Robin Williams

Robin Williams didn't so much perform stand-up as detonate it — an improvisational speed and range that made every other comedian on this list look composed by comparison. Reality... What a Concept (1979) captured him early, manic and already inventing characters mid-sentence faster than the audience could track; Live on Broadway (2002) caught him older and, if anything, still accelerating. He won Grammys for his comedy recordings, but awards were never really the point with Williams — the point was that no two performances of the same bit ever came out the same way twice.