Tuesday,
March 13, 2007
Obit: Comedian Richard Jeni,
49 of Suicide, aka Richard John Colangelo
The
ANNOTICO Re port
In
1993, Jeni earned an American Comedy Award for
funniest male stand-up comic. More than a decade later, Comedy Central rated Jeni one of the 60 best stand-up comics. He was a frequent
guest on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show ", and then with Jay Leno.
Jeni was a perfectionist whose striving drove him to bouts with
depression.
By
Adrian G. Uribarri,
Times
Staff Writer
March 12, 2007
Richard
Jeni, a
Police found Jeni inside a
Jeni, whose real name was Richard John Colangelo, died less than an hour later at
Jeni's break into the national comedy circuit came in
1990, when he starred in his first Showtime special, "The Boy From New York City." The show received three CableACE awards, at that time the Emmy Awards'
cable-television counterpart. Two years lat er, Jeni's "Crazy From the
Heat" became Showtime's highest-rated stand-up special.
In 1992, the flurry of attention landed Jeni a
special on HBO, considered by many in the comedy industry the ultimate comic
platform. "Platypus Man" won the CableACE
Award for best stand-up special and attracted a sitcom deal with UPN. He went
on to host two more HBO specials, the last, "A Big Steaming Pile of
Me," in 2005, when he also wrote material for Academy Awards host Chris
Rock.
Throughout, Jeni piled up appearances on "The
Tonight Show": Johnny Carson invited him for stints as a stand-up
performer and panel guest, and when present host Jay Leno took over, Jeni continued a string of repeat visits.
The TV appearances led to a film career that included roles in "The
Mask," the raunchy documentary "The Aristocrats" and TV movie
National Lampoon's "Dad's Week Off."
In 1993, Jeni earned an American Comedy Award for
funniest male stand-up comic. More than a decade later, Comedy Central rated Jeni one of the 60 best stand-up comics.
Frank Kelley, manager of the Irvine Improv, where Jeni was slated to perform in May, called him "a total
perfectionist."
"He really had the audience by his hand, the whole time," Kelley
said. "I could tell just from listening to the laughter when Jeni was up onstage."
adrian.uribarri@latimes.com
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