The Greatest Brian Regan Classic Bits as Decided by New York Comedians

Brian Regan Classic Bits Final

This Saturday Brian Regan will make history.  Regan is headlining at New York’s spectacular Radio City Music Hall to tape his newest comedy special, and his entire performance will be broadcast LIVE on Comedy Central at 9pm.  If you read the IBang you’re probably already a giant Regan fan but for the uninitiated, Brian Regan is one of the most beloved comedians performing today by fans, critics, and fellow comics. He is constantly on tour, selling out theaters across North America, and yet he jokes that he could walk one block from a theater to a Starbucks and nobody will know who he is. And yet everyone who gets introduced to Brian, loves him.

To help you pre-game for Regan’s big event Saturday night, and to help you pass some Regan along to convert your friends who might not be in the know, we wanted to gather some of the greatest Brian Regan comedy bits of all time.  But Regan has more classic bits than any comedian we know and it would be impossible for us to choose. So rather than give you our favorites we talked to some of New York’s great comedians who told us Brian is “phenomenal”, “the greatest”, “the funniest man on the planet” and “the master.”

Gary Gulman’s Pick: “Is There Any Way I Could Get a Glass of Water?”

Gary Gulman is one of the funniest and most popular touring stand up comics today.  He’s put out three comedy specials, three albums and you’ve seen him on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Conan, @midnight, The Pete Holmes Show, and Inside Amy Schumer. Recently on SiriusXM’s Bennington show, the owner of New York’s Comedy Cellar said Gulman was one of the 20 best comics performing in New York today, and called him “Carlin-esque.” He’s currently on his “It’s About Time” tour. Checkout his website for dates.

Gulman saw Brian for the first time when he was about 25 years old at Boston’s Faneuil Hall.  “Then I bought his album and I’ve pretty much got it memorized. His first album which is called Brian Regan Live is just a masterpiece of masterpieces”

Gulman’s favorite bit: “My favorite Brian Regan bit is the person who says “is there any way I could get a glass of water?” Do you know that one? “I’m sorry but there is no way.” And if its my favorite Brian Regan bit than its my favorite bit of anybody ever.”

Watch Brian’s “glass of water” bit on YouTube.

regan gulman water

Tammy Pescatelli’s Pick: “Stupid in School”

Tammy Pescatelli is one of the funniest and fastest comedians working today.  She grew up outside of Cleveland, is based in New York, with a heritage all the way from Sicily and explosively funny.  She’s a regular on SiriusXM satellite radio including theBennington, Howard Stern and Dirty Sexy Funny with Jenny McCarthy shows.  Tammy’s latest comedy special “Finding the Funny was released as a Netflix original and selected New and Noteworthy by iTunes editors, and she’s appeared on The Tonight Show twice.

Tammy told us how she first discovered Brian Regan, who later became one of her favorite comedians.  “I think it was one of those specials they used to do. He stood out completely. Young, I think he had a purple jacket and that’s not why he stood out, just so funny.”

My favorite Regan bit is the Spelling Bee.  It takes me back to the classroom and that pressure of the spelling bee. He turns it into the academic version of Dodgeball! It’s so simple but the first sentence transcends race, age and gender. And then when he talks about using numbers instead of letters-I just about peed my pants! (That’s 2 “e’s”!)

Watch a clip of Brian performing “Stupid in School” on YouTube.

regan pescatelli 2

Dan Soder’s Pick: “I Didn’t Do What You Told Me To Do”

Dan Soder is a rising star in comedy.  You’ve seen him on television with a Comedy Central Half Hour Special, on Conan, MTV’s Guy Code, and Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer. After frequent appearances on SiriusXM’s Bennington and Opie with Jim Norton shows, Soder now hosts his own show on SiriusXM’s Comedy Central Radio channel with Big Jay Oakerson, called The Bonfire.

Dan Soder has been a fan of Brian Regan since he was a teenager.  “I want to say I was fourteen and a buddy of mine had his album burnt on a CD and I took the CD and listened to it over and over again. I was 15 and I was like oh this guys great. And then I saw him live when I was like 19 and I was like this guy is the best comic working. It was amazing.”

Dan’s favorite Regan bits. “The opening of I Walked on the Moon with the whole ointment cream and how you treat doctors advice.  As a hypochondriac, it’s one of my favorite jokes of all time. I didn’t do the thing you said to do.  Like when he does that act out.  And the topical ointment on a cannonball wound?  Yeah.”

You can watch a clip of Brian talking about going to the doctor here, on YouTube.

regan soder cannonball

Joe List’s Pick: “World’s Strongest Man”

Over the summer Joe List exploded on Last Comic Standing with three of the best sets on the entire run of the show. Joe’s also appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, AXS’s Gotham Comedy Live, and he’ll appear on Comedy Central’s The Half Hour this season. He’s also a regular on SiriusXM’s Bennington.  And Joe picks Brian as one of his influences and favorite comedians of all time.

List had a tough time picking favorite Brian Regan bit because he loves so many but ultimately chose the World’s Strongest Man. “There’s so many, they’re rifling through my head right now but maybe the strong man competition bit? The six pianos full of molten lead, I love that one. I don’t want to do the whole bit because I’m not Brian Regan but I like that one the most.”

