Louis CK, Dave Chappelle, Lenny Bruce, more edgy comedians

Michael Richards

"Seinfeld" actor Michael Richards may have killed his career after a 2006 stand-up performance where he went off on a racist rant on some black audience members. He later apologized, but after 10 years, he's still known for this racially charged tantrum.

Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan, whose most notable role was as Tracy Jordan on NBC's "30 Rock," proved it only takes one incident to ruin your reputation. During a stand-up performance in Nashville he launched into a homophobic rant, where he claimed that if he had a son who was gay, he'd stab him. Though he later joked about the incident on "30 Rock," he's yet to live it down.

Lewis Black

Infamously angry comedian Lewis Black has made a career by taking complicated political matters and turning them into a hilarious one-liners. His stand-up has always been explicitly political and he doesn't discriminate, spewing hate at both Democrats and Republicans.

Roseanne Barr

Roseanne Barr gained her fame by wielding profanities and trampling suburban, middle-class values in her comedy specials and on her sitcom. However, in recent years her comedy has taken anti-Zionist views and she's faced criticism for comparing Islam to Nazism.

Chelsea Handler

Chelsea Handler says whatever is on her mind -- regardless of how vulgar or mean it may be. In 2011, she even angered the entire country of Serbia, whose defense minister called Amy Winehouse a "shame and disappointment." Handler fired back, "Well, so is your country."

Amy Schumer

Rockville Centre-raised Amy Schumer uses playful irony to point out the divide between the sexes. She often jokes about the messiness of sex, her love of food and feminism in her specials and on her Comedy Central show, "Inside Amy Schumer."

Lenny Bruce

Lenny Bruce, who was raised in Bellmore, was known as a trailblazer for outspoken comedians. He was arrested multiple times in the early '60s for using obscenities on stage, causing police to monitor his performances.

Lisa Lampanelli

Foul-mouthed insult comic Lisa Lampanelli tends to go for the jugular when it comes to minority groups and homosexuals, earning her the title, "The Queen of Mean."

Louis C.K.

Louis C.K. presents himself as the average hapless schlub but stings with his biting commentary about things parents think but don't say while raising children.

Andy Kaufman

Andy Kaufman, who grew up in Great Neck, loved to shock crowds with his bizarre characters like the sweet but hard-to-understand Foreign Man, aka Latka Gravas, or the obnoxious lounge singer Tony Clifton.

Cheech & Chong

Cheech & Chong dominated drug humor in the '70s with their stoner high jinks and massive promotion of marijuana.

Chris Rock

Chris Rock came to the forefront of stand-up comedy with his preacher-like observations about the racial divide in America.

Eddie Murphy, who grew up in Roosevelt, goosed audience members with his impressions of celebrities -- Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Mr. T -- if they were gay. He also raised eyebrows for his misogynistic rants about women in his concert film, "Raw."

Andrew Dice Clay was the first comedian to fill Madison Square Garden twice with his stand-up routine. Those routines were loaded with profanity and dirty Mother Goose poems delivered with a thick Brooklyn accent. His behavior even got him banned from MTV for life.

Richard Pryor's act was built on blunt honesty about his hard-partying lifestyle -- with drugs and women -- delivered in a well-crafted storytelling style peppered with racial epithets.

Daniel Tosh was scolded by anti-sexual assault groups for making jokes about rape. The snarky comedian claimed he was misquoted but apologized via Twitter.

Sam Kinison delivered material with his trademark scream, tearing apart religion and passages of the Bible involving Jesus Christ while seemingly hopped up on drugs and alcohol.

In addition to his HBO comedy specials, George Carlin was known for poking fun at American broadcast censors with his infamous routine, "The Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Television."