Goodnight, Mr. Jeni.

March 11, 2007 7:06 PM

Comedian Richard Jeni, 1957-2007.Even his website has gone dark.
posted by thanotopsis (46 comments total)

When I saw the post, my first thought was, "Jesus Christ. He committed suicide, didn't he."

He did.

.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:12 PM on March 11, 2007

He was quite good, though I didn't see as much of him as I would have liked.. I wonder what was going on in his life that led to this apparent suicide? Was he dying?
posted by newfers at 7:14 PM on March 11, 2007

That's incredibly sad. RIP.
posted by dbiedny at 7:15 PM on March 11, 2007

.
posted by sciatica at 7:15 PM on March 11, 2007

clips: 1, 2 warning, may need spoon
personally, i never got this guy's sense of humor. then again im a mac guy.
posted by phaedon at 7:16 PM on March 11, 2007

.
posted by LeeJay at 7:20 PM on March 11, 2007

.
posted by huskerdont at 7:22 PM on March 11, 2007

I wonder why there's confusion over his age. The AP article says he was 45 years old, but his website (and this post) say he was born in 1957, which, unless I'm missing something, would have made him either 49 or 50 years old, depending on what his birthday was.

In any case, it is a very sad story.

.
posted by cerebus19 at 7:22 PM on March 11, 2007

Incidentally, I was one of the very few people who actually watched the first (and only) season of "Platypus Man." Anybody else remember that? UPN launched with a whole slate of shows, and one season later the only one left was "Star Trek: Voyager."

It was pretty funny.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:27 PM on March 11, 2007

.
posted by owhydididoit at 7:28 PM on March 11, 2007

richard jeni's guest book
posted by phaedon at 7:31 PM on March 11, 2007

I don't remember many of the jokes from his Platypus Man HBO special, but I remember really liking the show. He was a pretty funny guy.
posted by Cyrano at 7:32 PM on March 11, 2007

btw, if he lived from 1957-2007, something is wrong, since the enclosed article lists him as being 45. Maybe the math discrepancy of his age drove him over the edge.
posted by newfers at 7:35 PM on March 11, 2007

(It's an LA city ordinance that everybody is supposed to lie about their age... just FYI.)

That's very sad. I have to say when I saw the picture of him with Chris Rock my first thought was, "Wow he looked sickly there." so I wonder if he had some health thing going on or if it was just a severe depression.

.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:36 PM on March 11, 2007

One of my first -very unkind- thoughts upon hearing this news was "I bet Barry Sobel's next". Stardom just for doing stand-up seems to be a dying phenomenon (compared to the 50s through the 80s).
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:42 PM on March 11, 2007

I posted this earlier today. Odd, and perhaps not particularly interesting, coincidence. I'm not really sure why that particular quote even occurred to me.
posted by Nabubrush at 8:01 PM on March 11, 2007

D'oh! Yeah, I don't know how to do that correctly. It was this:

It is a sad fact that 50 percent of marriages in this country end in divorce. But hey, the other half end in death. You could be one of the lucky ones!"
-- Richard Jeni
posted by Nabubrush at 8:03 PM on March 11, 2007

phaedon, great links. The first routine is terrific. I'd never seen him before. Now I'll never see him again.

Ditto on the 'no-one is famous for standup anymore'. The main reason is that pure standups now tend to shun TV because it is such a voracious consumer of material. Say you have a great 45 minute act which took you five years to perfect. You can use it all up on with one TV appearance, but it will sustain a healthy standup career for many years.

Does anyone else miss 'The Comedians' on YTV?
posted by unSane at 8:09 PM on March 11, 2007

.
posted by mike3k at 8:24 PM on March 11, 2007

I first saw him at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach in 1988, and I had the opportunity to work with Richard Jeni when I managed comedy clubs in SoCal in the early 90s. At that time, the division in professionalism (not to mention the damn good material) between the headliners and everyone else was crystal clear, and Jeni was one of the "pro's pros." On time, ready to go, high energy, and consistent set-your-watch-to-it sets that made everyone in the room -- everyone -- laugh. He was one of those guys whose names you were happy to see on the marquee for a week's worth of shows, because everyone on the staff knew that a) the shows would be good, b) the customers would be happy, and c) happy customers drink a lot and tip well. There were, like, five regular headliners you could say that about, and Jeni was one of them. Just a damn good guy all around.

I have no idea what led him to this point, but I'm sorry to have seen him go out like this.
posted by frogan at 8:25 PM on March 11, 2007 [6 favorites]

Not to sound morbid or anything, I wonder what sort of gun he used. I always get a little curious when I hear of people not dying instantly (or within seconds) of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Yahoo link says he shot himself in the face, I wonder if that is literal or did he shoot himself with the gun in his mouth or did he just take the side of his face off? Regardless, I wouldn't wish anyone to suffer after they shot themselves. The whole point of using a gun is to end suffering.
posted by Gnostic Novelist at 8:48 PM on March 11, 2007

.
posted by jeversol at 8:51 PM on March 11, 2007

RIP

I too wonder if he was recently diagnosed with something terminal. He definitely strikes me as the kind that would say "Hey, fuck you cancer."
posted by Ynoxas at 8:54 PM on March 11, 2007

. Poor guy.
posted by ColdChef at 9:09 PM on March 11, 2007

.
posted by maryh at 9:36 PM on March 11, 2007

.
posted by nonliteral at 10:08 PM on March 11, 2007

Back in the early/mid 90s when I first got Comedy Central, Jeni was all over the place, and he was awfully funny. He had a bit involving a call-and-response version of the National Geographic theme that seemed pretty ingenious.

