tony law - HecklerSpray

The problem with comedy – and this really is a problem – is that while one member of a steamy love affair is rolling on the floor, begging for the jokes to stop, yelling that?it hurts. It bloody hurts. Arrrggggh! The other one is silent, arms folded, almost angry because they’re not laughing.

These jokers can actually destroy relationships. Hence, you might as well completely ignore the title of this piece, because, frankly, you might hate it. Others of you might love it. But some of you will definitely hate it. No one knows. It’s all just so deliciously subjective.

Even so, in the spirit of blowing away those January Blues using something made-up called a ‘laughter bomb’ (or ‘joke grenade’, or ‘funny gun’ – your choice), below are eight men and women who you might find funny… or not. The point about the subjectivity of this has pretty much been hammered home.

$five best stand-ups you\'ve never heard of$ Mainstream comedians are fantastic, aren’t they? Of course they are, why else would they be on the telly?

Dawn French, Lee Mack, Justin Lee Collins, Alan Carr… the list is endless.

Just thinking about them makes us want to round up every TV executive in a small room and hack the testicles off them that they haven’t even got in the first place.

And so the following is a list – in no particular order – of some of the most brilliant, unique, prime-time repellent and, therefore, largely anonymous comedians we’ve had the privilege to have never heard.

Read what we’ve got to say, watch and listen to what they have to say, fall in love and spread the word.

The Eight Greatest Living Stand-Up Comedians… Perhaps

The Five Best Stand-Ups You’ve Probably Never Heard Of