In my mind, he was the greatest stand-up comedian of all time. He died on this date in 1994 from pancreatic cancer. He was only 32. Here's a collection of some of my favorite bits:
The quality of this first video is low, but the content is great because he's performing at the 1990 Adult Video Awards, which was obviously an audience with which he felt very at home. It is a great example of how seamlessly he could take a concept and base other jokes off of it, then refer back to the original idea, deepen it, and make it even funnier. Over and over. To understand what I mean, he asks the question in an earlier portion of the set (not shown): "Does 'Do Not Disturb' mean, 'knock immediately' in Vietnamese?" Referring to his hotel cleaning ladies. Enjoy.
For the record, I am a huge fan of the hairy bobbing man-ass.
This is a classic bit, for those who are unfamiliar with his work:
One of the reasons why I really like him is because he was more of a philosopher than a jokester funny man with a schtick, who spews one liners and aims to please. On the contrary, he often offended and alienated audiences with his ideas, which probably prevented him from achieving the mainstream success he deserved. To me, this attitude is what makes him so admirable. He said whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted- not to shock people, but to convey his sense of indignation, frustration, and love of a world for which he felt very ambivalent. (Alas! The tears are welling in my eyes as I write! Not)
Here he is in London, spewing his philosophy-- or the way he ended many of his shows:
He wrote this right before he died:
"I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit."
Beautiful.
xoxo.
2 comments:
Thank you so much for those clips.......I had never heard of him before.
leigh
I am always happy to introduce newbies to his brilliance! Glad you enjoyed it. I recommend youtubing "Ninja Bachelor Party".
xoxo.
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