Who got funnier as they went along, and who started out great and then slowly receded? Eddie Izzard was much funnier when he started than he is now. I think much the same of Taylor Tomlinson. Phyllis Diller was basically one joke, and it got old fast.
Bob Newhart was funny starting out, and I think he got funnier the longer he went. Rodney Dangerfield got funnier, Jonathan Winters got funnier. Oh, come to think of it, I think Steve Martin takes the prize for continuing improvement.
Try some more on me.
3 comments:
John Candy got a lot better with age, I think. Sadly he didn’t get much age.
Bill Nye started well, but may have overextended himself--the lecture circuit seems kin to stand-up comedy.
Twain developed (if I have the timeline right, not unnaturally) a bitter streak that makes some of his work unpleasant.
Perhaps comedy demands novelty and there's only so much you can do from a few sources. When what for you is the low hanging fruit is gone, later work is more strained.
Dave Barry improved with time, though I think he want into a decline about the time he gave up his newspaper column.
Steve Martin is a special kind of case, as even though he has received pretty much every award and accolade that can be bestowed in his field, he still seems to be underrated.
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