Listen to Brian Regan talk about the World’s Strongest Man contest on YouTube.

regan joe list strong man

Tommy Pope’s Pick: “Go Ahead…Toast ‘Em”

Tommy Pope is a writer and stand up comedian from Philadelphia and he’s one of Philly’s funniest.  He also is one of Philly’s Phunniest, an honor he won in 2011 when he took the title at Helium Comedy Club.  Pope has appeared on AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live, NBC’s Last Comic Standing and on The Tonight Show in a sketch with Steve Martin, and his original digital series Delco Proper just got picked up by Comedy Central.  Pope was also a finalist in Caroline’s Comedy Club’s New York’s Funniest in 2014.

Brian Regan’s first Comedy Central special was the first special Tommy ever watched. “I was doing regular corporate work and I was about 26 and my brother Brian was obsessed with him so he kept pushing me to watch this DVD of one of his earlier specials and I was floored and he’s actually one of the reasons I wanted to get into stand up.  I never had any influence outside of Eddie Murphy or Richard Pryor when I was growing up but I only saw snippets here and there when my dad would watch.  I wasn’t really comedy fan or student of comedy until I saw him and that’s when I really wanted to get into it. I just loved his energy and his charisma and his characters.  He was just so different from a hard edged, smokey filled whiskey drinking club and he had an ability to make anyone smile.  Kids watch him and laugh and he’s just so dynamic and I’ve never seen anyone like him.”

Tommy’s favorite bit: “The pop tart bit. It’s such a classic. and I guess it influenced me before i got into comedy so that’s probably mine.”

Listen to Tommy’s favorite Regan bit about Pop Tart instructions, on YouTube.

regan tommy pope pop tart

Emma Willmann’s Pick: “I Walked on the Moon”

Emma Willmann is one of the freshest young comics working today.  She’s headlined in the New York Comedy Festival, was on the over of TimeOutNY AND GoMagazine, won first place in The Boston Comedy Riots, performed stand up on national TV with Louie Anderson, and beat out hundreds of comedians to be named one of the top ten for New York’s Funniest.

She said Brian became one of her favorite comedians of all time after finding him accidentally.  “I never watched comedy growing up so the first comedian I ever saw was Dane Cook cause he was in Boston and so popular. Then I’m just googling around and I remember Dane Cook, then Katt Williams, then Richard Jenni and I forget who, and Bruce Bruce was the other one and then I found Brian Regan.  You know when you YouTube someone…and I think I was watching Bruce Bruce and this sounds pretty random but I think Brian Regan popped up in the ‘if you like him, you might like him” and they were right.

Emma’s pick: “My favorite Brian Regan bit is when he goes to the dinner party and everybody’s bragging and he wants to say he walked on the moon.”

Listen to Brian perform “I Walked on the Moon” on YouTube

regan willmann moon

Greg Stone’s Pick: “Logs”

Greg Stone is an up and coming comic in New York City, and said he Regan to thank for some of his early stage time.  “I met him once. I used to work at a comedy club, Rascals in Montclair.  And I was a door guy and he was the comedian, and I had to go down and get beer from the basement. I was walking down and I see Brian and I’m like hey man I gotta say you’re a huge inspiration to me and he was very nice. But then my manager at the top of the stairs goes, ‘hey Greg, I think we need that beer.’  And Brian goes, ‘hey this guy Greg’s a comedian.  Why don’t you ever put him on stage?’  And I was like oh my god you’re my hero, it was insane he would say such a nice thing. And you could totally see my manager getting his head and saying, well we’re going to try to get him up when he’s ready. And Brian’s like, hey, he tells jokes, he’s ready. It was the nicest thing anyone ever did and then shortly after they got me up.

Greg’s Pick:  “My favorite bit is, he’s on the highway and he said if you had logs go that way, and you had logs..it’s just the funniest thing.  That’s always my favorite joke. I always try to tell people and theyre like oohhhhh.  I’m doing his voice.  How do people talk to him and not do his voice?”

Listen to Brian talk about log trucks here on YouTube.

logs

 

Sarah Tollemache’s Pick: “Cup of Dirt”

Sarah Tollemache is a New York comedian by way of Houston Texas.  Before heading for New York Sarah was named ‘Best Local Comedian’ by the Houston Press and grabbed the title in Houston’s Funniest Contest. She’s been featured on two seasons of NBC’s ‘Last Comic Standing, wasnamed one of the top 20 female comics to follow on twitter by the Huffington Post and performs regularly on New York’s stand up stages and at the Upright Citizen Brigade Theater where she is a writer.  She’s a giant fan of Regan.

“I think my favorite, cause I relate to it the most is, it’s a cup of dirt, move on. That’s my favorite bit.  I think I just started doing stand up and that was the guys name that everyone dropped.  Saying he’s hilarious.  I went to go see him like two weeks after I started, and then I went to go see him and I thought it was the best thing ever.”

Listen to Sarah’s pick, “Cup of Dirt” on YouTube.

regan sarah dirt

 

 

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Watch Brian Regan LIVE at Radio City Music Hall Saturday at 9pm on Comedy Central. Don’t miss this incredible event.

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