Bill Hicks is probably my favorite, but these guys gave me bellyaches as well... Richard Pryor George Carlin Sam Kinison
Out of that list, which I thought was fair - I picked and voted for George Carlin. He's one of the only "hard truth" comedians whose truths were actually hysterically funny. However, the one that absolutely slays me every single time I see one of their new standups is Kathy Griffin. She literally is going to become a legend. When people look back on this era on comedy and they find that people like Dane Cook seem to rule the comedy circuit... Serious critics of stand up comedians I honestly believe will agree that Griffin is the best mainstream "discovery" of comedy in a long fucking time. What is her competition?
Tough call between George Carlin and Sam Kinison. Both were excellent. It's unfortunate they're both dead.