Comic Richard Jeni dead, police investigating possible suicide

[mcscajun]

Damn, damn, damn, DAMN!
==============================================

ASSOCIATED PRESS

12:14 p.m. March 11, 2007

WEST HOLLYWOOD – Richard Jeni, a standup comedian who played to sold-out crowds and was a regular on the “Tonight Show,” died from a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide, police said Sunday.

Police found Jeni alive but gravely injured in a home here after responding to a call Saturday morning from Jeni's girlfriend reporting the comic had shot himself, Los Angeles Police Officer Norma Eisenman said.

He died after being rushed to a nearby hospital.

Eisenman said she could not confirm that Jeni had killed himself and said the investigation was ongoing. She said the female caller told police: “My boyfriend shot himself in the face.”

More at link. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070311-1214-ca-comicdead.html

Ironically, one of my favorite pieces by him was a bit from several years ago, on how love songs could drive you to kill yourself. :(

This is another, on political extremism (*both sides*) that I found on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhw8DFSGzvg

[melody]

1. He was so damned funny

This is horrible -- just f'ing horrible, nothing else can be said, except words from the man himself:

About all the religion against religion wars: "You're basically killing each other to see who has the better imaginary friend."

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

2. always loved his grumpy old man bit

then dana carvey ripped it off, right down to the catchphrase

[mcscajun]

3. Refresh my memory on that catchphrase, please?

?

[TroglodyteScholar]

8. Just guessing here, but would that be "...and we liked it" ?

RIP

[mcscajun]

9. That seems semi-familiar.

Odd thing. His official site is down, naturally, but Laugh.com has a recent promo for his tour still up. Guess nobody's gotten the word to make a change yet.
http://www.laugh.com/main_pages/comicpage.asp?cid=23

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

10. that's the one

saw jeni do it on the tonight show in the 80s.
about two years later, carvey's doing it almost verbatim on snl-same setup, exaggerated memories and delivery of the punchline. either he got jeni's blessing or he ripped him off.

[Evergreen Emerald]

4. how sad

I feel for his girlfriend who found him.

[Up2Late]

5. This sucks.

:(

[mcscajun]

6. Indeed it does.

I'd never gotten to see him live, but I've seen most of his HBO stuff. Funny, funny guy. There's precious little of his material on YouTube. I'll wager some more will be forthcoming now.

As to his death, I'm not going to speculate on causes; I know we'll hear more about this in the coming days.

It's just sad. :(

[wicket]

14. So sad

:cry:

[bermudat]

7. I loved his brand of humor. I even watched his TV show.

His transition made me sad, especially since he was so young (well, lot younger than me).

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

11. Oh, no, this is really sad. Of any comedian, I always knew I'd laugh my ass off at Jeni. He captured

so much rich fabric of life in his routines, and even when he sounded bitter, there was this compassion there.

:cry: :cry: :cry: MKJ

[AwakeAtLast]

12. Noooooo!

I really liked him. This is very sad indeed. :cry:

[Canuckistanian]

13. Back in his stand-up days, I often got him confused with Jerry Seinfeld

He looked somewhat like him and appeared on talk shows just as often. And they had similar routines.

This was well before Seinfeld's rise to fame, of course.

Too bad Jeni never made it big, like his colleague, Seinfeld.

Sad to see him go, especially like this.

[piedmont]

15. Comic Richard Jeni dead of apparent suicide

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17568683/

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Richard Jeni, a standup comedian who played to sold-out crowds, was a regular on the “Tonight Show” and appeared in movies, died of a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide, police said Sunday.

[brothernature]

16. Conservatives have made this a world not worth living in for so many people

[Miss Chybil]

24. What a weird thing to say.

My grandmother committed suicide in 1978. I can assure you, politics was the last thing on her mind. May Mr. Jeni rest in peace.

[Marnieworld]

28. I'm sure it was more than that

Taking a step like that stems from great personal pain. So sad that he lost hope.

[Syrinx]

17. It makes one wonder

Judging from the outside, he was on top of the world. He wasn't the biggest star in the world, but he was very successful. It makes me wonder why he would want to end his life like that. Mental illness is such a sad thing.

[piedmont]

18. Depression is awful.

It's hard to treat, hard to know when to seek help in the first place, and very very dangerous.

[Syrinx]

19. I know

I was treated for depression when I was younger. It was bad, though I never got so bad that I considered suicide. Now, wearing my pajamas all day, that's another story. ;)

[piedmont]

22. I'm sorry you had to go through that

I know it sucks because it's happened to someone I dearly love.

[Syrinx]

23. thanks

Somehow I got over it. I took medication for a little while, though I don't even remember what it was called. Whatever it was, it made me feel ridiculously happy, but not exactly "high." I tried therapy for a while, but not for long, because it made me very uncomfortable. I'm not sure how I got over it all, because my life sucks as much as ever, but I just don't feel so bad about it anymore. :shrug:

Anyway, thanks for the nice sentiment!

[LeftyMom]

20. Seems like comics who don't have issues are the exception

The same quality that makes them unhappy seems to be what makes them funny in a lot of cases. :(

[Syrinx]

21. I've heard that

It reminds me of that Smokey Robinson song "Tears Of A Clown."

Richard Lewis is the quintessential "neurotic" comedian. I wonder how much of that is really just an act. It would be kind of funny if he's really the most well-adjusted comedian out there.

[Random_Australian]

26. Actually, it is for more than just comics. Practically any job that involves

smiling when you don't feel like it can lead to less enjoyment for many professions.

There is more for comics though. :(

[zanne]

29. Some of the comedians who suffered/suffer from depression are...

Ben Stiller, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, Rodney Dangerfield. I'm sure there are many more. There seems to be a thin line between humor and that dark place.

[WinkyDink]

32. The great Jonathan Winters had a breakdown.

[Jamastiene]

25. RIP

Suicide is such a sad ordeal. RIP

[Marnieworld]

27. OMG! I loved him.

I haven't seen him in a while but I always loved his act. Really laugh out loud funny.

Why is it that the clowns are the saddest ones of all?

RIP Richard. :cry:

[Bake]

30. Are we talking about the same guy??

As in, HBO special, "Big Steaming Pile of Me"?? Sorry, but he sounded a little bit to the right of Genghis Khan on that one. And he wasn't particularly funny. I'm sorry he took his own life, but I'm wondering if we're talking about the same person.

And he was certainly no Richard Pryor. Or Chris Rock. Or George Carlin.

Bake

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

31. He was an every-man's comedian. Every routine he did hit all the right notes.

I can't emphasize enough his ability to connect with men and women, with various factions in our population and make it scathing and caring.

I miss him already. :-( MKJ

[WinkyDink]

33. That was Jeni's special.

[WinkyDink]

34. He was among the very best, when the "Comic clubs on TV" was at its zenith.

I loved him.

[Marnieworld]

35. me too

And it would be sad to have him die now but to know that he was so sad in the end makes it even more tragic. Hurts more. For someone who gave so many people so many laughs and smiles (brilliantly and originally) to, at the end be so miserable just is so unfair. I hope somebody replays his specials. :cry:

[Jimbo S]

36. Is he the guy who does Bush on "The Tonight Show"?

[anotherdrew]

37. he was on Dr. Katz once season 3 ep 1 Monte Carlo

I thought he was very funny on that. It's a miserable loss

[newscott]

38. Never heard of him.

[PlanetBev]

39. Jeni was lethal...

I remember watching him on TV with a friend in 1997. We smoked a fatty and laughed so hard, I peed in the rug. Thank God it was my rug and not someone else's.