It’s a sad day. A very gifted comedian has apparently taken his life. I first really noticed Richard Jeni when he appeared in the Jim Carrey film “The Mask”. The guy had a great sense of comedic timing, and I didn’t even know at the time that he was a stand up comic (I’ve always been surprised that he didn’t do more films).
In the years that followed I had the chance to watch and listen to several of his comedy concerts. This guy was nothing short of hilarious. I’d put him in my top 10 favorite comics. He always made me howl. Then this news came:
Stand-up comedian and actor Richard Jeni, a regular on NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” has died in an apparent suicide, police said on Sunday. Los Angeles police spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said a woman called police on Saturday morning from the West Hollywood area and said: “My boyfriend just shot himself in the face.”
Jeni, 45, was found alive and taken to hospital but was pronounced dead about an hour later, Eisenman said. Jeni appeared in movies including as “The Mask” and in the TV show “Everybody Hates Chris,” and was named in 2004 in the Comedy Central list of 100 great stand-up comedians.
I’ll never understand the riches and money and fame that these people have… but I’ll also never know or understand the pressure and stress that goes along with their lifestyle either. All I do know is that one of the funnier voices in our world today has been silenced, and in a small way I feel that loss.
