Titus might be the only comedian who can alter our darkest matters to seem, well, funny. So how is he able to poke fun of custody battles, insanity, family suicides, heart attacks, and even his first fist fight with his father? His reasoning: "I think our collective psychosis is hilarious. With the world moving as fast as it is, if we weren't dysfunctional, we couldn't function." Titus' comedic track began with his late '90s debut 'Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding,' an hour-and-a-half one-man show at the Hudson Theater in LA, which later inspired his 2000 eponymous show 'Titus' on Fox. In 2009 he debuted his stage act 'Love is Evol,' a title inspired from his friend, James Siddon. Focusing on divorce and dysfunctional relationships, the album includes notable tracks 'Mom and Dad' and 'If You've Never Thought of Suicide.' Titus has performed stand-up on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' and Comedy Central's 'Premium Blend' as well as hosted Fox's 'Good Day Live,' VH1's 'Dashboard Dreams' and Comedy Central's 'USO Comedy Tour.'
Remember the Bowie fan fanatic in 'Almost Famous' or Hector the stalker in 'Blades of Glory?' Or how about Terry Bernadino, the rollerskating homosexual prostitute in the now canceled Comedy Central series 'Reno 911!' Yep, that's Swardson. The Minneapolis native got his big break in 2000, earning a half-hour stand up slot on Comedy Central. After being noticed by Adam Sandler, he joined the comedian actor's Happy Madison Productions and began co-writing for the 2006 films 'Grandma's Boy' and 'The Benchwarmers.' He was even featured on Sandler's album 'Shhh...Don't Tell' as the "Gay Robot." But he didn't release his own albums until 2007's 'Party,' followed by 2009's 'Seriously, Who Farted,' which features our favorite track 'Drinking.'
Birbiglia, known for his nice guy persona and somewhat modest jokes, released five successful albums this decade, including notable 2007's 'My Secret Public Journal Live' and 2006's 'Two Drink Mike.' 'My Secret Public Journal' began as a segment on the 'Bob & Tom' radio show, with a pairing blog; the 2007 album was a collection of his best entries and was later named one of the best comedy albums of the decade by the 'Onion' AV Club. The latter, 'Two Drink Mike,' was his breakthrough album, in which he successfully delivers hilarious segments such as 'You'd Be Surprised' and 'Sex, Tennis & Pandas.' He's the guy that gets away with saying what most people would be thinking. He also opened the critically-claimed 2008 off-Broadway show 'Sleepwalk With Me,' featuring comical stories about his sleepwalking disorder known as REM Sleep Behavioral Disorder. The guy might be the only comedian whose one-liners appeared on t-shirts, worn by, yes, hipsters. Next time you see a t-shirt saying "Cracker Please," you'll think of him.
When performing, red-neck persona Larry the Cable Guy -- played by comedian Daniel Lawrence Whitney -- always sports jeans, a sleeveless top, a camouflage hat and a thick southern accent (showcased in his track 'Can't Understand My Accent'). He even coined the catchphrase, "Get-R-Done," a phrase Whitney frequently uses on the 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour,' which features comedians Bill Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy, and Ron White. Engvall and Foxworthy even co-star --alongside Whitney -- in 'Blue Collar TV.' In just this decade, Whitney has released seven comedy albums, three of them have been certified gold by the RIAA: 2001's 'Lord, I Apologize,' 2004's 'A Very Larry Christmas' and 2005's 'The Right To Bare Arms.' His most recent album, 2009's 'Tailgate Party,' covers his newest material he delivered to a live audience this past Fourth of July at the Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE.
Engvall is one of the veteran comedians, establishing his name as early as 1992, when he was awarded Best Male Standup at the American Comedy Awards. But this decade he made some serious contributions and comedic efforts, as Engvall and fellow comedian Jeff Foxworthy were the first to embark on the well-known 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour' in 2000, recruiting Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White. (Everyone but Ron White participated in the follow-up TV show, a spin-off of the 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour.') Engvall also released six comedy albums in this decade alone, starred in his own sitcom, 2007's 'The Bill Engvall Show,' and made frequent appearances on best-friend Foxworthy's 'The Jeff Foxworthy Show.'
