Patrice O'Neal: Killing Is Easy

As a huge fan of Patrice, I was worried that this would be some watered down affair, since it was made by Comedy Central, but I think they did the big guy justice.

O & A is mentioned in there, DiPaolo shows up for a bit and even Anthony can be heard, even though it's old footage. There's some new footage in there as well, and it was great to see them during the early years, when they would hang around comedy clubs.

It was also nice to see high quality footage from Tough Crowd. Maybe one of these days we will get that in HQ, it would be an even bigger gift to his fans than any documentary could ever be.

Although there were laughs to be had in here, it was the more dramatic aspects that stood out the most to me and those alone are enough of a reason to see this, if you're a fan.

If you're not familiar with the guy, you're better off watching Elephant in the room first, or even better, his O & A appearances on youtube.

The only negative thing I can say about this documentary are the animations, they're a bit cheap and out of place.

PS: Props to Bill Burr as well for being a friend till the end, and pushing for this.

I just can't help but to get emotional when I think about Patrice, his impact on my life, and what could have been. The documentary is excellent, it covers his childhood, growing up, his start... you see how he became what he is. It also shows what it costs to be like him, someone that stayed loyal to his core... almost to a fault. The right people are featured to talk about him, because they knew him best. I feel sad now feeling the same feeling I did when he died, and it's a feeling of "wow, there's no more new Patrice stuff out there anymore" even though the documentary shows a great amount of never seen before material. I just hope somehow, someway, Patrice gets to know how impactful he was on so many lives.

Nice work....i have to say more or the review wont load. Nice choice by the producers. The bar has been raised. I want to think there is more on Patrice to come. But we can rest a min.. right?

Patrice O'Neal: Killing is Easy, the new documentary produced by Comedy Central, explores the life story of the late comedian from his early life, breaking into the Boston comedy scene and career. The documentary fills in those missing gaps of who he was through interviews from fellow comics and his family.

Patrice O'Neal was a standup comedian that I stumbled upon binging comedian clips on YouTube. He was considered one of the funniest comedians amongst comedians despite being unknown in the mainstream. Anybody familiar with Patrice O'Neal understands that he was an entertainer who left a lot to be desired.

The fact is, there's not a lot of Patrice content out there. Patrice has a total of 4 comedy albums, 1 was a filmed special and the other 3 were released posthumously, which you can binge through in an afternoon.

His comedic brilliance was on full-on display during his guest appearances on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and the Opie and Anthony show, delivering unfiltered loud-mouthed life philosophies on race and gender topics mixed with the savage roasting of anybody in disagreement or just plain near him. One of the funniest things I remember Patrice doing on Tough Crowd was propping up Kevin Hart on his lap and working him like a ventriloquist dummy to make fun of his height. That said, all this content is currently in the form of low-res clips scattered across Youtube and his funniest antics are only available as anecdotes told by comedians on podcasts.

In the most touching and endearing way to salute their departed friend, Bill Burr, Jim Norton, Rich Vos, Robert Kelly and Keith Robinson recreate the original comedian's table at the back of the Comedy Cellar where they sit together and share stories of Patrice O'Neal, which would be visualized as animated shorts. This famed comedian's table is where Patrice O'Neal roasted every comedian hanging out after their sets, which all the comedians unanimously credit his relentless roasting for toughening them up and making each other better comedians.

The documentary showcases his brilliance as a performer who arrived fully formed with a magnetic stage persona and quick fire comedic talent, something a comedian usually takes years to find and mold. Similar to Andy Kauffman, Patrice never saw himself as a straight-up comedian who aimed to get laughs, but as a philosophizing truth speaker who wanted to cut straight to the truth. In his words, his ideal audience would be 50% laughing, 50% groaning.

A testament to how much of a truth speaker Patrice O'Neal was in the doc is when the comedians talk about his flaws and how his straight talking nature hurt his career. Then it cuts to a clip of Patrice directly addressing his own problems to the audience in his act years ago. That struck and stayed with me.

I'd recommend this documentary to Patrice O'Neal fans and comedy fans. I easily could have watched an entire season of a show based on standup comedians sitting at the comedian's table telling funny stories. What was shared about his personal life through his family and girlfriend was endearing too.

It left even more to be desired.

Patrice is the one of the few comedians I can imagine deserving a doc like this but it's still shocking to see it happen. Truly important that it was made. Completely shows what you need to know about Patrice and from his closest family and friends. RIP Patrice O'Neal