What is PeekScore?: PeekScore is a rank from 1 to 10, assigned to every person. The higher someone’s score, the “more important” they are on the web. In calculating your PeekScore and updating it often, PeekYou takes into account your known presence and activity on the Internet, including but not limited to; your blogging, participation in social networks, the number of your friends, followers, or readers, the amount of web content you create, and your prominence in the news. For first time visitors a more in-depth explanation of what the PeekScore is, and how to increase your own, can be found by clicking through here.
This is a survey we’ve been wanting to do for a long while, and the time just seemed right. We went through the hundreds and hundreds of stand-up comedians PeekYou has indexed, to determine which 50 are currently the most prominent and impactful here in cyberspace. This isn’t a gauge nor a comparison of their successes, and surely we are offering no commentary on the quality of their jokes. This is a look at the impressions each of these men and women have made and are making on the Web (their digital footprints, if you will, a concept explained in brief in the disclaimer above and more in-depth at the blog entry you can find by clicking through here).
We decided to keep it to active, performing stand-up comics, or at least those who have been active as stand-ups in more recent years. Some notable and important living stand-ups who are missing include Woody Allen, David Letterman, Jim Carrey, Albert Brooks, and more notably Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy – two of the most popular stand-ups who ever lived – as it seemed that once we started including those who hadn’t done stand-up in decades, we’d be forced to include every actor or performer who’d ever done stand-up at all (and those ranks number quite a few). We tried to keep it to those who are at least somewhat, or recently, active as live performers.
Any favorite comics you would have expected to see below? We have the full top 100 comics list compiled, and may be posting it in its entirety shortly. Many of those comics you believe missing from this list may just be bubbling under the top 50. Let us know if you want to see that 100.
Edited to add (8/12/12): Many commenters have come to the blog over the past day or so to make their assorted opinions on the list known (“lame list,” said one charming user, another asked if the list was compiled by a box of hair, which – while the meaning is not quite clear to us – we’re sure implies something bad). Two commenters, fairly enough, noted the absence of Joe Rogan from the list. He was surely involved in our original compiling, but simply at that time had a PeekScore which found him just out of the top 50. Upon receiving these comments, however, we checked again to see that Rogan’s score as of this writing – three weeks past when the list was initially compiled – finds him in the top 50. To minimize the quite possible wrath we might incur from additional readers, we’ve revised the list to now include Joe Rogan with his up-to-date PeekScore (no strangers to Internet commenters as we are, we’re already certain this will satisfy few if any).
| Rank | Picture | Name | Bio | Current PeekScore |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 |
Russell Brand | Arena headlineer in the UK, author of the best-selling My Booky-Wook, ex-husband of Katy Perry, star of numerous Hollywood flicks, and two time host of MTV’s VMAs.| 9.73 / 10.00 |
|
| 2 |
|
Ellen Degeneres | Host of daytime talk show Ellen. | 9.49 / 10.00 |
| 3 |
|
Bill Cosby | Creator and star of The Cosby Show, the first African American actor to be featured in a lead role on American TV (in I Spy), and legendary stand-up. | 9.25 / 10.00 |
| 4 |
|
Chris Rock | The creative force behind such classic stand-up specials as Bring the Pain, and star of numerous films. | 9.22 / 10.00 |
| 5 |
|
George Lopez | Host of the relatively recently canceled Lopez Tonight talk show on TBS. | 9.16 / 10.00 |
| 6 |
|
Jay Leno | Host of NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and notoriously NBC’s failed The Jay Leno Show. | 9.08 / 10.00 |
| 7 |
|
Robin Williams | Academy Award winning actor, and star of the 70s sitcom Mork & Mindy. | 9.07 / 10.00 |
| 8 |
|
Kathy Griffin | Star of the Bravo reality series Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. | 9.07 / 10.00 |
| 9 |
|
Tracy Morgan | Sometimes controversial star of NBC’s 30 Rock and former Saturday Night Live castmember. | 9.03 / 10.00 |
| 10 |
|
Jon Stewart | Long-time host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. | 9.03 / 10.00 |
| 11 |
|
Ricky Gervais | Co-creator and star of BBC’s The Office, multiple-time host of the Golden Globes, podcasting giant, and the co-creator of HBO’s Life’s Too Short. | 9.02 / 10.00 |
| 12 |
|
Dane Cook | Arena headlining comic. | 8.88 / 10.00 |
| 13 |
|
Ray Romano | Star of the long-running and hugely high rated sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond. | 8.71 / 10.00 |
| 14 |
|
Kevin Hart | Has done many highly successful stand-up specials for Comedy Central and was the creative force behind the short-lived 2004 sitcom The Big House. | 8.69 / 10.00 |
| 15 |
|
Scott “Carrot Top” Thompson | Oft ridiculed Las Vegas prop comic stalwart. It’s worth noting that unlike other pseudonymous mega-comics (such as Larry the Cable Guy and Earthquake) Carrot Top’s celebrity is great enough to find him with this large a PeekScore even under his real name. | 8.66 / 10.00 |
| 16 |
|
Louis C.K. | Very much “the comic of the moment,” he is the writer, producer, director, and star of FX’s critically praised Louie. | 8.65 / 10.00 |
