I used to perform improv and sketch comedy (because I am a masochist).
The best stand-up I’ve seen live is Eddie Izzard, who I’ve seen three times now, the latest being his 2008 Stripped tour. Oh, he had me rolling. But it’s rare that I go to a club to see stand-up. There’s comedy theaters in NYC where I’ve gone to shows that didn’t have the seriously overpriced drink minimums. I hate those. I’m not paying $10 for a Coke.
Anyhoo, I’ve seen David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, Mark Maron, Kristen Schaal (she reminds me of Gracie Allen, reincarnated), Baron Vaughn, Aziz Ansari, Mike Myers and a lot of other people. I saw Tommy Tiernan in London when I was there (Ah! What a hottie!).
The first stand-up show I saw live was Eddie Murphy for his RAW tour years ago at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin when I was 19. I still have the stub!