I keep mentioning this Harlan Ellison quote I read -- I can only paraphrase it now -- but he says something like "There is no such thing as a funny right-wing comedian because comedy is all about pointing out absurdity, and if a right-winger tried to do that he'd wind up shelling his own troops."

I very much agree with this. One time, a friend asked me what I thought the difference was between "good bad taste" and "bad bad taste." I told him that I thought the former subverts the status quo, while the latter upholds it.

His bravery was beyond humbling.

The right has Gallagher. Smashing a watermelon apparently counts as subversive among the conservatives.

And don't forget Victoria Jackson. On second thought, try to REMEMBER Victoria Jackson.

Charles,
That is bloody sad.
Regarding comedians, you may have a point ...now. But in the 60s and earlier it might not have been so. Bob Newhart (now since retired?) remains a very funny man. And, without knowing his political stance could easily be center-Right. Still, there is an element of the subversive. Point taken.

Dennis Miller is kinda right wing. Jeff Foxworthy isn't super right-wingy, but he's still conservative.

But of course, both of them are only funny when they're NOT joking about something political.

Ron White

Larry the Cable Guy (pretends to be one kind of conservative, while actually being another)

Billy Gartrell

Nick Di Paolo

Drew Carey is Libertarian

I'm sure there's others not springing immediately to mind.

@8: Ron White might have an accent and drink Bourbon, but he's not very conservative.

Is he not? Hmm. Sounds like an excuse to rewatch Tater Salad and see.

@8,

Who?

Are you kidding?

Who?

Who?

Are you kidding?

We're talking about *funny* comedians, not people who have the word "comedian" on their resume.

And there are comedians whose acts are apolitical who are generally considered objectively funny, or at least were at the time they were active. Some were/are conservatives (Bob Hope comes to mind), but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a comedian who makes conservatism part of his act who isn't widely regarded as an unfunny hack.

Yeah, Ron White is pretty non-political. He's definitely not super right wing; he's in favor of marijuana legalization for one thing.

I think he's funny as hell. Oh, and he drinks scotch, not bourbon.

@11 - Larry the Cable Guy is not my cup of tea, but there's plenty that would disagree. Everyone else on that list has been pretty funny at least a few times in their life.

Re: Ron White, I agree that he's funny as hell. Tater Salad is largely apolitical, but he does do an anti gun-control bit and a pro death penalty bit, but he also does a bit on how stupid homophobia is. So, it's probably fair to call him a Texas Liberal.

@12 - Is there any chance that "widely regarded" means "among my liberal friends"?

@16 of course that's what @12 means. Also their comment #11 shows that they know fuck-all about comedy.

"I've never heard of these wildly successful comedians nor do I find them funny therefore they aren't wildly successful nor funny."

Objective statements about a subjective art form just makes you look like a know-nothing asshole.

@12
Agree.