The Laugh Factory comedy club in Los Angeles initially started keeping track of an endurance record in 1980. Richard Pryor, who was one of the first comedians to perform at the venue, originally set the record that year by performing for two hours and 41 minutes. When Pryor died in 2005, he still hadn’t been surpassed by anyone. It ended up taking 27 years for his record to finally be broken.

On April 10, 2007, Dane Cook took the crown from Pryor by doing a set that lasted three hours and 50 minutes. Just five days later, Dave Chappelle dropped by and blew Cook out of the water with a performance that clocked in at six hours and seven minutes. By the end of that year, Chappelle broke his own record after putting on a slightly lengthier show. His reign wouldn’t last much longer, however, as Cook took the stage less than a month later with a seven-hour and 34-minute set that’s yet to be topped.

Chappelle attempted to best Cook the following year, but things didn’t go according to plan. Five hours into his performance, Chappelle stepped off stage to use the bathroom and got himself disqualified. “There are only two rules,” club owner Jamie Masada said at the time. “You have to continuously tell jokes that are funny, and you can’t leave the stage, even to go to the bathroom.”

At one time, the Laugh Factory also held the Guinness World Record for the longest stand-up comedy show featuring multiple comedians. The 80-hour production included appearances from both Cook and Chappelle, among many others. In 2015, the record was beaten by NashvilleStandUp.com, with a show lasting 80 hours and five minutes. The record for the longest show by an individual (at least for now) belongs to Memphis comedian Benny Elbows, who performed for 40 hours and 16 minutes in April 2025; he was allowed a five-minute break every hour.