Chris Rock

Bring the Pain (1996) is the special people mean when they talk about a comedian arriving fully formed — sharp racial and political material delivered with a controlled anger that hadn't really been on HBO before, and it won Emmys for it. Bigger and Blacker (1999) proved it wasn't a one-off. Chris Rock's real skill was pacing: he could build a bit for three full minutes of escalating tension and land it exactly when the room couldn't take any more. Almost every comedian doing pointed political material since owes him something.