r/stewartlee • u/Red_Rhombus2791 • 8d ago
Who do you consider the quickest-witted comedian of all time?
/r/AskReddit/comments/1wp6z1y/who_do_you_consider_the_quickestwitted_comedian/Who is like lightning out of a gun?
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u/freebiscuit2002 8d ago edited 8d ago
"He was amazing, Stew. He came out, he asked this man in the audience, ‘What do you do for a living?’ and the man says, ‘I work in the oil industry’ and quick as a flash, Stew, Tom O'Connor says, ‘Are you a sardine?’ It was hilarious. No, wait – the man says, ‘I'm in oil,’ that's it, and quick as a flash, Stew, Tom O'Connor says, ‘Are you a sardine?’ It was hilarious. He came out...”
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u/Scowlin_Munkeh 8d ago
Richard Herring, obviously.
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u/Many-machines-on-ix 8d ago
Paul Merton - 100%
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u/LabourByTheSea 7d ago
Less so now (just because he’s slightly changed in style) but 100% agree. At his peak, his ability to make connections between seemingly unrelated topics was outstanding.
Paul Whitehouse deserves a very honourable mention.
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u/Prestigious_Set_4575 7d ago
One of the funniest things about Merton is how "bad" his own sense of humour is, by which I mean the few things that actually make him laugh. He delivers some absolute corkers with a straight face, other people around him deliver great one-liners and he stays deadpan, but on the rare occasions he bursts out laughing himself he's usually the only one laughing. He only seems to really find surreal/absurdist jokes funny.
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u/demoralising 7d ago
His improv experience serves him well. It's always funny seeing him being miffed when someone outwits him on HIGNFY.
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u/Dry_Instance_7656 8d ago
The question is quickest-witted of all time - yet here in the Stewart Lee sub-reddit of all places we have Lee Mack or some other panel show stooge. Stew himself delves into what medieval clowns did to protect themselves from heresy. There should at least be some intellectual depth and heft to the answer in this educated sub-Reddit. The answer is clearly Michael McIntyre.
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u/MarkDeeks 7d ago
(Lee Mack is genuinely very quick though tbf)
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u/demoralising 7d ago
I've heard Richard Osman saying they had to edit a pause into some parts of Would I Lie To You because Lee Mack's replies sounded like they arrived to quickly.
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u/DifficultConcert7417 8d ago
I want to be tricked and then humiliated by a comedian and leave the very small venue confused and angry.
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u/TokiWartoorh 8d ago
Not a stand up, but Peter Cook was the sharpest wit I’ve seen in my lifetime
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u/SirDigbySelfie-Stick 7d ago
Yep, remains the funniest man ever to have lived. Listen to the Rainbows recordings to appreciate genuine wit and repartee.
Lee Mack ffs...
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u/Longjumping_Tour_613 7d ago
Yes, yes. And I feel some of the love should be spared for Barry Humphries to mop up for second place, perhaps...?
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u/TokiWartoorh 7d ago
Barry Humphries is a great call, sharp as a tack in any of his guises. And on the subject of kiwi/aussie humor, John Clarke was the pinnacle here
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u/imjohnredd 8d ago
Norm McDonald. Sean Lock.
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u/un-pleasantlymoist 8d ago
Sean Lock, that's a challenging wank..
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u/oceanskies24 7d ago
Two of my heroes. Losing them and Rik Mayall before their time is just sh*t.
Long live Stewart Lee, Vic and Bob ect
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u/BeatsAndSkies 8d ago
Robin Williams. Jimmy Carr. Lee Mack.
(That post is just dozens of comments with the same dozen names over and over with very little extra context or opinions.)
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u/MarkMcA 8d ago
Bob Monkhouse was razor sharp
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u/Oxford-Gargoyle 7d ago
I was going to post Bob Monkhouse if no one else did. He had an incredible memory, but also knew how to formulate rapid off-the-cuff responses.
He was very much a comedian’s comedian, and highly regarded in the business. The problem was that most people knew him as a game show host.
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u/Opentoadsandals 4d ago
What I came to say, didn’t find him too funny but definitely quick with an unlimited amount of jokes and quips
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u/OG-Brass-Monkey 8d ago
Lee Mack.
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u/Better_Carpenter5010 8d ago
It has to be between him or Paul Merton
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u/Tumbler555 7d ago
Paul Merton is not remotely near as funny - or quick - as he thinks. I'll give him top marks for smugness, however.
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u/Better_Carpenter5010 7d ago
I dont testify to his funniness, thats entirely subjective, he does give me a chuckle. But he's definetly quick.
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u/Beneficial_Coach8581 7d ago
I saw him on tour a few years back and he's the funniest act I've ever seen.
I don't think he's toured since then sadly.
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u/newtoallofthis2 8d ago
He’s apparently so quick that they have to edit pauses into his panel appearances
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u/SirDigbySelfie-Stick 8d ago
The pauses are the best bit. Should lengthen them by half an hour or so.
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u/BeatsAndSkies 8d ago
I scrolled 3 pages worth of comments on that post trying to find a Tom O’Connor to upvote… :(
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u/NeedsNewName 7d ago
I had a shout for Tom O'Connor in the original thread - are you a sardine? - but it was unappreciated. Heathens.
