Actual, laugh-out-loud funniest musicians

I saw some threads about funniest quotes/lyrics but not the actual, most consistently funny people in music. I have fairly narrow criteria for inclusion:

-no one too dickish-seeming (Warren Zevon, Randy Newman, Steely Dan, Ice-T, Ice Cube)
-no vaguely affable bros (Dave Grohl)
-no guys I'm offhandedly classifying as "art/fart" (Zappa, Ween, Residents)
- no one who simply likes/liked to be adjacent to funny people (Mac DeMarco, Keith Moon, Tyler the Creator)
- no outright comedy/novelty guys (Weird Al, Tenacious D, Flight of the Conchords)
- being writerly and sometimes witty is not enough (Elvis Costello, Nick Cave)
- quotable interviews are not enough (Courtney Love, David Lee Roth, Grace Jones)
- obviously no one on record as trying to be funny but always failing (Madonna, John Mayer, Eminem)
- I love the Beastie Boys and think they're funny, but their humor to be too self-consciously hip/self-referential to be among the VERY funniest.
- Miles Davis could be very funny, but at the end of the day might be too evil.
- too much inherent tragedy/baggage (Biggie Smalls, Azealia Banks, Steve Albini)

So it should be people who are some combination of either really funny in their songwriting, public persona, or private lives, including if you can't always tell whether it's intentional or not. Here's who I have so far:

David Berman
Jon Wurster
Bob Dylan
Prince
George Harrison
Tom Petty (deadpan and self-effacing, plus had lol-funny lines on Larry Sanders and King of the Hill).
Sparks (not always funny, but often enough to make the list)
Jarvis Cocker (I deferred to my wife on this one; the Michael Jackson stage-crashing and his explanation for it was funny)
George Duke (based solely on this

posting a single "lol" in the groupchat while everyone's riffing pic.twitter.com/JlwmMMS6DX

— puds (@havingalaugh) November 22, 2022

Robyn Hitchcock

100%

Bob Pollard can be pretty funny sometimes.

Dolly Parton was absolutely my first thought. Not sure why you've included Liam Gallagher when one of your exclusions is "no one too dickish-seeming", though.

Alex Lifeson

Garth Brooks

Ian Gillan's sense of humour is renowned, both in his lyrics and onstage. His very English sense of comedy often flies over the heads of American crowds.

Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt is the funniest musician I've ever encountered. The guy takes Scandinavian dryness to absurd levels.

And yeah, Rush are totally up there. Their post-2000 concert videos are brilliant surreal comedy. Look up Lifeson's story about Ace Frehley and "The Bag", too.

Liam is there because he's effective at clowning on bigger dicks (transphobes, Tories, his brother)

Open Mike Eagle

Brian Chippendale

Phil Elvrum

Guessing Biz Markie would have been a hoot to hang around.

Biz would be added for beatboxing the Meow Mix jingle on Roxanne Shante's "Def Fresh Crew" alone.

Agree w some of these others but especially Rush, and I'm not really a fan, but they do seem like funny guys to know.

Randy Newman is no less funny but, I suspect, a lot more open-minded than Prince (!) ever was. Don't see why he gets excluded.

Paul McCartney

Tom Waits

I mainly know Randy Newman's biggest songs and I just don't like his whole deal. I might be wrong.

it's an outright schtick much of the time, and often a good one, but Tom Waits has even had some off the cuff lines that have made me LOL. Mark E Smith could transcend his dickishness too.

Donald and Walter

Oh wait sorry, exclusion noted

Warren Ellis
Richard Thompson
Robert Fripp
Leonard Cohen

john prine
matt korvette (pissed jeans)

To hear Alex and Geddy's tales of life on the road in the early days, it's the guys In UFO that are the real cut-ups.

Blixa Bargeld

Lou Reed

Mark E. Smith

I think he's funny too, but surely Cohen epitomizes "writerly and sometimes witty"?

Todd Snider

cam’ron

Tennant and Lowe, especially when interviewed by Chris Heath

I'd exclude Liam, who, based on the personal experience of a close friend, is Not A Very Nice Man

Liam Gallagher is not and has never been funny.

Yes to Lou Reed, who definitely had some of the flaws I outlined at the start, but his life was so large it encompassed a key number of things he said/did that were undeniably funny. Similar story with Prince.

Andy Partridge, historically

All Robyn Hitchcock needs to say on stage is "trousers" and that's enough to get all the older men roaring.

xposts yes that too

rick wakeman has sort of funny cabdriver energy if you're in the mood for that sort of thing

there's the Police in that 2000 interview I return to a lot

Prince Paul

Marc Ribot has a book out that is drily funny in places

Nope, Liam is on the list because his dumb tweets make me laugh.

pic.twitter.com/u9u0m9OI2y

— tay (@hairball1952) August 27, 2024

Not going to post any others but this one got me as well.

Liam Gallagher forever part 4. pic.twitter.com/TlP7QlCnb2

— 🎃 Dave Scheidt 🎃 (@DaveScheidt) August 26, 2024

anyone not following Ryley Walker on X is missing some very irreverent and uproarious content

Yo La Tengo, collectively, seem to have a pretty great sense of humor

Boots Riley-- both on record and as a filmmaker

John Lurie

Noise rock entry: Michael Gerald of Killdozer

I admit I'm not well versed in his solo career but I know the basic career arc of the Beatles what did George Harrison do to earn the "funny one" moniker post Hard Days' Night? He seems like a humorless scold most of the time, especially in his lyrics.

