Comedy Central's top 20 stand-up comedians of all time. [View All]

20. Sam Kinison
19. Bill Hicks
18. Jonathan Winters
17. Don Rickles (he wouldn't have made my list)
16. Ellen DeGeneres
15. David Letterman
14. Bob Newhart
13. Robin Williams
12. Jerry Seinfeld
11. Johnny Carson
10. Eddie Murphy
9. Roseanne
8. Bill Cosby
7. Rodney Dangerfield (another who wouldn't have been in my top 20)
6. Steve Martin
5. Chris Rock
4. Woody Allen

And I was able to predict the top 3 in order, even before I watched any of the shows on their top 100.

3. Lenny Bruce
2. George Carlin
1. Richard Pryor

Richard Pryor is to stand-up what Marilyn Monroe was to feminine sexuality--endlessly imitated, but no one ever captures the perfection, the Form (as Plato would have had it) that they embody. I love Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Bill Hicks, George Carlin, but there's only one Richard Pryor--the Greatest.