>Sarah Silverman, Bo Burnham i don't mean to start a fight but neither of these comedians are even remotely smart or critical (re silverman the episode of loui

>Sarah Silverman, Bo Burnham i don't mean to start a fight but neither of these comedians are even remotely smart or critical (re silverman the episode of louie on fx about marc maron where she describes her own humor as "gee did i do that" and burnham is a meme star). i'm surprised you appreciate pryor and lump them in with him. in my humble opinion you almost have to be poor and black to be funny these days because really good comedy is about transgression (with a few standout exceptions like mitch hedberg/steven wright) and there's nothing transgressive about people in power either taking pot shots or being purely critical. it's why dennis miller was never funny (and nor is bill mahr). you have to be outside of power for a criticism to be transgressive. this is why chappelle's last two standups were hollow - he's too fat, too rich, too comfortable. go back to first hbo special where he talks about the hypocrisy of the lewinsky scandal, or to his second (post chappelle show) special where he talks about incongruence of how the media treated elizabeth smart and erica pratt. in his most recent special his attempt to contextualize cosby drew eye rolls because it's quite plausible he himself will be eventually accused (this is not a statement about his moral character but simply his relationship to power). but of course it can't be purely criticism right - there has to be showmanship and surprises and vulnerability. i think hands down the funniest comic of the last 10 was patrice o neal. i've watched his last special probably 15 times and what i admire about him is that he gets you to be complicit in the transgression (e.g. the value of a white woman bit, gender roles in the office, relationship dynamics) by a sort of socratic dialogue where the you yourself actually (by virtue of acceding) deliver the punchline. he's also incredibly smart and vulnerable in that show in discussing his diabetes and similar challenges most people face with things like work ethic. sadly he died in 2011. and yes both chappelle and o neal are raucously vulgar but it's directly in the service of punchline, rather than the punchline itself. louis ck was an exception in that he was white and male and etc and still funny but only because he often identified with power (e.g. the picking white vs black joke). it was in that identification that you grew to trust him over course of the show and warmed up to the more absurd jokes (like fucking a dead kid and bag of dicks). he also was very clever in how he revealed the irrationality of culture (raising my kids gay and cutting grass around gay people on your lawn). but now (after his scandal) he's not relatable anymore. listen to his leaked special where he tries to pretend to be ashamed of not being as politically active as the parkland kids and it's hollow - you end up suspecting that he really doesn't empathize with them.