Doug Stanhope

Deceptively abrasive, Doug Stanhope delivers a type of comedy that is more connected to the subversive honesty of Lenny Bruce and Bill Hicks than to the mainstream he consistently alienates with harsh jokes about starvation, suicide, hard drugs, the enslavement of the populace by corporate America -- all the favorites of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. At the same time, Stanhope's borderline "lowbrow" persona does not fit into the cool-kid category typified by such stand-ups as Patton Oswalt and David Cross. He replaced Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel on The Man Show, but, along with Joe Rogan, was blamed for ruining the beloved program. Stanhope's debut, Great White Stanhope, appeared in 1998. Over the course of 10-plus albums, the Worcester, Mass.-bred comic has honed his act from outrageous rants to pinpoint insights into American society and the human condition.