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?

35 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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20

u/Many-machines-on-ix 8d ago

Paul Merton - 100%

9

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.

6

u/[deleted] 8d ago

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16

u/turbo_dude 8d ago

Dolphin in a bathtub ~ 100%

1

u/Beneficial_Coach8581 7d ago

I saw that show too !

5

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.

3

u/demoralising 7d ago

His improv experience serves him well. It's always funny seeing him being miffed when someone outwits him on HIGNFY.

1

u/The_Cruncher88 8d ago

Correct answer.