Salon.com has a list (note: premium content) of the top 10 comedians in the spirit of Lenny Bruce. From #10 to #1:
- Upright Citizens’ Brigade
- Louis CK
- Chris Rock
- Eddie Izzard
- Sacha Baron-Cohen
- David Cross
- Sarah Silverman
- Aaron McGruder
- Rick Shapiro
- Howard Stern
So, you’re reading up to #1, and then you go, Howard Stern? In terms of following Lenny, Chris Rock and Sarah Silverman are probably two of the best in the world at skewering racial and sexual pieties, Sacha Baron-Cohen at exposing hypocrisy through the comedy of discomfort (though the amount of time he can continue with the Ali G veneer is probably limited), and Aaron McGruder (together with Tom Tomorrow) at sussing out the polemical possibilities of a hitherto apolitical genre i.e. comic strips. But then we get a switcheroo at the end: it turns from a list of comedians whose style is most like Lenny’s to one whose life - specifically the political persecution of indecency aspect - is most Lenny-like. Strange.
Incidentally, Izzard seems to be in the list mostly for playing Lenny onstage; his style is so much tamer. If I were making the list, I’d put Silverman at the top - “Jesus is Magic” was awesome. Here’s my list.
- Upright Citizens’ Brigade
- Louis CK
- Robert Smigel
- Sacha Baron-Cohen
- Chris Rock
- Aaron McGruder
- Rick Shapiro
- Sarah Silverman
Yes, I’ve thrown in Robert Smigel, creator of TV Funhouse and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, instead of Izzard. For me to poop on!
Not Bruce-ian, but funny: Robert Schimmel. Conan O’Brien. Lewis Black. Dave Chappelle. Jon Stewart. Steven Wright.
(A version of this post was also published in dsng.net)