Splitsider

Too many stand-up comedians have passed away this year, from the more well-known Patrice O'Neal and Mike DeStefano to the LA comic Angelo Bowers, who was killed after being hit by a drunk driver last week. Here's a thought-provoking essay on why stand-up comedy can be an unexpectedly dangerous profession.

We stay up late. Many of us drink and/or do other substances on the job. Much of this is done with the encouragement of our co-workers and management. Do you have a job like that? We have huge emotional swings. "I KILLED! I'M INVINCIBLE!" to "I ATE IT! I'M THE WORST!" And these can happen [...]

To Death,

It made me sad looking over the list of all the great people we lost in 2010, and I really don’t want to have to do it again. Here’s an agreement, me and you: if you promise not to kill anyone else funny between now and the New Year, which would mean this post would be out-of-date and would require me to feel bad for not paying more respect to said funny person’s life while they were still alive, I promise to only listen to songs by Grim Reaper for all of January, including “Lord of Darkness (Your Living Hell).” Kapeesh?

On a personal note: you’re doing [...]