Kirsty MacColl

what did George Harrison do to earn the "funny one" moniker

Funded/produced a lot of British comedy films, I guess? Not sure I totally buy it, either.

xp he loved doing elaborate pranks, e.g. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/george-harrison-prank-phil-collins/

Yeah, pranks are surefire proof of someone who isn't funny.

Do children's musicians count? When I was a very little kid, age-4-5 or so, I rofled a LOT listening to Joe Wise. A lot of his songs were wistful, or scary, or overtly religious, but sometimes they were super funny. They played his records in my classroom and I begged my mom to get them for me, which she did!

MF DOOM

Oh doom was v funny. Lyrics that actually make me LOL funny.

totally. lots of rappers (and dancehall deejays) could be on here, but I can't really think of anyone funnier than Doom

Bill Callahan/Smog is p funny iirc

seconding all three members of Yo La Tengo

Dave Brylawski of Polvo was pretty funny

Mark E. Smith's lyrics are often hilarious but he's absolutely a dick

Mm, the ones who spring to mind immediately are Tegan And Sara, Jon Wurster and Geoff Travis

both the dudes from They Might be Giants are pretty funny, especially John F. it doesn't come through much on the records but when you see them live they're a lot funnier than you expect them to be.

2 chainz

Kathleen Hanna is legit one of the funniest people in music.

Also they’re definitely on the “art/fart” spectrum and definitely trying to be funny but I remember almost crying from laughter reading the Butthole Surfers chapter of Our Band Could Be Your Life along with a few interviews.

For crazy and funny stories, it is pretty hard to top the late Billy Joe Shaver. That dude was a nut.

Does Stephin Merritt survive the criteria from the OP?

Suggs maybe? Madness are inherently funny but not a comedy act. They have plenty of serious lyrics too (often obscured by their jolly demeanour).

Noel Gallagher is much more witty than his brother.

Ian Anderson can be pretty funny, in lyrics, interviews and banter. First time I saw him I had to laugh a lot. However, when I saw him on a different tour about a year later he repeated most of his jokes, which was quite sad. He can also be quite dick-ish (such as how he got Martin Barre out of Tull). So I guess he doesn't qualify.

Peter Gabriel. The guy jumped around on stage in a gigantic hamster ball!

Honestly, Phil Collins is funny as well. His performance in the I Can't Dance video. Naming his penultimate tour 'The First Final Farewell Tour' and the last tour & autobio 'Not Dead Yet'.

However he made an album called But, Seriously.

Also released a record entitled No Jacket Required which was, in fact, issued in a jacket.

Jeff Tweedy at his solo shows, at least in the 00s, had a real gift for comic timing

Joe Pernice is a trip. Last show I saw him at he spent half the set telling stories and jokes, had the whole place in stitches.

Bob Weston doing Q&A time during Shellac shows

The best Bob Dylan stories you know

In terms of interviews, Bob Dylan and Neil Tenant. (I'd include Randy Newman too.)

Oops--Tennant.

I don't have anything concrete to point to RE: George Harrison being genuinely funny, just an accumulation of anecdotes/impressions I've gathered over the years. Plus he of course got along with two other guys on my list (Petty and Dylan), so maybe that counts for something.

Phil Collins is more like his fellow drummer Dave Grohl: affable bro.

Most great rappers have their share of funny moments and of course MF DOOM was one of the funniest, if not the funniest.

Lana Del Rey might have the funniest taste in boyfriends that we've seen in a long time.

yeah phil collins is not funny, what the hell.

kylie minogue

Also released a record entitled _No Jacket Required_ which was, in fact, issued in a jacket.

The Art Ensemble of Chicago

Edwyn Collins actually wrote and acted in a genuinely good tv sitcom: West Heath Yard.

George Harrison funny:

"For a start, I don't like your tie"

Oh, and the "sod" punchline with Ken Dodd

At the only Art Ensemble show i saw Roscoe Mitchell was way into a hypnotic circular breathing trance - and i was too - when Malachi Favors leans down to the bass mic, blows up a paper bag and pops it

andrew falkous (mclusky)

chris isaak iirc

The year I spent being one of the merch folks for The Muffs was like living in a cartoon. I’ve never laughed so hard

Phil is funny. He writes and reads this like comedy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23fyY-2psCs

No mention whatsoever of Ian McCulloch?!?

big boi from outkast is in my hof funnyfolks solely for his appearance on mtv cribs. upon entering the bedroom, he motions to the bed and says, "and this is where i make my kids." but before he could even fully finish, he starts giggling and collapses into, "...nah, just playin."

Edwyn Collins actually wrote and acted in a genuinely good tv sitcom: West Heath Yard.

I didn’t know this, passed me by at the time. I suspect many others too as it’s not mentioned on his IMDB profile and just gets a passing mention on his Wikipedia page.

Anyway, someone has uploaded them all to YouTube, so I will check them out now.
https://m.youtube.com/@WestHeathYard