Jonathan Winters

When I was a kid, I used to bring Jonathan Winters's album Another Day, Another World home from the library on a semiregular basis; I can still recite much of it, and I wouldn't be surprised if other family members could too. His ability to make up brilliant material on the spot floors me to this day. He can be hit or miss - it's hard not to miss with material that's only a few seconds old - but when he hits, it's dead center.

The biggest laughs usually come from non sequiturs that paint a vivid picture. In one of his routines as dirty old lady Maude Frickert, she explains how her nephew became the first man to fly: "He Scotch-taped a hundred forty-six pigeons onto his arms." At this, the audience breaks up so completely that he can't continue for a full thirty seconds.

Here's Jonathan as Maude with Dean Martin, who doesn't even try to maintain character as he sings "Embraceable You." Listen at 3:49 for one of those moments you never thought of before, but which you can see perfectly now.