The greatest comedy albums of all time, according to Robin Williams: “They’re hysterical”
Thanks to social media, streaming, and every comic under the sun seemingly getting a live stand-up special, modern audiences have more ways than ever to get their laughs. When Robin Williams was breaking through, comedy albums were the way to go, and he was raised on some of the greats.
While the Grammys still hand out an award for ‘Best Comedy Album’ every year, it’s not what it used to be. Sure, some big names have been nominated, and occasionally won, in recent years, but Dave Chappelle claiming six of the last eight has created something of a monopoly over a category that used to be a proving ground for past, present, and future icons.
Williams won it four times in 1980, 1984, 1989, and 2003, while some of the other legendary names to have taken home the prize over the years include George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Rodney Dangerfield, Eddie Murphy, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, and Mel Brooks.
One of them even became a heated rival, with Williams amazed by Murphy’s stratospheric rise from the stand-up circuit and Saturday Night Live to Hollywood success, even though he was hardly a slouch in that department. Still, if one comedian sees another in danger of usurping them from the top, it’s understandable that there’d be a tinge of jealousy afoot.
When it comes to the single greatest comedy album of all time, Williams couldn’t see past Richard Pryor: Live in Concert, which he literally described as such. As a theatrically released film, it became the highest-grossing stand-up movie of all time, a record it held for four years until it was surpassed by Pryor’s Live on the Sunset Strip.
As an album titled Wanted: Live in Concert, it sold more than 500,000 copies in the United States alone. Even though Williams is adamant that it’s the greatest live performance in the history of the medium, it didn’t win the Grammy for ‘Best Comedy Album’ that year. What did? Reality…What a Concept, by a certain Robin Williams.
When discussing his earliest comedy influences with Edward Norton, the Academy Award winner also namedropped a couple of inspirational acts. “The Goon Show,” he offered. “That was one of the best. But for me, the best comedy albums were Firesign Theatre. Nothing was as layered or funny as their stuff. Oh, they’re hysterical.”
In a similar fashion to Pryor’s Live in Concert, The Goon Show initially aired in a different format before being released as a record. In this case, the British troupe’s radio show was eventually rolled out as a series of records containing their signature anarchic brand of comedic chaos, while The Firesign Theatre appeared on radio, released dozens of albums, and made more than a few movies, too.
Three very different approaches to comedy, but all of them left Williams equally transfixed. He would pluck elements from all three and refine them into what became his unmistakable style, and no matter how many comedy albums he heard, nothing could come close to matching Pryor, The Goon Show, and The Firesign Theatre as the best of all time.
