This is a list of notable deadpan comedians and actors who have used deadpan as a part of their repertoire. Deadpan describes the act of deliberately displaying a lack of or no emotion, commonly as a form of comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blunt, sarcastic, laconic, or apparently unintentional.

List of deadpan comedians

Comedians and actors who have used deadpan as a part of their repertoire include: * Eve Arden * Fred Armisen * Bea Arthur *

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

* Richard Ayoade *

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom ''Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows ''Never Mind the ...

* Elliot Goblet * Todd Barry *

Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor, director and producer known for his roles of Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox/Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development (TV series), Arrested Development'' and of Mart ...

H. Jon Benjamin Harry Jon Benjamin (born May 23, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer and musician. Benjamin is primarily known for his voice roles in adult animated series, such as Sterling Archer in ''Archer'', Bob Belcher in ''Bob's Burgers ...

* Jack Benny * Maria Blasucci * Jo Brand * Steve Carell * Jimmy Carr * Michael Cera * Chevy Chase * Ronny Chieng * Louis C.K. *

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

* Stephen Colbert * Billy Connolly * Tim Conway * Jane Curtin * Andy Daly * Larry David * Jack Dee * Zooey Deschanel * Nathan Fielder * Judah Friedlander * Jim Gaffigan * Zach Galifianakis * Janeane Garofalo * Rhod Gilbert *

Dave Gorman David James Gorman (born 2 March 1971) is an English comedian, presenter, and writer. Gorman began his career writing for comedy series such as ''The Mrs Merton Show'' (1993–1998) and ''The Fast Show'' (1994–1997), and later garnered ac ...

* Charles Grodin *

Rich Hall Richard Travis Hall (born June 10, 1954) is an American comedian, writer, documentary maker and musician, first coming to prominence as a sketch comedian in the 1980s. He wrote and performed for a range of American networks, in series such as ...

* Tony Hancock * Jack Handey *

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his c ...

* Steve Harvey * Mitch Hedberg * Bill Hicks * Joel Hodgson *

Dave Hughes David William Hughes (born 26 November 1970) is an Australian stand-up comedian, television and radio presenter. He is known for his larrikin personality, drawling Australian accent, and deadpan comedic delivery. Hughes co-hosts ''Hughesy, ...

* Jeffrey Jones * Milton Jones * Jonathan Katz *

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

* Craig Kilborn *

Steve Landesberg Stephen Landesberg (November 23, 1936December 20, 2010) was an American actor and comedian known for his role as the erudite, unflappable police detective Arthur P. Dietrich on the ABC sitcom ''Barney Miller'', for which he was nominated for th ...

* Stewart Lee * Jack Levi * Sean Lock * Roger Lloyd-Pack * Norm Macdonald * Lee Mack * Demetri Martin * James May * Paul Merton * Larry Miller * Sarah Millican *

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

* Dan Mintz * Eugene Mirman *

Shazia Mirza Shazia Mirza ( ur, ) is an English comedian, actress, and writer. She is best known for her stand-up comedy, and her articles in British newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Daily Telegraph''. Early life and education Mirza was born in Birmi ...

* Dylan Moran * Eric Morecambe * Diane Morgan * Chris Morris * John Mulaney * Bill Murray * Kumail Nanjiani * Michael J. Nelson * Bob Newhart * Leslie Nielsen * Tig Notaro * Virginia O'Brien *

Nick Offerman Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics A ...

* Pat Paulsen *

Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English presenter, comedian, actor, voice-artist, producer and author. After working with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as producer on their XFM radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of '' ...

* Aubrey Plaza * Romesh Ranganathan * Dan Renton Skinner * Leonard Rossiter * Adam Scott * Peter Sellers * Sarah Silverman * Mel Smith * Ned Sparks * Martin Starr *

Joe Pera Joseph Pera (born ) is an American comedian, writer and actor. He is best known as the creator and star of Adult Swim's ''Joe Pera Talks with You'', which entered development following the success of the 2016 specials ''Joe Pera Talks You to Sl ...

* Jack Soo *

Ben Stein Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944) is an American writer, lawyer, actor, comedian, and commentator on political and economic issues. He began his career as a speechwriter for U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford before ente ...

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...

* Tim & Eric * Jackie Vernon * Abe Vigoda *

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awar ...

* Kristen Wiig * Joe Wilkinson * Fred Willard *

Steven Wright Steven Alexander Wright (born December 6, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and film producer. He is known for his distinctly lethargic voice and slow, deadpan delivery of ironic, philosophical and sometimes nonsensical jok ...

References

{{reflist, 30em Lists of comedians

List of deadpan comedians

See also

References