These comedians listed below are some of the greatest blasphemers of our age. And sadly, their blasphemies make them an endangered species.
By Sean David Hartman
I consider myself a big stand-up buff. I watch the Netflix specials, frequent the Orlando Improv, and even dabble in the art at local open mics. And as any comedian and comedy lover will tell you, sometimes comedy demands offense.
In fact, some of the greatest comics of all time were those who were the most offensive. Of the official list of the 50 greatest comedians of all time, according to Rolling Stone, and the top two, Richard Pryor and George Carlin, are considered the some of the most offensive comedians to ever hit the stage.
Further, offensive comedy was important because it instituted social change. Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle constantly discussed issues of race, George Carlin discussed governmental corruption, and Jim Jefferies and Sarah Silverman both promote liberal politics with their offensive works. Comedy and satire have the power to change the world for the better and it has historically.
We can even go further back, with the works of great satirists like Mark Twain and even William Shakespeare, who used offensive satire (at least offensive to that age) to discuss important issues of their time. Shakespeare used his brilliant plays to discuss love, war, and politics, and Twain’s works shed light on slavery and racism in a time where political correctness included keeping with the status quo of owning human property.
George Bernard Shaw has a famous quote: “All great truths begin as blasphemies.”
These comedians listed below are some of the greatest blasphemers of our age. And sadly, their blasphemies make them an endangered species.
10. Jerry Seinfeld
I know what you are thinking. Jerry Seinfeld? He has some of the cleanest comedy we have seen. Why is he on this list?
Ironically, he placed himself on that very list.
Seinfeld has been very vocal recently on the recent outrage culture today, stating in several interviews as well as in his recent Netflix special Jerry Before Seinfeld that he refuses to perform at college campuses due to the prevalence of outrage culture amongst students.
College performances are one of the most notable ways comedians make money. Comedians big and small spend their time travelling American colleges at the invite of campus activity boards to perform for their students. Because of this, and the outrage culture in colleges, many of these boards don’t employ the more offensive jokesters, including many on this list.
Seinfeld has done some offensive comedy before. Yet he is more well known for his observation comedy. Seinfeld is essentially asking, “What’s the deal with outrage culture!”
- Dave Chappelle
This may seem as a repeat, as I just written an article on Chappelle’s recent specials with the same theme. But it still stands that Chappelle is notably offensive, addressing race, sexuality, and gender identity.
In one recent Netflix special, Chappelle talked about how the transgender community attacked him after he joked about the physical appearance of Caitlyn Jenner, and was forced to reiterate his support for the transgender community.
In an older special, Killin’ Them Softly, Chappelle attacked the feminist “rape culture” argument, particularly the claim that just because a woman is dressed promiscuously does not mean they are “asking for it.” In the special, Chappelle counters with the line “You may not be a whore, but you are wearing a whore’s uniform.”
Cue feminist outrage.
- Richard Pryor
According to many comedic experts, Richard Pryor is considered the greatest comedian of all time. Rolling Stone placed it atop their official list. Seinfeld has called Pryor “the Picasso of our profession”. Bob Newhart called him “the seminal comedian of the last 50 years.” Chappelle called him the “highest evolution of comedy.”
Yet this god of comedy himself would be dead on arrival if he was alive today, for one reason and one reason only: Nigger.
Pryor loved using that word. You could not find a special in which nigger was not used. Hell, he even titled one of his specials Bicentennial Nigger.
That’s nigger with an -er, not nigga with an -a.
Pryor was also one of the main writers for one of the greatest comedies of all time, from one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Mel Brooks. I’m speaking, of course, of Blazing Saddles.
The classic film set in Postbellum Texas saw a corrupt Governor appointing a black sheriff to a town he wanted demolished for the building of a new railroad. The racist town folk eventually turn from adversary to ally and save the town, but not before the extensive use of Pryor’s favorite word.
