Alex Biese, and Chris Jordan

Asbury Park Press

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Here in New Jersey, we know comedy.

Native sons and daughters of the Garden State have kept generations of folks laughing with a sensibility that can only be described as, well, Jersey.

When it comes to our funny men and women, let it be said that there’s a certain attitudinal edge, a willingness to go broad and/or blue when necessary, and, beneath it all, plenty of heart.

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New Jersey’s comedians have helped shape culture, proven to be innovators and trail-blazers in the arts and business, and, most importantly, they are really funny.

Want proof? Here are 12 folks from our area who keep them rolling in the aisles:

1. Jon Stewart (Lawrenceville) — It’s no exaggeration to say that for a few incredibly critical years, Jon Stewart was the voice of America. From behind the desk of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, Stewart provided reason, resolve and biting comedic insight, particularly during the show’s Bush-era heyday of 2002 to 2008.

Stewart came from humble beginnings, growing up in Lawrenceville and tending bar at the legendary Trenton punk club City Gardens. He was already a stellar comedian before taking over “The Daily Show,” but these days his impact can be felt across the American television landscape.

Simply look to how the likes of former employees Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and Samantha Bee continue to shape the national conversation — Stewart’s power and impact is beyond question.

2. Jerry Lewis (Newark) — Let’s put it this way: The comedy duo of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were huge. They exploded on the cultural landscape after World War II with Martin as the suave crooner who reacted to the rubber-faced Lewis’ kinetic and zany antics. The typical Lewis character is the lovable, yet sometimes mischievous, naif — trodden upon yet ever resilient and eternally optimistic. Not unlike Chaplin. They split in 1956 after 10 years and 17 movies together, but Lewis continued as a solo performer and soared in classics such as “The Bellboy” and “The Nutty Professor.”

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But if Lewis, who began his career in Lakewood, often portrayed clueless characters on screen, behind the camera he was anything but. He wrote and directed many of his hits, and developed a method of filmmaking in the early ‘60s called “video assist,” which became standard in the industry. In video assist, a crew could shoot a scene simultaneously with film and video so they could instantly review their work via the video.

He’s also a humanitarian, hosting the Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day telethon from 1966 to 2010 — and raising more than $2.6 billion doing it. He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his MDA work in 1977.

3. Bud Abbott (Asbury Park) and Lou Costello (Paterson): Who’s on third? It’s Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, arguably one of the greatest comedy duos of the 20th century. The pair successfully brought their vaudevillian style of guffaws to radio, the movies and even TV with their hit “The Abbott and Costello Show.” Theirs was big comedy, full of pratfalls, slapstick and plenty of slaps, too. Ouch! But underlying the physicality was a sharp wit and ability to wordplay with the best of them. Check out their classic routine, “Who’s on First,” for example. Oh, we have to give a special nod to the movie “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” as the funniest monster movie — ever. I saw what I saw what I saw.

Paterson has honored hometown kid Costello with a statue, so our question is: Hey Asbury Park, when are we going to get an Abbott statue?

4. Bill Maher (River Vale): It takes a Jersey guy to ruffle spectators’ feathers for nearly 25 years running. Maher has been a wry, frank stand-up for decades, but he’s made his biggest impact rousing rabble and holding court on television, first with “Politically Incorrect” and currently with “Real Time.” For some insight into his Jersey youth, check out his provocative and hilarious 2008 documentary, “Religulous.”

5. Ernie Kovacs (Trenton): As Frank Sinatra was an innovator when it came to the use of a microphone in singing, so was Kovacs an innovator in the use of the television camera for comedy. In the ‘50s, Kovacs was one of the first to use the instrument of TV for yuks. Thanks to quick edits, tilted cameras, wacky perspectives and other special effects, he turned the television into a wonder box of mirth and mayhem. Countless comedic shows followed suit, from “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” to “Saturday Night Live,” and certainly today’s viral video hits of today, like the crazy shot makers of Dude Perfect, are children of Kovacs’ original wacky vision.

6. Janeane Garofalo (Newton): For better or worse, Janeane Garofalo will forever be associated with the ’90s, thanks to her high-profile work during that decade in films like “Reality Bites” (1994) and television turns on “Saturday Night Live” and “The Ben Stiller Show.” But Garofalo made her first big splash on the stand-up stage, where she was the snarky and self-deprecating embodiment of ’90s spirit, and she’s still hard at work behind the mic today.

7. Flip Wilson (Jersey City): The comedy of Flip Wilson was big and broad, and more akin to a musical performance than a comedy skit. His setups would often lead into Wilson using a high-pitched female voice, a snap of the fingers and a quickening of pace — and laughs. In 1965, Johnny Carson asked Redd Foxx, “Who’s the funniest comedian out there right now?” “Flip Wislon,” Foxx said. That began an ascendancy for Wilson, leading to “The Flip Wilson Show” debuting on NBC in 1970. His catchphrases, “The devil made me do it” and “What you see is what you get,” and his characters, Geraldine Jones and the Reverend Leroy, took over the country. Time magazine put him on the cover as “TV’s First Black Superstar.”

8. Marc Maron (Jersey City): Before podcasting became a viable, mainstream media medium, Marc Maron was blazing that trail with his still-running series “WTF.” Since 2009, the show has found Maron in frank, engaging conversation with everyone from Mel Brooks to President Barack Obama. The episodes are a subtle showcase for Maron’s comedic skills — after all, great conversationalists and skilled comics alike both need to think on their feet all the time and have to expertly read a room.

9. Uncle Floyd Vivino (Paterson): Uncle Floyd Vivino is a New Jersey cult hero thanks to his “Uncle Floyd Show,” a modern take on vaudeville that had a run of more than 25 years on UHF, cable and even New York City’s Channel 4. Vivino and his wacky cast of characters would trade jokes and perform low-budget skits on the show. When not going for laughs, Vivino — with trademark bow tie, porkpie hat and test-pattern loud plaid jacket — would play the piano like a modern-day Jimmy Durante. Or he’d introduce bands on his show such as Bon Jovi, the Smithereens and the Ramones.

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10. Chelsea Handler (Livingston): Can we talk? In recent years, Chelsea Handler has gone from New Jersey native comedian to one of the reigning chat show queens of the small screen. After hosting “Chelsea Lately” for years on E!, she’s now the star of Netflix’s first talk show, “Chelsea.” Handler’s star is continually on the rise, and she’s taken exactly zero prisoners on the way.

11. Joe Piscopo (Passaic): The talents of Piscopo are many. He can sing, he can impersonate and he can skewer his Jersey-ness while being proud of his home state. Piscopo, along with Eddie Murphy, presented a second gold age of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in the early ‘80s, while all but saving the show after the original cast left. His and Murphy’s “Ebony and Ivory” skit, where Piscopo plays Sinatra and Murphy Stevie Wonder, is considered by many among the funniest sketches in the history of the show.

12. Bill Bellamy (Newark): Bill Bellamy, a Newark native and Rutgers University graduate, was one of the mainstays of ’90s MTV, and he’s still bringing the laughs both on the small screen and in comedy clubs across the country. And you can catch him in his latest movie, “The Bounce Back,” when it hits theaters on Dec. 9.