[Demko]

Not a ton of time this morning. Will post comments later. Just FYI, I'm going by the suggested brackets instead of my originals. Here are two videos for each:

Pryor:




Izzard:


Watch at about 6:38 on this video my favorite Eddie Izzard bit ever:


Poll will stay open until next Saturday night at midnight EST. Until then feel free to make whatever arguments you like. YouTube clips are encouraged to support your argument.

[Lou]

I'm torn, and here's why. There was a time, a long time ago, when Richard Pryor was the funniest man on the planet. That being so, his jokes became ingrained to the point that every person you knew telling a joke or a story was basically telling a Pryor joke. It may not be exactly the same but pretty much. And I'm not talking about comics. I'm talking about kids on the playground, then guys in class, then jackasses at parties, then people in bars. Pretty much every unfunny person you ever met over the years was doing Pryor, and they probably didn't even realize it. His jokes became old and standby for unfunny people. This is probably a testament to what he meant to comedy. But his jokes now come off as stale to me.

Izzard will probably never be widely regarded as the funniest person on the planet. But at least it's fresh and it makes me laugh RIGHT NOW. So, when I watch these clips I enjoy Izzard's more. His jokes are thoughtful and genuinely funny.

That said, I will still probably vote Pryor. I was around back then and remember when all of his jokes were new and funny as hell.