Rarely performing without a cigar and scotch-on-the-rocks in hand, White -- also referred to as "Tater Salad" (Be sure to watch Comedy Central's DVD 'They Call Me Tater Salad') -- is known for his smart-a-- delivery and "trucker humor." The comedian released several albums before joining forces on the 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour,' which by 2003 reached sold-out audiences in over 90 cities. But it wasn't until the release of 'Drunk in Public' -- which was certified gold by the RIAA -- did White reach an audience outside the world of, well, truck stops. After starring in his 2005 short-lived T.V. series 'The Ron White Show' he released a couple of records: 2006's 'You Can't Fix Stupid' and 2009's 'Behavioral Problems.' The album 'You Can't Fix Stupid' -- featuring our favorite track 'Cousin Ray' -- earned a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album.
A regular commentator on 'The Daily Show' with Jon Stewart, Black continually delivers his hilarious 'Back in Black' segment, causing us to laugh at his quite compelling arguments about the absurdities in the world (check out his most recent clip on Health Care Reform). Loved by Larry King, George Carlin, and Jules Feiffer alike, the Yale drama graduate released his first album, 2000's 'The White Album' (yes, like the Beatles) followed by six more successful albums. Three of those records were released by Comedy Central Records, covering Black's regular stand-up specials on Comedy Central. Delivering angry (almost yelling) rants on history, politics, religion, and cultural opportunism, the albums were as follows: 2003's 'Rules of Enragement', 2005's Grammy-nominated 'Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues', and 2006's 'Carnegie Hall Performance.' Black is currently on tour promoting his latest book 2008's 'Me of Little Faith,' a dark humorous rant covering the irrationality of all religious beliefs.
How do you summarize Dane Cook's work this decade in just one paragraph? To start, his clever word-play and energetic performances on the half-hour 'Comedy Central Presents' catapulted his comedic career; soon after he starred and directed a nine-part HBO comedy documentary series titled 'Tourgasm.' He not only invented the hand signal "SU-FI" (aka Super Finger) seen on tattoos, stickers, and even US tanks in Iraq, but his second of four albums released this decade, 2005's 'Retaliation,' became the highest-charting comedy album since Steve Martin's 1978 'Wild and Crazy Guy.' And let's not forget his appearance on what became the highest-rated SNL episode in 2005, his recurring performances on 'David Letterman' and ex Late Late Show 'Craig Kilborn,' and lastly, the slew of film's that he has starred in: 'Dan in Real Life,' 'Employee of the Month,' romantic comedy, 'Good Luck Chuck' thriller, 'Mr. Brooks' and 'My Best Friend's Girl.' Check out our recommended track 'The Friend Nobody Likes,' featured on 'Retaliation.'
Known for his shrewd, impersonal wit and epic one-liners, Mitch became part of the Comedy Central family, having released both 1999's 'Strategic Grill Locations' and 2003's 'Mitch All Together' on their label. His 1997 independent feature, 'Los Enchiladas!' won the grand prize at the Seattle Comedy Competition. He made 10 appearances on 'The David Letterman Show,' and even played a small part in 'Almost Famous' as the Eagles road manager. Several years after his death due to heart attack from a drug overdose, Comedy Central Records released a 2008 album of previously unreleased material from 2005 called, 'Do You Believe in Gosh?'
In addition to releasing seven comedic albums this past decade, the "pale-skinned" Gaffigan has appeared in several Sierra Mist commercials alongside comedian Michael Ian Black and Kathy Griffin (see here and here), has created animated shorts for 'Late Night With Conan O'Brien,' (where he and Conan fight crime with their pale skin) and is currently a regular on the TBS show 'My Boys.' But his big break -- like all the other comedians -- was appearing on 'Comedy Central,' doing the 'Comedy Central Presents' specials in 2004, which later led to a slew of hilarious albums including 2004's 'Doin' My Time,' 2006's 'Beyond the Pale,' and 2009's 'King Baby.'
1. Are you kidding me?
Posted at 12:56PM on Jan 14th 2010 by Tiffany