Top 10 Most Controversial Stand-up Comedians

He is known for his freedom of speech and unique form of comedy, which includes subjects like satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. In the 1950s, he usually appeared on television shows, but the next decade would lead to significant changes.

The 1960s brought about a shift in American society and culture. In 1961, when mainstream comedy was "squeaky clean," Bruce was full of obscenity and vulgarity. His material was so controversial that he was arrested in 1961 for obscene language. He was also banned from entering the United Kingdom as an "undesirable alien." Famously, in 1964, Bruce and club owner Howard Solomon were arrested because Bruce continued to use obscenities and Solomon allowed it in his club. They were found guilty, but Bruce was supported by counterculture figures such as Woody Allen and Bob Dylan.

Shortly after Bruce was eligible for release from jail, he died from a drug overdose on August 3, 1966. He is not well known by many young people today, but he made freedom of speech more common and legal. Bruce went to jail for YOU. Nothing will be the same without him, and George Carlin might not have been the same without him either.

Carlin was a frequent performer on The Tonight Show during the 1960s and other television shows until he discovered Lenny Bruce and was inspired by him. After being involved in one of Bruce's shows, he told the police that he did not believe in government-issued IDs. He was arrested for this and taken to jail with Bruce.

In the 1970s, Carlin changed his routines and appearance. He grew his hair longer, grew a beard, and started wearing T-shirts and blue jeans, adopting a "hip" look for a young audience. During this period, Carlin performed his infamous "seven dirty words" routine. He was arrested after one performance for violating obscenity laws. When one of his routines aired on FM station WBAI, a man complained to the FCC about hearing it with his 13-year-old son. This incident significantly increased Carlin's fame. He later hosted the first episode of SNL, played Rufus in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and appeared in numerous HBO specials until he died in 2008. Nobody will ever replace him, and his legacy will live on.

Michael Richards is best known for portraying Cosmo Kramer in the famous TV sitcom Seinfeld during the 1990s and also appeared on Fridays (ABC's version of SNL). After Seinfeld ended, he returned to stand-up comedy until an incident at The Laugh Factory in 2006.

During his set, Richards was heckled by a group of late-arriving black audience members. He lost his temper, shouted the N-word several times, flipped them off, and made references to the Jim Crow era and lynching. He also made derogatory comments about Hispanics. The audience members argued and cursed back at Richards, leading to a confrontation. The incident was recorded on a digital camera, uploaded to the internet, and widely exposed. Richards faced significant controversy and criticism, leading him to apologize publicly on Late Show with David Letterman. This severely damaged his career, and he retired from stand-up comedy the following year. Since the incident, he has appeared in only three movies and three shows (18 episodes in total).

Pryor remains one of the most influential comedians of all time. He talked about issues such as poverty, racism, and drug abuse, paving the way for African-American comedians. Without him, the landscape of modern comedy would look very different. He often used the N-word during his shows, which he is also notable for. His sketch comedy series on NBC included skits where he played a rock musician who kills every white member of his audience with a machine gun, airing in the middle of Tuesday "family hours."

He was also an actor, appearing in films such as Lady Sings the Blues, The Mack, Uptown Saturday Night, Silver Streak, Car Wash, Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, Which Way Is Up?, Greased Lightning, Blue Collar, The Muppet Movie, Stir Crazy, Bustin' Loose, Some Kind of Hero, Superman III, Brewster's Millions, Critical Condition, Harlem Nights, and Lost Highway.

Hicks was a very controversial comedian who talked about religion, politics, and philosophy. He criticized everything from politics to abortion and told members of the media that they should "kill themselves" because they're "Satan's spawn." If he were born in the 90s and was a comedian in 2021, his material would be considered extremely offensive. Even his routine on Late Show with David Letterman was so inappropriate and offensive that it was entirely cut from the broadcast and never aired until 2009 in a censored version. Hicks later died from pancreatic cancer in 1994. Years later, he received a cult following and is regarded as an underrated comedian. During his lifetime, he was also a musician, playing guitar and songwriting.

She was a stand-up comedian until she got the opportunity to star in the television sitcom Roseanne, which received critical acclaim. She sparked controversy when she performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a deliberately disrespectful manner at a nationally aired baseball game in 1990. After the song, Barr grabbed her groin and spat. She was widely criticized by baseball fans and Americans. It was even called "disgraceful" by then-President George H. W. Bush. Shortly after Roseanne was revived, she sparked controversy in 2018 when she made a racist tweet, causing the show to be canceled. She later called it a "bad joke."

He is infamous for the two topics he talks about: politics and religion. In 2001, very shortly after the 9/11 attacks, on the ABC show Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, he disagreed with then-President George W. Bush calling the terrorists "cowards." He argued about America's relationship with the rest of the world, along with foreign policy. He was widely criticized for the comments and forced to apologize and explain their meaning. The show was canceled the following year but was saved with Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, which still airs today.

Another controversy occurred in 2017 when he said, "I'm a house N-word" on Real Time. People called for HBO to fire him. He apologized on the show and had a discussion with Michael Eric Dyson, Ice Cube, and Symone Sanders about the controversy.

Daniel Tosh is mainly known for the Comedy Central viral clip show Tosh.0. He is noted for making jokes that are considered racist, sexist, homophobic, politically, and religiously disrespectful. He explains that he is a non-politically correct comedian and says that he is not misogynistic or racist but finds these jokes funny.

In 2012, while Tosh was performing at a Hollywood comedy club, he made jokes about rape. A woman in the audience remarked that "rape jokes are never funny." Tosh responded that it would be funny if the audience member were raped by multiple men. The comment was very controversial, and Tosh later apologized for the joke.

Mooney speaks whatever is on his mind, usually about race and politics. During the days of Bush's presidency, he criticized the administration and compared Bush's mother to the Quaker Oats mascot. This was so controversial that Mooney would never again work at the Apollo. He also played a role in the Michael Richards controversy, announcing that he would no longer use the N-word in his performances.

His material is compared to the words of Bill Hicks and Bill Burr (known for F is for Family). He jokes about subjects like terrorism, misogyny, and suicide, which are completely fair game. In 2004, his jokes were so offensive that a total of 600 people walked out of one of his gigs.