Cutting Edge Comedians of the 60s 70s

In the late 1950s a fresh unconventional style of standup comedy emerged in sharp contrast to the standard Take my wife please approach It tackled such previously taboo subjects as sex religion drugs and politics and ushered in an avantgarde era of comedy that was decidedly more cerebral satirical and improvisational than before Here are many of the maverick comedians who took those big risks years ago and paved the way for todays current crop of outrageous inyourface comics Many of these rare television performances have not been seen in 30 or 40 years Carl Reiner amp Mel Brooks 1966 Jackie Mason 1961 Bob Newhart 1966 Shelly Berman 1966 Bill Cosby 1965 Jonathan Winters 1961 Smothers Brothers 1974 Steve Martin 1977 Rowan amp Martin 1964 Lily Tomlin 1975 George Carlin 1967 amp 1975 Richard Pryor 1967 amp 1974 Andy Kaufman 1977 Hendra amp Ullett 1966 Billy Crystal 1976 Jay Leno 1978 David Letterman 1979