R.I.P: Patrice O'Neal (1969-2011)

Man. When it rains it pours. First Greg Giraldo, and now Patrice O'Neal passes on. I saw on Twitter that he had a stroke a month or so ago and judging by the somber tone of the O&A announcement soon after, it sounded like things were not optimistic. Last word was that he had been moved to a rehabilitation facility, where he evidently passed on 11/29 at the age of 41.

Patrice had been around forever, but was riding on some recent mainstream buzz after his spot on the Charlie Sheen Roast and his recent Elephant In The Room special. I'm told that he also had an arc on The Office. In the wake of his passing, a ton of material has appeared on the interwebs, all worth checking out. I expect that there will also be a slew of not-especially well done retrospective stuff put out and hope a collection of the late, great Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn series is part of it. Whether you are a long-time fan or Patrice came on your radar after the news blitz about his passing, check out his specials and buy the posthumous record called Mr. P due to be released in February.  You can pre-order Mr. P here.

R