RIP Patrice O’Neal

Today’s article was originally an ode to the gushing fire hydrant of failure that The Walking Dead has become. I made several attempts at completing it, but my mind couldn’t focus on the task at hand. My thoughts kept wandering back to the passing of Patrice O’Neal, which I had learned about earlier in the day.

For those of you unfamiliar, Patrice O’Neal was, quite simply, the most insightful comedian I’ve ever heard. An average comedian can make you laugh. A skilled comedian can utilize a deep understanding of his own life to offer some profundities on the human condition. Patrice’s abilities were such that he made you feel he lived a thousand lives from which to offer wisdom. Regardless of the topic, Patrice would, within moments, lay out such unique and patently true statements that you’d think to yourself “How did I ever see things in a way other than this?” Not to mention everything he said was funny as Hell.

The loss of Patrice is tragic for two reasons. First is the fact that the man never remotely acquired an amount of fame commensurate with his talent because of his refusal to play “the game.” A lot of celebrities pretend to be bad boys who live by their own code, but if they are famous enough that you’ve heard of them, fuck ’em, because it’s all for show. Patrice refused to get wrapped up in show business politics, and his exposure suffered for it.

The second reason is that, in addition to being a comedian, Patrice was a legendary guest on the amazing Opie & Anthony Radio Show. Of all artistic mediums, radio is the one that most intimately connects its fans to its performers, which makes anyone who knew him primarily through the airwaves feel his passing that much more acutely. I’ll miss Robert De Niro when he dies, but then I’ll pop on Goodfellas and it’ll be like I never lost him. The same goes for musicians and writers. Radio, because it normally doesn’t exist outside of the moment you hear it, is a much more precious and fleeting thing. And there are no scripts in good radio. What you hear is a man being himself. There is no one who can step in and play the part of Patrice. His voice is gone, and our lives are poorer for it. Rest in peace, O’Neal.

Enjoy a few clips of Patrice being fantastic on O&A below. Also, click here to pre-order Patrice’s final album, Mr. P., due out in February. Money from the sale goes to help his family pay medical bills, etc.

Tagged as: Opie & Anthony, Patrice O'Neal.