Ask comedians who the best of their generation was, and Patrice O’Neal’s name came up again and again. He died at 41 in late November 2011, about a month after suffering a severe stroke that left him unable to speak.
O’Neal had been doing stand-up since 1992, including time on the UK circuit in the late 1990s. His style was conversational, confrontational and brutally honest, especially about men, women and relationships, and he was famous for turning a hostile crowd into the best part of his set. Radio listeners knew him from frequent appearances on The Opie & Anthony Show, and TV viewers from roles on The Office and Arrested Development.
2011 should have been his breakout year. Elephant in the Room, his first hour-long Comedy Central special, arrived in February, and in September he stole scenes on Comedy Central’s roast of Charlie Sheen. Instead it became the year comics lost one of their own. His reputation has only grown since.
Sources: Chortle.
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