SPECIAL 10TH ANNIVERSARY CATEGORY! 10 FOR 10!
2023 The TOP TEN Comedy Icons of the Last Ten Years
It’s been TEN YEARS that we’ve been nominated the very best in every category of comedy each year. And its been TEN YEARS that you all have been voting for the winners. In honor of this special milestone, we’re going to honor and celebrate ten of the biggest icons who have dominated comedy for the last decade.
These are the comedians who stayed in the news, who performed comedy on the biggest stages, who created comedy that reached the widest audiences and whose name is known by just about everyone regardless of age across the country.
This is not necessarily a list of the ten best performers working today, or even our ten favorite comedians. It’s a list of the ten comedians who dominated our media, our stages, and our screens big and small for the last ten years. These are the hall of famers. The icons. The giants.
Vote everyday and if you don’t like our picks, you can write in your own.
Read all the nominees below, voting is open!
Don’t forget you can also vote now for Comedy Movie of the Year! Vote for Comedy TV Series of the Year! Vote for Comedy Special of the Year! Vote for Best Comedy Book of the Year! Vote for the Best Comedy Album of the Year!
SARAH SILVERMAN
Sarah Silverman is a legend. She’s been a star for over three decades now and in the last ten years, has grown into a role model along with being a super star. JASH, a Wreck it Ralph sequel, her own Hulu Talk show, turning her book into an Off Broadway musical, a new special, a true leader in political and cultural activism, 10 film projects and she’s always in the media. Sarah Silverman is a star.
DAVE CHAPPELLE
Chappelle became a comedy icon long before 2014, and in 2014 he was on our short list of 6 comics competing for comedian of the year when his return to comedy included 6 straight sold out Radio City shows. when we started doing the comedy awards. But the last ten years of his career has turned Chappelle into a true legend. After over ten years out of the spotlight he was back full force and since then he has put out 11 comedy specials (in 6 years) all of them iconic, many of them controversial, he won a Mark Twain Award, Hosted SNL three times, toured any theater or place he wanted to, and sold out no matter how high the ticket price. Love him or hate him you can’t deny Chappelle is king.
LOUIS C.K.
When you’re cancelled and still can sell out Madison Square Garden, there can be no doubt that you are one of the most dominant voices in comedy. Like most on this list, when we started the comedy awards in 2014, he was already a legend. Louie already had four seasons in the can, and he came back to do two more. In the last 10 years he secretly produced and starred in his own tv series full of big names on his website, pioneering a new distribution plan for creative achievement, without any advance press. He also produced and starred in his own movie (which never got released) released 8 specials, sold out MSG four times, executive produced three outstanding television shows spotlighting other performers (Baskets, Better Things, One Mississippi), made a movie starring Joe List and bought his own theater time to run it, and much of that while spending two years effectively cancelled and sidelined for sexual misconduct. Louis is unstoppable.
AMY SCHUMER
In 2014 when we were writing our very first comedy awards, Amy Schumer was busy becoming a comedy giant. She was on our very first list, when we nominated 6 comics for Comedian of the Year, and she was in the second season of her brilliant sketch series, Inside Amy Schumer. In 2015 she hosted the MTV Music Awards, and Judd Apatow produced a little movie called Trainwreck that launched her into stardom. Next thing you know, she’s touring with Madonna, hanging with celebs like Jennifer Lawrence, getting Emmy and Grammy nominations and going on a world tour. Her memoir commanded a massive advance, became a NYT #1 Best Seller for weeks and won a Grammy, and thats just the beginning. She’s on magazine covers, every public appearance generates media attention, she’s been an ardent activist, been arrested, starred in 5 more movies, released 3 more specials, co-hosted the Academy Awards, and her new tv show, Life and Beth, just got renewed. People who don’t even know her work, know who she is. Amy is a force in comedy, and beyond.
BILL BURR
In 2014, Bill Burr was one of six comedians nominated for our very first Comedian of the Year Award. In fact, 2014 was a breakthrough year for Burr who won our very first Comedian of the Year award, getting more reader votes than anyone else. In 2014 Burr was a star, but after 2014, he was at the top of the food chain. Since then he released 4 specials, was nominated for a Grammy and an Emmy, and received honors from Rolling Stone in their list of the top 50 stand up comedians of all time. He launched his podcast and the All Things Comedy before 2014, but it was in the last ten years that the podcast and production network really became a powerhouse. Also in the last ten years, he created and starred in F is for Family, had a memorable role in The Mandelorian, became the first comedian to perform at Fenway Park, set the record for most consecutive sold out shows at The Wilbur in Boston (19), sold out Red Rocks, the Garden, and produced, and starred in a major motion picture- Old Dads. Bill Burr is the comic every young comic models and that isn’t changing any time soon.
