Comedy changed for the better from 2001-2010, offering more outlets for funny people to be funny than ever before. In addition to TV and movies, comedians have taken to the Internet to show off their sketches, stand-up, music, and of course tweets to show us how funny they really are. Here are 50 of the people who made us laugh the most since 2001 -- and trust us, it was hard to cut it down to 50. Vote for your favorite, and tell us whether you agree!
The Funniest People Of The 2000s
The Class Act: Conan O'Brien(01 of18)
His final "Tonight Show" plea: "To all the people watching, I can never ever thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism… it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”
The Stock Player: Bill Hader(02 of18)
As Stefon: "It's like that thing where ALF wore a trenchcoat so he could go out in public?" (credit:Getty)
The Snarky Newsman: Anderson Cooper(03 of18)
Robin Seaton Brown:
"I imagine a lot of people tune in simply to watch reporters get bitch-slapped by Mother Nature, and frankly, who can blame them?"
"I imagine a lot of people tune in simply to watch reporters get bitch-slapped by Mother Nature, and frankly, who can blame them?"
The Guy's Guy: Jimmy Kimmel(04 of18)
''Sarah Palin's book is number one on Amazon.com right now. Stephen King actually has the number two book. Very scary new book called 'Sarah Palin Becomes President.''' —Jimmy Kimmel
The Godmother: Betty White(05 of18)
"Oh, I don't need sleep. I just went to my hotel and had a cold hot dog and a vodka on the rocks."
The Dadaists: Tim & Eric(06 of18)
"What better way to talk about blues rock, not just some of that old blues, like the Stax stuff that was in the original Blues Brothers, but bring it into the 21st century with Aerosmith and Eric Clapton?"
The Snarky Satirists: Trey Parker and Matt Stone(07 of18)
"You know that everyone thinks that in order to do South Park we must be wild, crazy, rock and roll stars. But the truth is we're just wholesome middle-American guys. We enjoy soda pop, baseball and beating up old people just as much as anybody." -Trey Parker
The Late Night New Kid: Jimmy Fallon(08 of18)
"'President Obama said he probably won't read Sarah Palin's new book, because she'll sell enough copies without him. Meanwhile, President Bush said he probably won't read Sarah Palin's book, because it's a book.''
The Verbose Nerd: Patton Oswalt(09 of18)
On KFC's Famous Bowls: "America has spoken: pile my food in a fucking bowl. I don't give a shit. I just want a light brown hillock of glop. If you could put my lunch in a blender and liquify it and then put it into a caulking gun and inject it right into my femoral artery, even better. But until you invent a lunch gun, I would like a failure pile in a sadness bowl." (credit:Getty)
The Schlub: Seth Rogen(10 of18)
"Hey Doc Howard, Ben Stone calling, guess what the fuck's up? Allison is going into labor and you are not fucking here, you know where you're at? You're at a fucking bar mitzvah in San Francisco you motherfucking piece of shit, and you know what I'm gonna have to do now? I'm going have to kill you, I'm gonna pop a fucking cap in your ass. You're dead, you're Tupac, you are fucking Biggie you piece of shit, I hope you fucking die or drop the chair and kill that fucking kid... I hope your plane crashes! Peace, fucker!"
The Indie Kid: Michael Cera(11 of18)
"Bread makes you fat?"
The Brit of All Trades: Peter Serafinowicz(12 of18)
"How philosophers greet each other: 'Hello, why are you?'"
The Gentleman: Paul F. Tompkins(13 of18)
"Almost swallowed a live spider that hid in my water bottle and crawled into my mouth, so if you need me I'll be committing suicide all day."
The Comic's Comic: Brian Regan(14 of18)
"We needed a refrigerator for our new place and I've never bought a refrigerator my whole life. I went into the appliance store, there's like 900 of 'em lined up, there's a salesman there. What's this guy supposed to say about refrigerators? 'Well you got this refrigerator here, this keeps all your food cold for $600. You've got this refrigerator, this keeps all your food cold for $800. Check this out, $1400, keeps all your food cold.'"
The Chameleon: John C. Reilly(15 of18)
As Dr. Steve Brule: "You have smelly body parts? Smelly under your arms? In the armpits? Just put some vinegar on it! Why didn't you think of that?" (credit:Getty)
The Dry Wit: Michael Ian Black(16 of18)
"Got a salad at McDonald's, which is like getting a handshake at a whorehouse." (credit:Getty)
The Parodist Laureate: "Weird Al" Yankovic(17 of18)
"Whenever I hear somebody use the word 'literally' incorrectly, it literally makes my brain explode." (credit:Getty)
The Musician: Ed Helms(18 of18)
"Oompa loompa, doompadee dawesome, Dwight is now gone, which is totally awesome. Why was he gone, he was such a nice guy. No, he was not, he was a total douche. Doompadee doo." (credit:Getty)