Saying Goodbye to Richard Jeni

I generally don't write posts about the death of a celebrity (Anna Nicole Smith was a notable exception), but again, I feel the need to write about someone who has recently left this mortal coil.

I was on the phone with a friend last night, and we were discussing celebrity gossip and she asked me to find a particular story on Perez Hilton. As I scrolled down the first page, I came across the story regarding Richard Jeni's apparent suicide.

You do not want to find out about something like that from Perez Hilton, even though the blog was very respectful of his passing. I had to pause the conversation for a minute to allow the enormity of the event to sink in(and to seek additional verification).

I was stunned to hear about this turn of events, and saddened as I remember the playfulness of his comedy and the personality that made those same jokes so appealing.

The world has lost another great comic before his time.

Elayne Boosler wrote a fitting farewell for Jeni at the Huffington Post, and I think it is worth reading as is an entry about his suicide by Andy Nulman, the CEO of Just for Laughs entry. There is some real insight from these two people who knew him, though it doesn't make the event seem any less momentous.

Tags: richard jeni, suicide, elayne boosler, andy nulman, eulogy