| 17 |
|
Sarah Silverman | Writer and star of the stand-up film Jesus is Magic and the co-creator and star of Comedy Central’s now cancelled The Sarah Silverman Program. | 8.58 / 10.00 |
| 18 |
|
Joel McHale | Star of NBC’s Community and host of E!’s The Soup. | 8.51 / 10.00 |
| 19 |
|
Katt Williams | Recently retired from a massively successful stand-up career, played Money Mike in the film Friday After Next, and is the father of 8 children (7 of whom are adopted). | 8.50 / 10.00 |
| 20 |
|
Russell Peters | Indian-Canadian comic, currently one of the biggest comedy draws in the English speaking world. | 8.47 / 10.00 |
| 21 |
|
Bill Maher | Former host of Politically Incorrect, current host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, and the main creative force behind the documentary Religulous. | 8.46 / 10.00 |
| 22 |
|
Eddie Izzard | A rare arena headliner in both the UK and (at least parts of) the US, he’s also acted in such films as Ocean’s Twelve and Shadow of the Vampire. | 8.42 / 10.00 |
| 23 |
|
Jerry Seinfeld | Co-creator and star of the legendary and widely beloved and quoted sitcom Seinfeld. | 8.42 / 10.00 |
| 24 |
|
Joan Rivers | Groundbreaking, veteran comic and the subject of the recent, critically acclaimed documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. | 8.39 / 10.00 |
| 25 |
|
Roseanne Barr | Currently a blogger, activist, and presidential candidate, she was the main creative force behind most of the run of the enormously successful sitcom Roseanne. | 8.34 / 10.00 |
| 26 |
|
Chelsea Handler | Host of E! Entertainment Television’s Chelsea Lately. | 8.34 / 10.00 |
| 27 |
|
Jim Gaffigan | Best known for such incredibly popular stand-up specials as Beyond the Pale, King Baby, and his most recent self-released special Mr. Universe. | 8.32 / 10.00 |
| 28 |
|
Dave Chapelle | Famously exhibited nearly unheard of integrity by walking away from mega-stardom and his outrageously popular sketch program Chapelle’s Show. Briefly held the stand-up comedy endurance record after performing a 6 hour and 12 minute set in December of 2007. | 8.30 / 10.00 |
| 29 |
|
Jimmy Carr | A hugely popular stand-up and television presenter in the UK, with a bit of a following in the states as well. | 8.29 / 10.00 |
| 30 |
|
Lisa Lampanelli | Massively popular “insult comic.” | 8.29 / 10.00 |
| 31 |
|
Daniel Tosh | Star of Comedy Central’s high rated Tosh.0. | 8.28 / 10.00 |
| 32 |
|
Janeane Garofalo | Popular stand-up, political activist, and star of films such as Reality Bites and The Truth About Cats & Dogs. | 8.28 / 10.00 |
| 33 |
|
Lewis Black | Popular stand-up and the personality behind the long-running “Back in Black” segments on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show | 8.27 / 10.00 |
| 34 |
|
Patton Oswalt | Part of the cast of CBS’ The King of Queens and the voice of Remy in Pixar’s Ratatouille. | 8.25 / 10.00 |
| 35 |
|
Aziz Ansari | Co-creator and castmember of MTV’s popular sketch show Human Giant and part of the cast of NBC’s Parks and Recreation. | 8.24 / 10.00 |
| 36 |
|
Brian Regan | While never the subject of overt buzz, a hugely well respected and also quite popular veteran stand-up. | 8.24 / 10.00 |
| 37 |
|
Kevin James | Star of the popular sitcom The King of Queens. | 8.23 / 10.00 |
| 38 |
|
Joe Rogan | Former cast member of NewsRadio, host of Fear Factor, and UFC commentator. | 8.21 / 10.00 |
| 39 |
|
Steve Harvey | Current host of Family Feud and former host of It’s Showtime at the Apollo, he’s one of the comics featured in Spike Lee’s 2000 concert film The Original Kings of Comedy. | 8.16 / 10.00 |
| 40 |
|
Peter Kay | One of the most popular comics ever in the UK. During his 2010-2011 UK concert tour he did multiple night stands in nearly every major city’s arena, including a whopping 20 sold out nights at his hometown of Macnhecter’s Manchester Arena. | 8.16 / 10.00 |
| 41 |
|
Tim Allen | Did the voice of Buzz Lightyear in Pixar’s Toy Story trilogy of flims, and was the star of the popular sitcom Home Improvement | 8.16 / 10.00 |
| 42 |
|
Margaret Cho | Comic, actress, author, musician, she has appeared in such TV programs as Drop Dead Diva and her own 1994 starring vehicle, the short-lived All-American Girl. | 8.15 / 10.00 |
| 43 |
|
Demetri Martin | Star of the Comedy Central show Important Things with Demetri Martin and the 2009 Ang Lee movie Taking Woodstock. | 8.15 / 10.00 |
| 44 |
|
Donald Glover | Star of NBC’s Community, former writer for 30 Rock, popular rapper under the name Childish Gambino, and member of the Derrick Comedy sketch troupe behind numerous viral videos and the 2009 film Mystery Team. | 8.14 / 10.00 |
| 45 |
|
David Cross | One half of the team behind HBO’s Mr. Show with Bob and David, and an actor in numerous TV shows and films. | 8.14 / 10.00 |
| 46 |
|
Mindy Kaling | Writer and performer on NBC’s The Office and an avid and popular user of Twitter. | 8.14 / 10.00 |
| 47 |
|
Artie Lange | Troubled former member of Howard Stern‘s on air crew, and the author of the book Too Fat to Fish. | 8.09 / 10.00 |
| 48 |
|
Ken Jeong | Featured castmember of NBC’s Community. | 8.09 / 10.00 |
| 49 |
|
Lee Evans | Massively popular, arena headlining comic in the UK, and featured in such Hollywood filims as There’s Something About Mary and Mouse Hunt. | 8.08 / 10.00 |
| 50 |
|
Whitney Cummings | Creator and star of the NBC sitcom Whitney, and co-creator of the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls. | 8.08 / 10.00 |
| 51 |
|
Marc Maron |
Host of the popular, mostly stand-up-centric podcast WTF. | 8.05 / 10.00 |