Based on stand-up:
Shane Gillis
Tom Segura
Bert Kreischer
Ari Shaffir
Joe Rogan
Bryan Callen
Joey Diaz
Theo Von
Brendan Schaub
I'm not ranking Hinchcliff or Dillon because I genuinely don't believe they're talented stand-ups. Hinchcliff is okay as a roaster but that's pretty much it. Dillon is just not funny and I don't understand why Rogan thinks he's God's gift to comedy. Rogan actually claimed that Dillon's a better ranter than Bill Burr. That's just fucking ludicrous. I also don't get Theo. He's so painfully shticky, he's a walking bit and it's one note and not funny, plus he's not very smart so he's not fast on his feet, he's always stammering and searching for the bit and when he finally finds it it's just some dumb redneck non sequitur.
I'll also say that Shane's "Beautiful Dogs" special is the best special that any of these guys have done in years. Segura was the best of the bunch but he's fallen off of late. His first two specials, "Completely Normal" and "Mostly Stories," are phenomenal, but everything after that's topped out at a B+ at best. Normand's first YouTube special was also amazing, while "Soup to Nuts" was a bit of a letdown. And Ari's "Jew" is a masterpiece, right there behind Shane's as one of the best specials in recent memory.
But the New York crowd has really put the LA crowd to shame the last few years. Mark Normand, Joe List, Sam Morril, Shane, Dan Soder, Big Jay (and the Legion of Skanks), Chris Distefano, Yannis Pappas, Andrew Schulz, Are You Garbage...way funnier podcasts and way funnier stand-ups. Your Mom's House is pretty lame these days, 2Bears is barely even the same show, Tigerbelly's a different show and Bad Friends was never my favorite (Santino bugs me and Bobby's stuck in neutral). Adam Ray is really the only LA guy making good, while Rick Glassman is the most underrated podcaster in the game and also a hell of an actor who I hope has big things coming. But I'm all in on the NYC pods and that much more vibrant and talent-rich comedy scene these days. And I've been marathoning Legion of Skanks from the beginning all the way to the present and GODDAMN if that's not the best pod going. BIg Jay can riff like nobody else and Luis is a riot, and the guests they have on, the format/environment of the show, they've produced so much gold, from the AI stand-up shit to Soder pranking the Fox News chick with his Chappelle impression and their creation of what's now Story Warz.
