by Linda Joyce

Created on: January 14, 2009   Last Updated: October 15, 2009

Where would we be without comedy? Sure, we could spend all of our free time reading about Brangelina or Britney and their latest antics; but I ask you, who really cares? Most people love comedy. I know I'd much rather see a comedy than any other type of show. Even the medical community agrees that everyone needs to laugh, and that's what comedy allows us to do.

On that note, I'd like to salute my top women of comedy, who have tickled our funny bones over and over throughout the years. Some of them gave such vivid performances that various characters of theirs remain fresh in my memory decades later.

Here are my picks for the best comediennes of all time, both film and stand-up variety:

Lucille Ball, by far, was the best, in my estimation. This zany screwball comic had perfect timing and could produce so many different facial expressions, you might begin to wonder if her face was made of rubber.

Who could ever forget some of her best pieces? There's the chocolate factory worker, where she and Ethel stuff their faces with chocolates that they can't keep up with on the assembly line; stomping the wine grapes, only to find herself in a full-out grape fight with the other grape stomper; the William Holden skit, where she accidentally lights her putty nose on fire; and slowly I turn (with guest star Harpo Marx), to name just a few.

In my opinion, Lucy had pretty big shoes to fill. This beautiful redhead who originally started out as a chorus girl set the standard for TVcomedy back in the day, surrounded by a great ensemble cast, including Desi Arnaz, her husband; William Frawley, and Vivian Vance.

If you haven't been introduced to Lucille Ball and her brand of humor, watch a few episodes of I Love Lucy. This was her best series. Later ones, although funny, didn't compare to the originality of I Love Lucy. It was ground-breaking entertainment at its finest, and it continues to be shown in syndication to this day, almost 60 years after it made its debut!

Carol Burnett, another crazy redhead, was heiress apparent to Lucy. In fact, she and Lucy were good friends, and Lucy, early on, became her mentor. She started out with several appearances on the Garry Moore Show and then spent several spectacular years on her own variety show, where millions tuned in to see her weekly antics with Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and a huge variety of guest stars, including Cher, Lily Tomlin, and Roddy McDowall.

Are you old enough to remember some of her funniest

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