fan of standup comedy, my favourite genre being either acerbic social criticism or off-colour humour...

#1: Bill Hicks
This man is a god. Sadly, he died in 1994. I wish I could have been to a show of his. I got the DVD anyhow, Bill Hicks Live, and his cd Relentless. He's definetely a comedian of the type satirist and acerbic social critic. His skits include takes on so-called "democrazy", religion, drugs, alcohol, pornography, smoking, sell-outs (musicians), plus a lot more. His routines are definetely not for the faint of heart, but if you can get over the language, there's a lot of truth in there, and a lot of humour. WARNING: Use of F-word as strong adverb.

Bill Hicks on fundamentalist christians

Bill Hicks on Drugs and Evolution

Bill Hicks on positive drug stories

#2 Rodney Carrington
You may have seen this guy on the ABC show called Rodney. With the curious combination of Country Singer and Stand-up Comedian, this guy is hilarious. His routine typically involves a mix of jokes and funny songs, some off-colour humour, some not so bad. Some of his jokes involve language, although it's *bleep*-ed out in the following videos.

Rodney Carrington on playing golf, getting massages, and overprized Ralph Lauren

Continued, on trying being gay

The solution to the world's problems

#3 Mitch Hedberg
I'm telling you, this guy was just awesome. He had a unique delivery of lines that could make any joke funny. His jokes focused largely on wordplay, non-sequiturs, whimsy, and "object" observations. Little to no obscene language, except for emphasis or exclamations.

Mitch on Letterman

Mitch on Conan

#4 Stephen Lynch
This guy is a singer/songwriter and comedian best known for his witty and sometimes disturbing lyrics. There is a bit strong language, typically towards the end, but still really funny. I'll let the movie clips speak for themselves.

Love Song

Craig Christ

The Catholic Priest

D&D - with Mark Teich (Dungeons&Dragons, in case of doubt)

#5 Chris Rock
Probably not a name that needs a lot of introduction...

On rap music (language)

Michael Jackson on 60 minutes

On strippers



Other comedians I appreciate are David Letterman, Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfeld, George Carlin, Adam Sandler and Martin Lawrence. Any particular you like? Share, please.