The Comedians' Comedian was a three-hour programme broadcast on UK's Channel 4 on January 1 2005. The show listed the top fifty comedians of all time, as voted for by fellow comedians and business insiders, rather than the general public.

Among the comedians were three double acts (making a total of 53 comedians), three members of Monty Python, 33 British comedians, 18 Americans, one Irishman, and one Canadian; 48 men, and five women.

The list

1. Peter Cook
2. John Cleese
3. Woody Allen
4. Eric Morecambe
5. Groucho Marx
6. Tommy Cooper
7. Laurel and Hardy
8. Billy Connolly
9. Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer
10. Richard Pryor
11. Chris Morris
12. Tony Hancock
13. Bill Hicks
14. Peter Sellers
15. Steve Martin
16. Ronnie Barker
17. Steve Coogan
18. Charlie Chaplin
19. Eddie Izzard
20. Paul Merton
21. Eric Idle
22. Peter Kay
23. Larry David
24. Rowan Atkinson
25. Bob Hope
26. Harry Hill
27. Victoria Wood
28. Spike Milligan
29. Christopher Guest
30. Michael Palin
31. French & Saunders
32. Eddie Murphy
33. Bob Monkhouse
34. Rik Mayall
35. Steven Wright
36. Ken Dodd
37. Les Dawson
38. Chic Murray
39. Stephen Fry
40. Joan Rivers
41. Joyce Grenfell
42. Phil Silvers
43. Jackie Mason
44. Eric Sykes
45. Robin Williams
46. Paul Whitehouse
47. Bill Cosby
48. Mike Myers
49. Ricky Gervais
50. Mel Brooks

See also

• Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time

External link

• The Comedian's Comedian on the IMDb

Comedy | Lists of top achievements