I'd wondered, on occasion, what had happened to him, and why he never went farther.
posted by tingley at 10:17 PM on March 11, 2007

"[Religious militants] are basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend."

.

"Honesty is the key to a relationship. If you can fake that, you're in."

.

"You're in the desert. You got nothing else to do. Name the freakin' horse."

.

"If you want the full truth, honey? Yes! That waitress has some great tits! That's not my fault! You can't be angry at me! I didn't order them! THEY CAME WITH THE MEAL!"

.

"If you've gone on the far left or the far right of politics, you know what you've done? You've gone too far."

.

"All I'm saying is America is slightly less ridiculous than other places. I know there's things wrong. This is a comedy show. I don't wanna get depressing, but right here in the United States last year there were one million vehicle thefts, ninety thousand rapes and eighteen thousand murders right here in the U. S. A. And then the government said "enough is enough." They drew a line in the sand, and nailed Martha Stewart's ass to the fuckin' wall! And not a minute too soon! How were we supposed to sleep at night? Knowing that that sick bitch is runnin' around loose?"

.

I hope for his sake and not for ours, that when he pulled that trigger, he was laughing.
posted by ZachsMind at 10:49 PM on March 11, 2007

I'm not sure if there should be instruction manuals for suicide available on the Internet or not, but I wish there were instruction manuals on what not to do.
posted by BrotherCaine at 10:57 PM on March 11, 2007

.

Jeni was a master at stand-up, and a genuinely likable comic. I'd gladly trade a dozen Dane Cooks for one Richard Jeni.
posted by Down10 at 12:06 AM on March 12, 2007

Elayne Boosler has posted a tribute to Jeni on the Huffington Post.

.
posted by miss-lapin at 12:12 AM on March 12, 2007

Gnostic Novelist, he didn't die instantly. Reports say he was alive when the paramedics got there and he died about an hour later at the hospital.

I am so terribly sorry to hear about Jeni.

.
posted by smashingstars at 3:10 AM on March 12, 2007

.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:06 AM on March 12, 2007

.
posted by purephase at 5:14 AM on March 12, 2007

Platypus Man, the HBO special, not the short lived show, was one of my fondest memories of childhood, and what got me fascinated with stand up in the first place. This is very sad.

.
posted by khaibit at 6:21 AM on March 12, 2007

.
posted by any major dude at 7:36 AM on March 12, 2007

My first exposure to Richard was through the brief interview sequences in "It's Just A Ride". Of all the comics featured I found his thoughts to be among the most well articulated and insightful. May he rest in peace.
posted by prostyle at 8:16 AM on March 12, 2007

Jeni was a very gifted comic who never failed to make me laugh like a schoolboy. His exasperated,wry delivery and timing were perfect.

I remember the first time I saw him he did a skit on growing up poor ("..we were armless, legless lint suckers...) that made my face hurt I laughed so hard.

One of the greats. R.I.P.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 8:29 AM on March 12, 2007

Something about a comedian, especially one who was as funny and talented as Richard, falling somewhere so dark that he was driven to take his own life just breaks my fucking heart.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 8:57 AM on March 12, 2007

"You could call anything in the supermarket "I can't believe it's not butter!"

.
posted by autodidact at 9:34 AM on March 12, 2007

.
posted by mephron at 11:46 AM on March 12, 2007

I remember the first time I saw him he did a skit on growing up poor

God, that was an insanely good bit. But then, all the Jeni routines were fantastic- polished, master of the segue, more than just tiny bonmots haphazardly strung together, he could milk a concept for 10 minutes of laughs. He was a master of the craft- some of his stuff was a little behind-the-times, but jesus he had some good ones and could deliver his routines with a natural polish that is incredibly, incredibly rare.

I've long wondered why he didn't go farther, because like a lot of you I was first introduced to his stuff from those once-ubiquitous comedy shows that aired in the late 80's/early 90's. Stand-up comedy isn't as big as it once was, or so it seems, as most people see it as a venue to get your own show and the bigger money. He was in many ways one of the absolute best comics I've ever seen, yet far less talented comics (e.g.: Carlos Mencia) got far more success- and I hope that's not what drove him to suicide.

But I expect that among the inner world of stand-up comics, Jeni was known for being one of the very, very best- frogan's story supports the notion that behind the scenes he was the consummate professional, and anyone who's watched him work knows that he's hilarious, insightful, and a terrific performer- the complete package.
posted by hincandenza at 11:50 AM on March 12, 2007

My father (R.I.P.) actually passed out laughing while watching the "Good Catholic Boy" bit about women with emotional baggage. That is still one of the funniest memories of my life, so this news is especially hard to hear.

As I've gotten older (and so, SO cooler) I tend to watch "edgier" comics (Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, et al) but there is something so intrinsically entertaining about watching someone who was clearly just born to be a stand-up comedian. And "Platypus Man", though full of well-tread subjects, still holds up as some hilariously funny material ("Put your goddamn socks on Barabbas!").
posted by lattiboy at 1:49 PM on March 12, 2007

"What's wrong with you? You're in God's house right now!"

"God is in here? Okay. Well, he musta lost a bet..."

OW!
posted by ZachsMind at 6:22 PM on March 12, 2007

.

Damn
posted by UseyurBrain at 9:45 PM on March 12, 2007

From his site, from his family: "Earlier this year Richard Jeni was diagnosed with severe clinical depression coupled with bouts of psychotic paranoia."
posted by WCityMike at 10:45 AM on March 13, 2007