The Busy and the Sad

So, I've replied to the comments left over the weekend, sorry I didn't get to them before! And so, so awesome to see all the new commenters. I don't know where y'all came from, but it's really nice to have you here.

I was busy because I set myself a deadline, and wanted to be sure I met it, for a project I am totally freaking excited about. I'm only a small way into the process but seriously, keep your fingers crossed for me guys.

So I spent most of yesterday working. And eating ginger cake with custard, which is my new addiction. Unfortunately, unlike smoking, this one will totally make me fat if I'm not careful. I will say this for the English--they know how to make a damned dessert. Cakes with custard; cakes with cream; cakes with sauce, custard, and cream; cakes with jam and cream...it's a wonder I eat regular food at all. And I'm not usually such a sweets person (perhaps why the ginger cake has so caught my fancy).

A lot of things catch my fancy, though. I tend to get a little obsessive. Like, about fifteen years ago, my brother and I were watching one of those Young Comedians' Specials on Comedy Central. And this one guy came on, an unassuming guy who looked like every other comedian in that everday handsome kind of way. And he started talking about Jaws 4, and what a bad movie it is, and how you could be nothing but a spinal cord and still think it's a terrible movie. The bit lasted about five minutes, and my brother and I laughed so hard, I mean, the kind of laughter where tears are rolling down your face and you can't breathe and it feels so good it actually starts to feel bad, you know?

And next time the special was on we recorded that bit. And showed it to everyone who came to our house for like, a year.

So we followed the career of that comedian. We watched his HBO specials, we made sure if he was appearing on a talk show we caught it if we could. We were fans. Not stalker-y fans, like that crazy woman who handcuffed herself to Hugh Grant (which, I totally sympathise, but if I'm cuffed to Hugh I want it to be for a good, kinky reason, not because I'm just that kind of freak), but fans just the same. If he was performing and we heard about it, if we could see it, we did.

Because he was so funny. Even his bad jokes were good. There was something so warm and likeable about him something that made you want to watch more and more.

His name was Richard Jeni, and he died yesterday morning in an apparent suicide.

This is intensely upsetting. I miss my brother. I miss watching Jeni with him. I miss home.


RIP Richard.

(PS You can view the Jaws 4 bit here. I should point out that this clip is from The Tonight Show and not the Young Comedians special, so is not the version my brother and I had. Still funny, but cut for time so missing some of the nuances.)


richard jeni