10 Comments
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Bradley Gray's avatar

Great piece, Peter, and good to have you writing again.

Peter James's avatar

Thanks. Had to dive into the backlog for this one. Hoping to be done with this exceptionally busy season of life at the end of the summer once we move out to the suburbs.

Bradley Gray's avatar

Nice! Please let that mean you’ll be rocking to “Rockin’ the Suburbs” from here on out 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34u_3Z9_LUw

Peter James's avatar

I never stopped. It’s a state of mind!

Sherman Alexie's avatar

I’ve watched Elephant in the Room at least twenty times. Brilliance. O’Neal’s improvisations are genius and so is his precise scripting. I’m 100% certain that he had a crowd wrangler find that white woman somewhere else in the theater and escort her and her partner to those particular seats on his left. She was extraordinarily beautiful in any context but she needed to be exactly that beautiful for the jokes to hit their hardest. And then, through effective stage movement, he could pivot to his right, to the opposite direction, to include that black woman as part of the hilarious political commentary. Just amazing. “I’ve gonna put a white baby on a key chain. And gonna dress it really white, too. A pair of Ugg boots and sweatpants.” Killer.

Peter James's avatar

There truly was/is nobody like him. One of one!

Sherman Alexie's avatar

Yes!

Top Shelf Theology's avatar

Any conspiracy theories out there about him ackshually dying of Havana Syndrome or something? I mean that vaccinated egg shit was a little too close to home, I think somebody in Quantico made his death *rather* "untimely."

Peter James's avatar

Never saw any. But Occam’s BMI Razor would definitely point to a stroke.

Matt Ruby's avatar

Love Patrice O’Neal. Such a *presence*. I interviewed him a few months before he died! It's a fascinating convo. You can check it out here: https://funnyhow.substack.com/p/great-interviews-with-patrice-oneal