the comic's comic

iTunes Best of Comedy 2008

Apple did not tell me how it came up with its list of Best of Comedy 2008 in iTunes, so I cannot tell you if this lineup is based on sales, judged rankings or something else entirely. But I can tell you who made the iTunes cut in 2008 (I've reviewed half of these CDs, which means I still have some work to do). Whom do you think they overlooked?

Robert Kelly, Just the Tip
Steve Byrne, Happy Hour
Gabriel Iglesias, Hot and Fluffy
Josh Sneed, Unacceptable
Lisa Landry, Put Your Keys in the Keybowl
Pablo Francisco, Ouch! (Live from San Jose)
Jimmy Dore, Citizen Jimmy
Dov Davidoff, The Point Is
Bill Burr, Why Do I Do This?
Jeffrey Ross: No Offense, Live from New Jersey

Comic Strip Marathon: Post #44 T-minus 1 hour!

Almost there...almost there...stay on target...stay on target. We have put 49 hours of continuous stand-up comedy in the books here at Comic Strip Live, leaving one final hour to reach the finish and a potential Guinness World Record. Christian Finnegan has already performed, and the rest of this finale bill features Lisa Landry, Ted Alexandro, Rich Vos and Judah Friedlander. The house is packed and laughing heartily. Everyone is in high spirits, including many of the club staffers who have worked with little sleep, the host William Stephenson who's had barely a couple of naps, and, of course, myself. We shall not be denied this prize on this night.

Comedy Central's Stand-Up Showdown (2008 results!)

Comedy Central's annual "Stand-Up Showdown" airs today, rebroadcasting the top 20 stand-up specials as voted online by fans over the past month. It's airing now!

The full schedule/countdown...which began at 11:30 a.m. today...(with applicable taping season)

20) Loni Love (season 11)

19) Doug Benson (season 8)

18) Chelsea Handler (season 11)

17) Steve Byrne (season 10)

16) Maria Bamford (season 11)*

15) Rich Vos (season 7)*

14) Dane Cook (season 3)

13) Stephen Lynch (season 12)**

12) Mike Birbiglia (season 10)*

11) Demetri Martin (season 8)

10) Mitch Hedberg (season 1)

9) Jim Gaffigan (season 3)

8) Pablo Francisco (season 4)

7) Kyle Cease (season 10)

6) Mitch Fatel (season 11)

5) Lewis Black (season 6)*

4) Frank Caliendo (season 8)

3) Lisa Landry (season 11)

2) Josh Sneed (season 11)

1) Jeff Dunham (his Spark of Insanity hourlong special)

* These comedians have multiple half-hour CCPs. Rich Vos has one upcoming this season.

** Stephen Lynch is the only one from this current crop of CCPs to make the list. Which, of course, is unfair to the many comedians this season who also taped with Lynch but haven't gotten on the air yet. Then again, this whole "showdown" is essentially just a test to see which comedian wants to mobilize his or her fans to vote early and often for them to get an extra TV airing. Really, that's it. No big cash prize. No trophy. But it certainly got us paying attention to Comedy Central on a Sunday in January, right? Of course, if I were one of the comedians who made the top 20, I'd probably still feel pretty good about it (while also looking at the other comedians who got listed ahead of me and behind me and wondering where I stood, which is why you have to realize and remind yourself that this isn't a "showdown" at all).