The comedy world took to social network sites to mourn the death of friend and fellow comedian Patrice O’Neal who died Tuesday from complications due to a stroke he suffered last month. He was 41.
An outpouring of shock and disbelief flooded Twitter and Facebook following the sad announcement on The Opie and Anthony Show, where O’Neal was a frequent guest.
“Yes it’s true that our pal Patrice O’Neal has passed away. The funniest and best thinker I’ve ever known PERIOD.” Opie tweeted.
The funny, unapologetic comedian, who long suffered from diabetes, had been hospitalized since suffering a stroke on October 26.
Little was known about O’Neal’s condition following the stroke, until the news of his death Tuesday morning, which took many of his friends and fans by surprise.
“I couldn’t possibly love a friend more than I love you. Goodbye brother,” comedian Jim Norton tweeted Tuesday.
Comedian Norm MacDonald, wrote, “Patrice was the best comedian in the world, and he died at 41, completely unacceptable. He had a lot more to say.”
Jeffery Ross who performed with O’Neal during the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen, tweeted, “Tonight I’m feelin’ the loss of a funny, smart, important comedian named Patrice O’Neal. Roast in Peace, brother.”
“The entertainment world as well as the world at large lost a brilliant man today. Patrice had that rare “light” around him and inside of him. I only knew him for the few days leading up the Roast. Yet I will forever be inspired by his nobility, his grace and his epic talent. My tears today are for the tremendous loss to his true friends and loving family,” Charlie Sheen wrote.
Kevin Nealon: “Patrice O’Neal. Patrice O’Neal. Patrice O’Neal. Patrice O’Neal. Patrice O’Neal. Patrice O’Neal. Patrice O’Neal. Can’t say it enough. RIP”
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon posted clips of O’Neal and this message on its website: “Today we found out the unfortunate news that comedian and friend of Late Night Patrice O’Neal passed away due to complications from a stroke. Patrice was an incredibly talented individual and a wonderful person, and we were happy and fortunate to have him as a guest on our show.”
Bob Sagat: “Patrice O’Neal. So damn funny and so smart and such a giant heart.”
Joe Rogan: “RIP to my friend Patrice O’Neal, a great thinker, a great comic, and a great human being. He had a truly unique perspective on this world.”
Dane Cook took to Twitter and wrote, “I started my career w/ Patrice O’Neal. He was 1 of the best ever. Fond memories of road gigs, late night eats & laughs.”
Andrew Goldstein, who worked on O’Neal’s VH1 series, Web Junk 20 wrote, “Had the honor of writing for Patrice And to this day (and most likely for the rest of my life) I have never felt more of a sense of accomplishment than hearing Patrice O’Neal say to me, “ya that’s f*cking funny, I’ll say that.” Making him laugh gave me a confidence I had no business having at 25 years old with barely any comedy writing experience. RIP Big man.”
The Boston native, who quit football in college to major in theater arts began performing stand-up comedy in the early 90s and received national recognition with his first television performance on The Apollo Comedy Hour.
In 2002, following a brief writing stint for World Wrestling Entertainment, O’Neal became a regular guest on the short-lived Comedy Central series, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.
O’Neal’s first half-hour HBO special came in 2005 and he often appeared on several television shows, including a reoccurring role on NBC’s The Office and Fox’s The Jury.
In 2008, O’Neal voiced the character of Jeffron James for EA Games’ popular and controversial video game Grand Theft Auto IV and hosted his own radio podcast and web series called The Patrice O’Neal Show- Coming Soon!
This past February, O’Neal’s first one-hour comedy special, Elephant in the Room, premiered on Comedy Central to rave reviews.
The hard-edged East Cost comic was infamous for his “crowd work” which often led to confrontations with audience members who would walk out during his performance.
“A lot of people walk out of my show, O’Neal said during an interview. “If I’ve got 250-300 people in the audience, 20 will walk out. I average about 20 walkouts, which is good. Because everybody else stays, and I love that. That’s what comedy is. Not everybody should be laughing at everything at the same time. That’s not even natural. My thing is to feel natural, because I don’t want to feel like I could just make people laugh at every single joke, every single time, with the same decibel level.”
“I like to be loved or hated – I don’t like mediocrity. So I’d rather have the entire crowd hate me than to have 90 percent hate me.”
O’Neal, who was a week shy of his 42nd birthday, is survived by his wife Vondecarlo, stepdaughter Aymilyon, sister Zinder and mother Georgia.
Matt Roberts is a freelance writer from New Orleans, LA, and has written for other well known publications. When not dodging hurricanes and oil spills, he enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife of 14 years and their large family of dogs.
Interview Favorites: Check out an interview with Patrice by our editor, Tasha Harris.
