Poll of the Day > Dead Comedians Society

(+) Yeah! (+)

Lately I've been watching a lot of Patrice O'Neal's stand-up and interviews and been thinking about what a tremendous shame it was for the world to lose such a tremendously funny comedian long before his time.

I had only known of him while he was alive and had heard a good bit about his death, but it wasn't until listening to a lot of clips from Bill Burr's podcasts that I finally started to try to track down Patrice's work. As such, I kinda hate that I didn't get to follow his career while he was still alive.

Then, while driving home after a late dinner, I caught bits and pieces of a new documentary or book or something on Robin Williams. Part of it was discussing his death and insights into something forming on his brain (and, tbh, I had seen World's Greatest Dad not long before he died so at first I had some different ideas about his sudden passing), but then it included some bits from previous interviews as well as bits and pieces of his darker standup.

Honestly, it was a part of Robin Williams I hadn't really seen. When I thought of Robin Williams's comedy, I thought of the shitty riffing he did in Aladdin or the annoying goofball stuff from films like Patch Adams or, well, Mork & Mindy. Basically it was comedy that I didn't find all that funny. I tended to instead associate him with his serious work, like Moscow Over the Hudson, Good Will Hunting, and (of course) Dead Poets Society. But good fucking god, Robin was incredibly hilarious (and more than a bit off-color) in those clips. He was joking about Martha Stewart going to prison, substance abuse vs parenthood, etc.

When Robin Williams died, I didn't feel any kind of a personal connection, but after hearing this other side of him, I was again just feeling profoundly sad about a tremendous talent dying at least a few decades too soon.

Are there any comedians whose deaths really bum you out? And are there any stand-up comedians you'd recommend I check out?
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I hadn't really seen John Pinette until after his death, and I wasn't aware of his death when I was first getting into his work.

Mitch Hedburg and Chris Farley come to mind
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