My Top 10 Favourite Angry Comedians

One of the things that appeals to me about comedy is that comedians get to tell the truth. Especially about the things that piss them off. Many comedians adopt an angry schtick which gives the rest of us permission to deal with our own internalised rage vicariously.

Here are some of my favourite angry comedians:

1. Doug Mulray

I grew up listening to Uncle Doug on Triple-M in Sydney. I found him hilarious and suspect his sense of humour was forged in his youth because he had a great face for radio. His song I’m A Punk was undoubtedly unconscious inspiration for my own single Everything Is Fucked many years later:

My other favourite was Janie’s not a nun:

2. Ricky Gervais

I suspect it was Ricky’s frustration with religious beliefs that led him to write movie The Invention Of Lying. It’s one of the best commentaries of theology I’ve come across. His routines about the literal interpretation of The Bible are also pretty spot on:

3. Bill Burr

The modern brand of sexist feminism clearly pisses Bill off. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly and refuses to bow down to unreasonable demands just because the person making them is a woman. You can’t argue with his rationalisation of the gender pay gap:

Bill’s bit about radical feminist attitudes to the otherwise unfunny subject of domestic violence is also a hilarious reality check:

4. Lewis Black

Lewis voiced the inner voice of Anger in the movie Inside Out, and he was perfect for the role. He regularly reads hilarious rants supplied by the audience at the end of his gigs and broadcasts them live on his YouTube channel. His reading of this rant about Mormons is hilarious:

5. Larry David

Larry’s social awkwardness seems to be the driving force behind a lot of his comedy. Despite his huge success with Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm he says he’s still unable to walk up to attractive women and talk to them. It took me a long time to get around to watching Curb because I didn’t think an angry dude yelling at people would be funny. Turns out it’s hilarious:

6. Russell Brand

I don’t know if Russell is really angry or is just channeling his excess sexual energy now that he’s in a monogamous marriage. I like how he is using his fame as a platform for positive social change. This MSNBC interview where he turned the tables on the interviewers after they talked about him in the third person is pure gold:

7. George Carlin

Once he adopted the attitude “I don’t give a shit”, George became a fearless social critic. He was particularly critical of religion and what he saw as stupidity in authority figures. His Filthy Words routine challenged censorship all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court:

8. Jim Jefferies

Jim is a fellow Australian whose comedy is sometimes a little too depressive for me. I suspect he could use some serious therapy. However his bit on gun control in the United States absolutely nails it:

9. Rich Hall

Rich often performs as his redneck alter-ego Otis Lee Crenshaw, but it was the song expressing his disappointment with Bob Dylan had me laughing so hard when I first heard it at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival In 2016 that I could hardly breathe:

10. Bill Hicks

I suspect the rage behind Bill’s comedy was fueled by anger at his overly conservative fundamentalist Christian parents. He had little respect for his father and was greatly distrustful of authority figures. Some of his acerbic comedy seemed paradoxical; for instance he spoke positively about his experiences with drugs yet became dependent. He was a heavy smoker and died way too early of pancreatic cancer. Check out his final Letterman appearance that wasn’t broadcast until years after he died:

Bonus: Don Rickles

Don Rickles was the original insult comic. Being picked on by Mr Warmth became a badge of honour in the entertainment industry. Nobody has come close since. I think he was only pretending to be angry but I like his style so he’s here as a bonus. Here’s my favourite line: