Bill Hicks

Bill Hicks died of pancreatic cancer in 1994, at 32, having never had the mainstream career his material deserved — and then became more influential after death than most comedians manage while alive. Relentless (1991) and Revelations (1993) turned observational comedy into something closer to philosophy: rants on advertising, consumerism, and politics delivered with real anger underneath the jokes. Comedians who came up afterward, Joe Rogan among the most vocal, still cite him as a formative influence. He's the answer to "who's the comedian's comedian" more often than anyone else on this list.