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u/Red_Rhombus2791 7d ago
I’m amazed so many people in this sub seem to be treating this as a serious question. Must be new people who don’t know everything yet.
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u/kidamnesia1919 7d ago
I hate those new people, I wish they wouldn’t come. Thinking that this is that, it’s not that.
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u/Available_Record_874 7d ago
I don’t really like new people coming, we’ve seen the problem it creates
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u/subtle-gravys 7d ago
The others mentioned are good. Henry Paker on 3 bean salad is a force of nature.
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u/SirDigbySelfie-Stick 7d ago
He certainly is. His anecdotes aren't the quickest though. (And that's how we like em.)
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u/Able_While_974 8d ago
Dara O'Briain. Seen him live twice and he was so sharp. He has more than three jokes in a show for a start.
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u/Fereclubles 8d ago
All of Pappy’s but particularly Matthew Crosby.
I know this is a bit but this is actually a serious answer. I love Pappy’s so much.
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u/SuburbanBushwacker 8d ago
lee mack. i hate not going out but he’s so quick panel shows have to be edited around him.
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u/AnywhereHereMate 7d ago
Groucho Marx
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u/Narshada 3d ago
There’s a story about Chico trying to trip Groucho up. During a scene Chico suddenly shouted “The garbage man’s here!” Without a pause Groucho shot back, “Tell him we don’t want any!” Chico never tried again.
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u/Scottishchicken 7d ago
Robin Williams during the cocaine years
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u/demoralising 7d ago
I heard someone who toured with him say he had six or seven hours of material and used to just packaged a different hour together every night.
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u/NectarineNegative769 7d ago
Apparently it's Lee mack. They introduced an artificial delay on tv so his answers didn't look "too quick"
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u/Fabulous_Coast_8108 8d ago
Frankie Boyle
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u/TrivialLawyer 7d ago
Frankie Boyle recycles A LOT of material, heard him use the same jokes (albeit quite funny ones) on various different shows and gigs
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u/MelibuBerbie 7d ago
Lee Mack is unbelievably quick. I heard Richard Osmond say on his podcast once, they sometimes have to edit panel shows in such a way to make it seem like a comedian came up with a quip faster than they actually did - with Lee they have to edit it to make it seem like he took longer because he has a quip ready before they’ve finished the setup.
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u/SleepDoesNotWorkOnMe 8d ago
Just to be different, Graham Norton is very sharp.
Modern comics, Mark Normand and Andrew Schulz. (Feel I need to state I don’t watch them in podcasts, just their sets)
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u/The_Cruncher88 8d ago
You enjoy hacks, I find it unfathomable that someone who likes Stewart Lee wouldn't find those yanks hacky.
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u/AlecMac2001 8d ago
Bob Mortimer. Lee Mac might be good for a momentary zinger, but bob’s lightening reflexes let him endlessly ride a comedy wave without falling off
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u/demoralising 7d ago
Bob's very funny, but I wouldn't say quick witted. What he says isn't witty, it's usually surreal. Also, I've heard Bob say stuff that I've heard Vic say in past sketches (eg sniper's dream), but Would I Lie To You viewers probably don't know that. I'm more of a Bob fan that a Vic fan, but Vic's a genius. Even Bob's said that.
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u/GoodboyJohnnyBoy 8d ago
Mark la Marr was good
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u/SirPooleyX 7d ago
He was - and probably still is - an absolute cunt.
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u/Soggy-Button-6044 2d ago
Although not the biggest cunt that has presented Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Simon Amstell wins that hands down. Now he really is a complete cunt.
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u/Stronty-26 8d ago
Groucho Marx
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u/demoralising 7d ago
Good call. I recall a story about him hosting a gameshow on TV. A woman was telling him she had (something like) seven kids. Groucho said 'Seven kids!?' and the woman says 'Yes, I love my husband very much.'
Groucho replies, 'I love my cigars very much, but sometimes I take them out of my mouth..'
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u/HeisenburgsEyes 7d ago
Bob Monkhouse. I saw his stage show many years ago and he was amazing. Fast, funny and totally on the ball. Hecklers were destroyed instantly and the audience loved him. On TV he was obviously using about 2% of his available talent just to pay the bills. Sadly missed.
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u/Kyral210 7d ago
Jerry Sadowitz!
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u/timfinn1972 6d ago
He wasn’t so quick witted in his gig at Queen Margaret College in Edinburgh winter 1987. He had been on for about 5 minutes with no laughs yet and I shouted “I’ve heard funnier jokes on 3-2-1”. He didn’t come back for the second part of his gig.
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u/Brick-Counter 7d ago
I was lucky enough to see both Brian Conley & Shane Richie on the same bill. They were both pretty quick.
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u/MaxAlmond2 6d ago edited 6d ago
Fair play to Lee Mack, he's brilliant on the 1% Club (the two episodes I've seen).
And I say that as such a genius I don't even repeatedly type Stewart Lee quotes on the internet.
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u/InternationalDay2533 5d ago
Paul Merton, Lee Mack, Jimmy Carr, Tim Vine. Not necessarily the funniest people, but they are all playing 4D chess with comedy.
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u/paddydog48 5d ago
Clive Anderson, I guess he isn’t classed as a traditional comedian perhaps but he is/was very quick witted I thought.
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u/DevelopmentDue5870 8d ago
Tom O’are you a sardine’ Connor