KEVIN HART
Kevin Hart is everywhere. In 2014, he was already a giant, just off his record setting Laugh at My Pain Tour. But his empire has continued to grow to impossible heights. He’s everywhere. His 2015 What Now? tour culminated with filming a special for Theatrical Release at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly in front of 53,000 and three more specials followed. He’s a genuine movie star. In 2014 alone he had major roles, some starring roles in 5 movies and he’s done 17 more movies since then. In 2018 we took a look at the ever expanding Kevin Hart universe and took pages just to list all his accomplishments. He’s been in and bounced back after more scandals and controversies than we can possibly list here, he’s been an avid supporter of young talent, and he’s got his own radio network under the Umbrella of SiriusXM. He’s got his own restaurant chain, he’s always present at major sport events, especially NBA and NFL championships, and just started his own restaurant chain. And if you watch tv then you know that he’s got major ad campaigns running all the time including Chase Freedom, Draft Kings, Old Spice, Nike and Hyundai to name just a few. He’s everywhere.
BERT KREISCHER
Bert Kreischer is at the top of his game this year. We thought he had hit peak Bert in 2018 when he won Comedian of the Year, but he’s only grown every year since. Ten years ago he had released one comedy special and was mainly known for his Travel Channel series Bert the Conqueror, but in just a few short years, he was a force in stand up comedy. 2016 was a real launch point for Bert with the release of his sensational Showtime series, The Machine and he hasn’t looked back since. Bertcast was launched in 2012 and within just a few short years had become one of the most popular comedy podcasts anywhere. In the last 10 years, Bert released four giant specials, and when Covid hit in 2020 while everyone else was shutting down, Bert was only growing with a massive parking lot tour that cemented his position as the voice of fun and joy during dark times. He also released The Cabin in 2020, and has since then, always included other comedy friends in his huge audiences and good fortune. This year has been another high water mark for Bert, with the release of a special, a major motion picture, touring his own act and creating a comedy special to help raise money for Comedy Gives Back. And all of this he created himself, not with the help of industry. Bert is pure comedy, pure fun, and we don’t see this party ending any time soon.
JIM GAFFIGAN
Gaffigan may not be as flashy as some of the comedians on the list, but make no mistake he is a powerhouse who has maintained his level at the top of every list for far longer than most. He’s been in a power position longer than most of the names on this list, gracing top ten lists consistently since the turn of the millenium. And in the last ten year’s he’s stayed at the top of those lists. Since 2014 he’s released nine hour specials, always topping the charts, getting award nominations (he’s a six time grammy nominee) and selling out theaters and arenas. In 2015 he performed for the Pope in Philadelphia, in front of a crowd that numbered somewhere around a million in attendance. He’s broken records for number of times his tracks have played on streaming services and in 2016 was listed as the most played comedian ever on Pandora. He’s also had a gigantic acting career appearing in 27 movies in the last decade, a long list of tv appearances and his own television show that he produced, wrote and starred in, The Jim Gaffigan Show. He’s constantly touring, and his current Barely Alive tour is on fire. His contributions to CBS Sunday Morning have been lauded and beloved by critics and fans, and he’s been featured in ad campaigns for Walmart, KFC, Chrysler, and straight talk wireless. Gaffigan has forever earned himself a seat at the big table in comedy.
SEBASTIAN MANISCALCO
Ten years ago, Sebastian Maniscalco was already on his way to building his audience with two specials under his belt, but it was his 2014 special, Aren’t You Embarrassed that propelled him into superstardom. Since then he has been at the very top of the list for top grossing tours, and has become a household name. Since that release, he’s had three more major specials, that have led to a growing acting career with memorable roles in Greenbook, The Irishman, somewhere in Queens, and he wrote and starred in a major motion picture release this year, About My Father, which he starred in with Robert Deniro. Plus he’s got his own series on MAX from hitmaker Chuck Lorre. But its his unbelievable touring record that truly lands him on our list as one of the top comics of the decade. Everyone hopes to one day achieve Maniscalco’s numbers. He’s a titan who boasts a string of record-breaking, sold-out arena shows including the United Center in his hometown of Chicago, Boston’s TD Garden, The Forum in LA and New York’s Madison Square Garden. He was number 8 on this year’s billboard list of highest grossing comedy tours, number 1 in 2022, and in 2021, he was #30 on the list of highest grossing tours of any kind, including music with only one comedian ranking above him on the entire list. He’s a giant. Nothing to be embarrassed about here.
JOE ROGAN
The most influential person in comedy is undoubtedly Joe Rogan, although not necessarily for his stand up. As the reigning king of the podcast, Rogan is not only a celebrity himself, but is widely known as the closest entity we have today, to Johnny Carson in terms of the ability to turn someone into a star just by promoting them on his show. That’s power. Ten years ago Rogan was a star, thanks to his stand up, his television roles, and his work with the UFC. And his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience launched in 2009 and already had a big following. But it was in the last ten years that Rogan became one of the most powerful people in all of comedy. His groundbreaking Spotify deal came in 2020 with a $220 million payday- the largest licensing agreement in all of podcasting. Soon after he moved to Austin, opened his own comedy club and helped Austin Texas become one of the comedy power centers of the world. Now Rogan’s opinion can set off headlines everywhere in the world, and comics aspire to one day get to sit across from him on The Joe Rogan Experience, a move that can set a career in motion.
