I was a big fan of the late Richard Jeni, who I think was one of those stand-up comics who never got the attention he deserved. He was an imitator of no one and a guy who always scored big any time I saw him live or in one of his comedy specials. This special (my favorite) was called A Big Steaming Pile of Me and he recorded it at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Irvine, California. It aired in 2005 and two years later, he took his own life…for what reason, folks who knew him seemed not to know.
I attended the memorial service for him and it was packed with top comics who all respected the hell out of him. You could tell because only one of them — well, maybe two — got on that stage and tried to turn the moment into an audition for themselves. Most spoke of how fresh and inventive he was and how he did everything so well. Here he is doing everything so well…and yes, this runs close to an hour but if you stick with it, I think you'll feel it was an hour well-spent…