One of the most famous bits was when Bart, the new Sheriff, is riding into town, and the town lookout, upon noticing his race, tries to warn his fellow citizens that “the Sheriff is a nigger.” But he is so far up, all they hear is “the Sheriff is near!”
- Sarah Silverman
People tend to think that special little snowflakes only belong on the Left, but sadly, many conservatives can be just as whiny as babies. Take Sarah Silverman, the comedienne turned leftist activist has caused ire amongst conservatives simply by attacking their political beliefs. Silverman, who’s comedy usually deals with vagina and atheism, has recently turned far left and has gone aggressive against Trump supporters. She is one severed head away from being Kathy Griffin.
Conservatives have become babies too with many of these comics.
- Jim Jefferies
Another comedian who has created butthurt from conservative snowflakes, but don’t worry, he is an equal opportunity offender. He has an entire bit on how the “women make 70% of what a man makes” is horrible because it’s too much, calling for a male holiday where women provide anal sex, and talked about getting his disabled cousin a prostitute.
But most famously to the conservatives is his bit on guns. Jefferies does a 20-minute bit first seen in Bare where he debunks a multitude of gun rights myths. He even openly mocked the conservative snowflakes inevitable responses calling for him to leave the US and telling him “Australians don’t know freedom”, an issue he further engaged in in his Freedumb special, where he pokes holes on American exceptionalism.
Jefferies now has his own show on Comedy Central, where he drunkedly attacks the week’s political news, and no doubt is he enraging conservatives there too.
- Bill Maher
Bill Maher is seen by conservatives as a progressive tool, very similar to other late-night talk show hosts. But Maher is not only the sanest, he is also the closest to conservatives, himself being a more progressive/libertarian commentator.
Again, Maher equally offends, recently getting in trouble for using the term “house nigger” in an interview, is well known for his attacks of Islam, as well as his attack on all religions, and his willingness to call out BS from even his own party.
- Bill Burr
Recently, Bill Burr was asked by a feminist journalist if women can be funny. He of course responded yes, leading to the feminist to begin a tirade about how wonderful it was that a male comedian finally agrees with her crazy idea. But Burr immediately interrupted her, calling her out for trying to stoke an outrage culture when common sense is there and simple.
Burr calls out the PC culture a lot, having insulted military vets and first responders, obese people and the body positivity movement, Christians, and both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Most famously is his use of neo-Malthusian population controls, calling for a radical genocide for the survival of the species, and only have kidding about it.
- Bo Burnham
To me, Burnham is less a comic but an artiste. He is known for his self-deprecating and eccentric dark humor, which has on multiple occasions delved into blatant homophobia. He has done several songs mocking gays and most recently a song about the torments of being a “straight white man.” Ironically, Burnham was always teased as gay in high school, an irony he admitted in an interview in response to those calling him homophobic.
- Owen Benjamin
This comic has become one of my favorite unknown comics because of his recent political shifts. Originally a musical comedian, who played silly songs on a piano combined with storyline humor, has now turned into a political commentary against PC culture and common sense. He continues to go after leftist activists on Twitter, has deconstructed Eminem’s recent BLM song, went after transgender individuals and gun control activists, and even losing his manager and being banned from the University of Hartford. He has been the most vocal right-leaning comedian against political correctness.
- Anthony Jeselnik
There has never existed a darker comedian than Anthony Jeselnik. In one special he opens the floor with a joke about hitting a baby with a rock. He has done jokes on rape, suicide, transgender individuals, sexism, Nazism, racism, abortions, body image, murder victims—you name it, Jeselnik went after it. Jeselnik is the black comedian to end all black comedians. He is who you test to see your limits. And if you love him, you have none.
Sean David Hartman is a freelance reporter for the Central Florida Post, with a wide portfolio ranging from entertainment to politics. He is a centrist political operative and blogger and a student at UCF. Hartman is autistic and bipolar, and supports the neurodiversity movement.
