RIP Patrice O'Neal

November 29, 2011 10:48 AM

Comedian Patrice O'Neal passed away on Monday evening, following a stroke suffered in October. A few clips. Rest easy, Big Man.
posted by VicNebulous (50 comments total)

he had the greatest laugh ever (sorta-SFW)
posted by Mach5 at 10:53 AM on November 29, 2011 [5 favorites]

Way too young.

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posted by saturnine at 10:53 AM on November 29, 2011

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posted by rogueepicurean at 10:55 AM on November 29, 2011

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posted by pwally at 10:56 AM on November 29, 2011

I really thought he was going to make it.

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posted by SarahElizaP at 10:57 AM on November 29, 2011

Shit.

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posted by Navelgazer at 10:58 AM on November 29, 2011

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posted by Mr. X at 10:59 AM on November 29, 2011

Wow, that's terrible. He was a comedian's comedian.

A lot of the comedians Colin Quinn would have on Tough Crowd used to annoy the crap out of me, but I always loved Patrice O'Neal. And to die so young. So so sad.
posted by tittergrrl at 11:00 AM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Marc Maron's interview with the guy is one of the most interesting, and the most brutal, interviews Maron's ever done. He clearly had issues with women, not just on stage, but possibly in real life too. His success on Roasts is evidence of how brilliant insults can work.

I saw him in 2007 in a tiny club in Ann Arbor MI. My girlfriend of the time bought us tickets without knowing what he was like, and it nearly broke us up. He was sooo cruel and harsh with judgements about women in general, and directly AT this one woman not laughing in the front row, but my gf laughed the whole time--we were both dying at his Will To Power relationship advice. Then afterward she asked me if I agreed with him..."I'm not sure..." I said, sort of under the spell in a Defending the Caveman sort of way. She got superpissed. "But you were laughing too!" I complained. "Yeah but I had no choice! He's so good it didn't really matter how much I hated what he was saying--it was just so perfectly crafted." She claimed it was like being date raped almost. Seriously, she said that, and it was hard to disagree!

He was that good, and that broken--both somehow deeply right and wrong about the stark realities of heterosexuality. His material wasn't always mean: his bits about his struggle with diabetes are some of the most poingiant and insightful thoughts about self-control I've ever heard. Maybe if he was less hateful he could have been greater? Maybe he was great precisely because he never said a cautious or less than truthful word in his life? I doubt he knew how else to be, and I'm glad I got to see him in real life.

RIP big fella. I hope they serve cookies in heaven.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:03 AM on November 29, 2011 [19 favorites]

Here's his last special from this year on youtube: Elephant in the Room.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:15 AM on November 29, 2011 [3 favorites]

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posted by roll truck roll at 11:17 AM on November 29, 2011

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posted by DaddyNewt at 11:23 AM on November 29, 2011

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posted by Sphinx at 11:24 AM on November 29, 2011

o
posted by dr_dank at 11:26 AM on November 29, 2011

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posted by Gary at 11:31 AM on November 29, 2011

Flame on, T-Bone. Flame on.

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posted by Sys Rq at 11:34 AM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Damn! Is there some Tough Crowd curse similar to the supposed SNL curse? First Greg Giraldo. Then Patrice O'Neal. Jim Norton, Nick DiPaolo you better watch your backs!! :(

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posted by mrzer0 at 11:36 AM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

i had hoped the lack of updates after the stroke was just him healing and resting. :(
posted by nadawi at 11:38 AM on November 29, 2011

I used to work on Tough Crowd. I really hope you're wrong, mrzer0.
posted by Navelgazer at 11:39 AM on November 29, 2011

i had hoped the lack of updates after the stroke was just him healing and resting. :(
posted by nadawi at 11:38 AM on November 29

Me too. Just sucks. That laugh...the very definition of "infectious."
posted by VicNebulous at 11:47 AM on November 29, 2011

I was not familiar with him ... I watched the first of Potamacs links and tears of laughter are coming out of my eyes. He comes off to me as self aware and sympathetic at the same time as he mercilessly hacks in to his subject matter.
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 12:28 PM on November 29, 2011

So sad.

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posted by elvissa at 12:30 PM on November 29, 2011

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posted by Uther Bentrazor at 12:38 PM on November 29, 2011

That guy was hilarious - bummer.
posted by amazingstill at 12:39 PM on November 29, 2011

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posted by djeo at 12:40 PM on November 29, 2011

His one line about Somali pirates and having to wear something like flip flops, tuxedo pants and a mesh t-shirt made me actually fall on the floor.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:45 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

He was a regular third- or fourth mic on Opie & Anthony, and it didn't take long to understand that his humor had deep roots in his world view, which could be hard to fathom at times, but was obviously something he spent a LOT of time pondering. Agree with him or not, it was hard not to appreciate his perspective based on the amount of thought that went into it. His high-volume rants used to annoy me to no end, but over time he grew on me, and you could hear that there was some serious depth to the dude's soul. He was one funny man.
posted by VicNebulous at 12:45 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 12:45 PM on November 29, 2011

I was prepared to poop on this guy but his act does hold a mirror up to some of the uglier aspects of racism and sexism.
posted by Burhanistan at 12:49 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by doctor_negative at 12:57 PM on November 29, 2011

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posted by geekyguy at 1:03 PM on November 29, 2011

His one line about Somali pirates and having to wear something like flip flops, tuxedo pants and a mesh t-shirt made me actually fall on the floor.

