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The script may call for a comedian who gets the audience rolling in the ailes, however that doesn't mean they're actually FUNNY.  In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a movie with a comedian character who was funny....

There are plenty of funny comedians in movies.

It's SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE cast members who are never funny in movies....

Kinda OT but go rent Comedian with Jerry Seinfeld.  Not exactly funny but absolutely amazing.

I used to do some stand up and am going to start up again and have my own views. There are great comedians in movie, but would say it is difficult. A comedian that is sucking on stage, can use the barbs from a heckler to enhance his act, but what are you going to do in a movie? You audience isn't there, so if you are bombing, you are bombing. A great comedian can use the audience to his advantage, even a hostile one.

Someone once told me, "A comedian is funniest when they are broke". I believe that's true, given how much funnier Eddie Murphy was in the early 80's.

A fair point, but there are exceptions: Rodney Dangerfield was hysterical in Caddyshack and Back to School.  Also, Eddie Murphy made funnier movies when he was closer to his comedian days than he does now that he's been strictly acting for 20 years.

Animal House?
Caddy Shack?
Blues Brothers? (not ha ha funny, but good nonetheless)

The problem is you can't translate a stand up act to a movie, which needs characters, plot -- the sort of thing Hollywood in general has been moving away from.

And a 5 minute SNL skit does not work as a 90 minute movie (this has been said before, but it bears repeating until Hollywood promises to stop making SNL movies)

Hell, most 5 minute SNL sketches don't work as 5 minute SNL sketches, either.

While standup comedy and comedic acting are related in that both are performances, they aren't similiar enough to translate into being good at one is a guarantee of being good at the other. Standup like theater gives the performer immediate feedback, film acting is a whole other creature in that other than the crew on set and the director, the actor has no one to really play to.

 Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Bob Hope, etc. are the exceptions. George Carlin's best work in movies is usually in  supporting roles (like "Dogma", "Bill and Ted" or "Outrageous Fortune"), he seems incapable of playing a believable but funny leading character that could carry a film. Sam Kinison was funny for a few minutes in "Back To School" since it was basically his standup persona crammed into a film character for a few minutes. But would a whole film built around that shouting raging character be worth watching, I doubt it. Even Don Rickles is usually playing a toned down version of his mouthy insulting stage persona, look at "Kelly's Heroes".

Jerry Seinfeld has said he is too poor an actor to play anyone other than "himself" onscreen, although the episode of his show when he began turning into Kramer when they traded apartments was good, that was mostly mimicry of a broad character.

Eddie Izzard is very funny at standup and has shown he can be a decent actor as well ("The Avengers" not included). Most people think Steve Martin is talented enough to be funny at standup, writing, and acting. Although personally once I got past the age of about 13, he stopped being funny for me, "Bowfinger " and "Dad Men Don't Wear Plaid" being  rare exceptions. Different strokes/different folks.