Unknown Great Comedians

[mojones]

Mr. Pryor, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Robert Klein, Roseanne Barr, Dave Chappelle, Rodney Dangerfield and George Lopez are just a few superstar comedians known by everyone. But there are some very funny comics out there not known by the general public. Robert Schimmel and Rahn Ramey being two off the top of my head. Can you think of any more? I know this is a juvenile exercise. But I'm bored, okay?

[mojones]

That Old Hippie Chick,

You're right. Schimmel has been on Conan O'Brien several times. Crazy thing about Schimmel though. He's known for blue material, but I think his cancer stuff is much funnier. Kathleen Madigan is another name everyone has heard of. But they dont'really know her. The Last Comic Standing show was a sham and she did right to bail. She's hilarious in her element.

Oh here's one. JR Brow. I know you see his guitar and think novelty act, but he's anything but. He does 40 minutes of straight stand up before even touching the instrument. If he can't make you laugh, you're dead! Here in Houston, Caroline Picard is the funniest we got. Sure, she's temperamental. But her talent more than compensates for her idiosyncrasies. Anyone who says women can't be funny has never heard Caroline Picard perform.

[jane_haze]

I LOVE Jackie Kashian and Kathleen Madigan. Definitely underrated.

Mary Ellen Hooper's quite good.
Greg Behrendt.
Ardal O'Hanlon--well, he's not known stateside as much.
Maria Bamford's getting more known, but she deserves it.
Marc Maron--great stuff.
Greg Proops---well he's kinda more known now.
Mishna Wolff.

Then there's that black comedian who talks about the wild rice and black olives, and how his dad likes bowling. I can never remember his name, but I was really impressed with him the few times that I've seen him on tv.

Jane

[theehoneytwin]

mojones,
What about The Unknown Comic?

[happyplastic]

mojones,
As I'm from Australia, I don't know how popular this comic is. I caught some of his stuff as he has been added to Bill Hick's Sacred Cow productions. His name is Mack Lindsay http://www.standupisdead.com/bios/mack2.htm - Mack's bio'I've been in touch with him for a little while now. He's a good guy. Had a heavy childhood. Mack has been a big support to me as I have been working on two projects for the past three years. One theatre, one doco, based on my experiences on self-mutilation and later, my addiction to it. His comedy is based on his own experiences with some forms of mental illness. Both Mack and I have been to doctors and had drugs shoved down our throats. His situation was worser than mine as he wound up in mental hospitals and got heavily drugged up. He has agreed to be interviewed on this subject, which I will conduct and have online in the near future. I don't know how he got himself out of that situation, but performing comedy was healing for him. For me, it was through watching Richard and other great comics that gave me hope when things were at their worst. It inspired me to work on my own stuff and it helped me more than anything. To do this, I had broken the doctors rules and stopped seeing them, even quitting my medication, later self-mutilation itself. If I followed what they were instructing me to do, I'd still be fucked up. Guess you could say that Richard saved me in a way. After seeing the Pryor on fire routine, I knew what I had to do. I look up to both Richard and Mack as teachers, as well as Bill Hicks, and many others. Put the pain up on stage and vent. Terrifies the shit out of me, but it's got to be done. Check Mack out on sacredcow.com and please support him. He has a unique comic style, his delivery similar to that of a rapper. He likes to hear from people and every bit of support helps, so drop him a line on his standupisdead.com website.
Take care everyone.

[Quin]

mojones,

Mitch Hedberg is one of the best unknown comics out there! Soon one day i will be one too!

[mojones]

happyplastic,

I'm praying for you, man. And I'm not even religious, but thats how much I care about you. Seriously. There's no punchline coming. I meant that. I'll go over to sacred cow and check out Lindsay. My curiosity is killing me. Mitch Hedberg is not an unknown comic!!! Everybody has heard of the guy....but I love him.

[happyplastic]

mojones,
Thanks for all your kind words. I'm doing fine, no problem. Projects moving along and helps keep me sane. It's all good. Hope you all checked Mack out. Here's someone you have probably not heard of. This is probably more juvenile than intellegent, however, he is an Australian icon. Down under, we don't have a bill of rights to protect artists to allow freedom of speech. This guy, Rodney Rude, is the only comedian to even challenge it. http://www.rude.com.au/NewSite/ - Rodney Rude'. From what I've heard, he has been arrested a few times due to the crudeness of his performance. Though, he did acheive a lot considering he never sold out, and did it independently all the way. Rodney is the closest thing to social commentary in Australia, but he does veer off to the more disgusting side, which can either be a good or bad thing depending on your viewpoint. It's an aquired taste that's for sure. It may take a while, and a very open mind to get this guy. Having said that, out of all the comedians I've seen so far, and even people who down right loathe him agree with this, Rodney has some of the best on the spot, come backs for dealing with hecklers. In regards to that element, he ranks with the best. This year marks Rodney's final live tour, ending at least twenty years in the business. See attachement for something to remember him by.
All the best

[happyplastic]

mojones,
Whoops. Attachment a little too big. Try this Hopefully that workshttp://www.rude.com.au/Video/4.wmv - Rude Video'

[Anditsdeeptoo]

Quin,

I agree, Mitch Hedberg is an amazing comic!