Since I wrote a recommendation of good TV-shows, I thought I’d recommend a couple of great stand-up artist also.

I tend to get hang-ups on certain things, like hobbies, TV-shows, movies of a certain type etc. Right now I have a hang-up on stand-up (again) and especially the four guys I’m mentioning here.

Frankie Boyle (Scotland)

Frankie Boyle must be one of the best stand-up comedians ever! He’s right up my alley with his pessimistic and dark controversial humor.
Boyle is a permanent panellist on “Mock the Week” in the UK, and is a former newspaper columnist. He’s got a morbid sense of humor (which suits me just fine!) and often joke about stuff that you’re not really supposed to joke about, like this quote:

Why do pedophiles always have beards and glasses? What is it about that look that children find so sexy?

Frankie Boyle is a recovering alcoholic and former drug user, but is now teetotal.

Links:
Frankie Boyle – Official Website
Frankie Boyle @ Wikipedia

Demetri Martin (USA)

Demetri Martin is an award-winning comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer and humorist.
He’s probably best known for his stand-up and his own show on Comedy Central called “Important things with Demetri Martin”.

His got a completely unique style of stand-up. He’s playing with words, drawings, one-liners and often even music. He’s got a smart touch, and in his show “If I” he’s joking alot about his “mensa hobbies” he had as a kid.

Here’s some nice quotes from Demetri Martin:

I was on the street. This guy waved to me, and he came up to me and said: “I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.”
And I said: “I am.”

I wanna make a jigsaw puzzle that’s 40,000 pieces. And when you finish it, it says “go outside!”

I heard this lady say: “I love kids”. That’s nice. A little weird though. It’s like saying: “I like people, for a little while.”
“How old are you? 14? Fuck off!”
You can say: “I love kids” as a general statement, that’s fine. It’s when you get specific that you get in to trouble.
“I love twelve-year-olds.”

Links:
Lee Mack – Official Website
Lee Mack @ Wikipedia

Lee Mack (England)

Lee Mack is a british comedian, doing both acting and stand-up. He’s style is more “standard” than Boyles, but not predictable at all, unlike way too many stand-up artists out there.
He’s got a sharp tongue, and he often pick someone in the audience and make fun on their expence.

Those of you who might find Frankie Boyle a bit too harsh will almost certainly love Lee Mack.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from this great comedian:

I was guilty of drink driving last night, but there is reason behind it:
The number of people killed last year as a direct result of alcohol abuse was 35,000.
The number of people killed last year as a direct result of driving a car was 22,000.
The number of people who were killed last year as a direct result of drinking AND driving was 500.

I’m not taking any fucking chances…

Links:
Lee Mack – Official Website
Lee Mack @ Wikipedia

Stewart Francis (Canada)

Stand-up comedian, actor and writer Stewart Francis is the absolute KING of one-liners!

He’s headlined all over the US and UK, and has written for “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” among others.

He has a über-relaxed style on stage – he basicly just stand there – delivering killer one-liners one after another. Some of his jokes are easy to get, others will take you a couple of seconds, because he seem to stop all of a sudden, but then you realize that the joke is actually finished. Like this one:

I’m so lazy that…

I’ll finish my recommendation of Francis with this brilliant joke:

I like to go to libraries and say to the librarian: “I’m looking for the book called dealing with rejection without killing people, do you have it?”

Links:
Stewart Francis – Official Website
Stewart Francis @ Wikipedia

Note:

If you’ve got any good recommendations about comedians I should check out, please tip me in the comments.
Oh, and of course, you don’t have to mention guys like Bill Hicks, Denis Leary, Ricky Gervais, Dylan Moran, Eddy Izzard, Dara Ó Briain, Andy Parsons, Mitch Hedberg, Russel Howard, Dane Cook and all those guys, because I’ve already checked them out ;)