He probably told several variations of that joke because it was just too good. The one I remember is him saying he's glad he doesn't living in Africa so he doesn't have to fight in a civil war with that as a uniform.
posted by Edgewise at 1:18 PM on November 29, 2011

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posted by whuppy at 2:01 PM on November 29, 2011

I just watched the entire Elephant in the Room show and now my face hurts from smiling too much.

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posted by Fizz at 2:15 PM on November 29, 2011

Straight people crack me up.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 2:56 PM on November 29, 2011

Can't say I was a fan but I remember some incredibly vicious cracks made by various so-called comics at the Charlie Sheen roast about O'Neal's presumed impending death. The poor guy was almost rendered speechless. I know those roasts are supposed to be all about the brutal sarcasm but geez.

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Damn! Is there some Tough Crowd curse similar to the supposed SNL curse? First Greg Giraldo. Then Patrice O'Neal. Jim Norton, Nick DiPaolo you better watch your backs!! :(

I hear some of DiPaolo's racist, sexist, dittohead, Tea Party-esque rants on the sports podcast he does with Artie Lange. Unless he's putting on a big act with that crap, I can't say I'll be posting any dots after his death.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:04 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

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posted by tristeza at 6:28 PM on November 29, 2011

I  heard about his death via Office Tally. 

Patrice was a stand-up comedian and best known to The Office fans as Dunder Mifflin warehouse worker Lonny.

Rest in peace, Sea Monster.

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posted by dorkydancer at 7:12 PM on November 29, 2011

Jim Norton's been posting a lot of great pictures on his twitter.

Also a few funny stories. My favorite:

CORE dinner around 2003. As Laura Bush spoke, Patrice kept bellowing, "Your husband's gonna get us allllll killed"
posted by SpiffyRob at 9:09 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

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posted by Soulfather at 9:20 PM on November 29, 2011

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dammit.
posted by bayani at 10:18 PM on November 29, 2011

I saw this guy at the third floor of the Hong Kong in Harvard Square in, must have been 1996 or 1997. He was insanely good. I don't even remember the jokes. Something about throwing a baby. He killed. I am glad he became as famous as he became.
posted by escabeche at 10:41 PM on November 29, 2011

I never heard of Patrice O'Neal before the Charlie Sheen Roast, which wasn't really that memorable. But I just watched "Elephant in the Room" and just about fell out of my chair.

It says on his wiki that he moved to Los Angeles and in discussing his frustrations about breaking into the business and how they took their toll on him, he said: "I'm telling you, if I'd have had a gun back then, I would have shot myself."

That's really sad. R.I.P. I'm looking forward to listening to the Maron interview in its entirety.
posted by phaedon at 11:50 PM on November 29, 2011

God Speed you funny fucking motherfucker.
posted by Divine_Wino at 12:36 AM on November 30, 2011

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For those who haven't heard it, I recommend listening to his interview with Marc Maron on Maron's WTF Podcast; it's just great, one of the most interesting, thoughtful, morally challenging (and funniest) interviews I've heard.


Here's the direct download link (mp3, 20 MB)
posted by Auden at 2:19 AM on November 30, 2011

It says on his wiki that he moved to Los Angeles and in discussing his frustrations about breaking into the business and how they took their toll on him, he said: "I'm telling you, if I'd have had a gun back then, I would have shot myself."

I listen to the Sirius Uncensored Comedy station all the time, and due to this news, they've been playing alot more Patrice the past couple days. On the way home from work last night, they were playing his Unmasked interview, and he said this exact same line. It was an interesting interview, talking about going to England to do shows and having to fight the crowds (but once you fight them and win, you got their respect), as well as the idea of being a "boutique" comic - 10,000 fans paying $100 to go see him is much better in his eyes than having to appease a million strangers. The whole thing is great, and it looks like it is on youtube.

Rest in peace, big guy.
posted by mysterpigg at 7:21 AM on November 30, 2011

The Patrice tribute this morning on XM's Opie & Anthony was priceless. In addition to the hosts, Colin Quinn, Louis CK, Jim Norton, Bob Kelly, Joe DeRosa, Rich Vos, Amy Schumer and others gathered and threw relentless barbs at each other while reminiscing about some classic Patrice moments. Perhaps the best observation was that O'Neal's regular appearances on the show were more insightful than his stage act, as he spent hours just shooting the shit and riffing about whatever the next topic was. It was simultaneously hilarious and really sad, and if you get a chance to listen to the replay @ 3-7 PM Eastern today, do so. The only thing missing was...Patrice.
posted by VicNebulous at 1:18 PM on November 30, 2011 [2 favorites]

The O&A episode is on YouTube, actually.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

It's entertaining, certainly, but it's tough to listen to his voice interacting w/the people who are eulogizing him. But it's a nice reminder that he was one hell of a comic.
posted by revmitcz at 9:25 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by msali at 9:48 PM on December 5, 2011

14 hours of Patrice O'Neal on the Opie and Anthony Show
posted by clorox at 12:57 PM on December 6, 2011