In the late 1950s, a fresh, unconventional style of standup comedy emerged in sharp contrast to the standard "take my wife, please" approach. It tackled such previously taboo subjects as sex, religion, drugs, and politics, and ushered in an avant-garde era of comedy that was decidedly more cerebral, satirical, and improvisational than before. Practitioners of this new art form included jonathan winters, Bill Cosby, Bob Newhart, Shelley Berman, and, later, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, the Smothers Brothers, Steve Martin, Andy Kaufman, and Lily Tomlin, just to name a few.

Here are many of the maverick comedians who took those big risks years ago and paved the way for today's current crop of outrageous, in-your-face comics. many of these rare television performances have not been seen in 30 or 40 years.