Comedians and dying young

tech77

There seems to be a good few famous comedians who have died young.

Bill Hicks is the obvious one (cancer).
Others mention Mitch Hedberg (drugs?) and you also have Andy Kaufman (cancer).

All these guys have a cultish following.

Undoubtedly, they were skilful, but i also wonder about the connection between their fame and their early death.

Or maybe "only the good die young" really does hold in this case.
I mean, Joe Pasquale is still knocking around.
^Joking.

What do you think.
Is death a good career move in comedy (so to speak) or do only the truly good comedians die young.

OK, this is just tongue and cheek musing but still, what do you think?

I think it's more of a case of only the young die good. They come at you like a comet, we get all the best stuff, then they perish, and we are left to wonder about what they might possibly have done.

Music is almost certainly the same. look at the hero worship of Jim Morrison/Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Who knows, what would have happened if Mick Jagger died young and Jim Morrison lived? Would we see a corporate Doors playing their 5th "last gig ever!" and would kids be wearing Mick Jagger t-shirts?

pappyodaniel

So many
John Belushi - drugs
Sam Kinnison - drugs/car crash
Chris Farley - drugs
Lenny - Bruce

All American, all drug addicts, all (well the first 3) were fatties.

Dermot Morgan died too young, a big loss to Irish comedy.

Sir Gallagher

pappyodaniel wrote: »

So many
John Belushi - drugs
Sam Kinnison - drugs/car crash
Chris Farley - drugs
Lenny - Bruce

All American, all drug addicts, all (well the first 3) were fatties.

Dermot Morgan died too young, a big loss to Irish comedy.

Some dude named Bruce killed Lenny in the end.

pappyodaniel

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

Some dude named Bruce killed Lenny in the end.

Well spotted

Brilliant!

BaZmO*

Papa Smut wrote: »

I think it's more of a case of only the young die good. They come at you like a comet, we get all the best stuff, then they perish, and we are left to wonder about what they might possibly have done.

Music is almost certainly the same. look at the hero worship of Jim Morrison/Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Who knows, what would have happened if Mick Jagger died young and Jim Morrison lived? Would we see a corporate Doors playing their 5th "last gig ever!" and would kids be wearing Mick Jagger t-shirts?

I think you've hit the nail on the head. Dying young is kinda the same as never having to produce the "oh so difficult second album"

Musicians, like comedians, when they start out have a lifetime of material and experiences wrapped up in their first batch of material/work, so it sounds fresh and exciting. It's when they have to follow it up with new stuff that the really hard work begins. Dying young makes that follow up material unnecessary.

pappyodaniel

BaZmO* wrote: »

I think you've hit the nail on the head. Dying young is kinda the same as never having to produce the "oh so difficult second album"

Musicians, like comedians, when they start out have a lifetime of material and experiences wrapped up in their first batch of material/work, so it sounds fresh and exciting. It's when they have to follow it up with new stuff that the really hard work begins. Dying young makes that follow up material unnecessary.

Do you really think this to be true? Even if it was subconsciously the case, most of these comedians mentioned aren't one-hit wonders and have a wealth of material left as a legacy.

My opinion of the reasons behind early death might be the fact that the chosen lifestyle of the hell-raiser comedian would stem from trying to gain life experiences. Most of our own funny tales and anecdotes usually start with "I was hammered the other night and....." --and the comedian knows this.

Pappy O'Daniel (armchair psychologist)