re: Best stand-up comedian of all time

It depends on the generation you are from to be honest. Chappelle is just mildly amusing for me, but if you throw out a name like Bob Hope most of the younger audience will stare at you with a blank expression on their face. Johnny Carson was a very under rated stand up comedian because he had to go out and deliver a fresh monologue every night with a huge chunk of the country watching.

One thing I have noticed is that a lot of comedians getting specials now just don't seem to have the polish and timing of comedians from previous generations. Possibly because there are fewer comedy clubs out there and that more of them are getting work in TV shows and movies rather then grinding out a living working clubs.

As an example, and I'm not holding either of them up as being among the greatest of the greats, watch Amy Schumer's stand up and then go back watch Rita Rudner in her prime. Schumer rushes her jokes or has material that isn't funny more often then not. Rudner knew just how long to milk a joke and whether or not a given joke was working. Not only that Rudner could shift gears depending on who she was performing in front of, Amy Schumer tells the same sort of jokes no matter who her audience is.