Topic: New Patrice O Neal Documentary - Killin' Is Easy

[whatabulb]

looks interesting.  shame comedy central media player is so horrible.

https://youtu.be/h7lXFCSd_o0

be interested to hear if anyone manages to actually watch it

[up_the_hampipe]

Watched it today. It was a fairly honest documentary, which fits the man I guess. They did their best to highlight how brilliant he was as a comic, how sensitive and complicated he could be while also acknowledging that he was an asshole. There's some footage in there I hadn't seen before, including a set he did on a UK show (not the Comedy Store one). Definitely worth checking out.

[Ptolemy Ptarmigan]

Wonder if Piers Morgan is over her death yet.

I'm struggling to think of a stand-up comic whose delivery was as easy and effortless as his was, or seemed to be. Elephant in the Room is a great show, but he wasn't always so likeable on Opie & Anthony and the like (then again, who is?), and his attitude to women was dodgy if it was sincere.

Bill Burr, Jim Norton, Colin Quinn and others are in it, but you wouldn't know it from the trailer. Hopefully someone will leak it to youtube.

[whatabulb]

Watched it today. It was a fairly honest documentary, which fits the man I guess. They did their best to highlight how brilliant he was as a comic, how sensitive and complicated he could be while also acknowledging that he was an asshole. There's some footage in there I hadn't seen before, including a set he did on a UK show (not the Comedy Store one). Definitely worth checking out.

can i ask how you managed to view it?

i signed up to the comedy central free 24 hour account thing on their media player but it just gives me a completely black screen...

and yes his attitude to women was very dodgy i reckon.  but safe art is kind of boring.

[up_the_hampipe]

I used Comedy Central, but you need a VPN to view it here.

[Retinend]

This is a must-watch. O'Neal was someone who was too good for this world, so to speak: self-defeating at every turn. There are a lot of big names in this and they are clearly still in awe of him. He was the quintessential comedian's comedian and felt an obligation to fulfil that role in how he conducted himself: as if in a film of his own life.

One of my favourite moments was Bonnie McFarlene saying how watching Patrice O'Neal talking about women felt like

"taking the red pill? or is it the blue pill, I always get those mixed up".

Indeed, O'Neal was a popular celebrity voice appropriated by the "manosphere" led by pro-rape activist Roosh V.

[MortSahlFan]

This is a must-watch. O'Neal was someone who was too good for this world, so to speak: self-defeating at every turn. There are a lot of big names in this and they are clearly still in awe of him. He was the quintessential comedian's comedian and felt an obligation to fulfil that role in how he conducted himself: as if in a film of his own life.

One of my favourite moments was Bonnie McFarlene saying how watching Patrice O'Neal talking about women felt like

"taking the red pill? or is it the blue pill, I always get those mixed up".

Indeed, O'Neal was a popular celebrity voice appropriated by the "manosphere" led by pro-rape activist Roosh V.

Agree... I like him more than his comedy... Good documentary. Hopefully some other comics (and audiences) see this and have some guts, stick your neck out, be funny and tell the truth, instead of the corporate-sponsored approved unfunny inane trendy bullshit.

[millwall32]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ldmznm5sxw
Bit so-so according to this.

[Retinend]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ldmznm5sxw
Bit so-so according to this.

Sounds like fan-nit-picking to me. He says that they handled his favorite parts of O'Neal's career in a "brief and superficial" way, yet the documentary had the man's life to cover in 90 minutes, and he doesn't seem to appreciate that he's a superfan and the documentary was intended for any casual Comedy Central viewer. 

It seems like he's one of these people who likes O'Neal because of his association with Opie and Anthony... and this fanbase is an extremely mixed bunch.

Instead of this documentary, it seems that what he wanted was a "RED PILL" guide to the "philosophy of O'Neal", as it was (he actually uses the word "philosophy" without qualification) - he complains that they "sugar-coated" his views on race, and complains about how they omitted a supposedly famous clip of him "abusing strippers until they cried" to demonstrate how cowardly the documentary regarded his uncompromising attitude towards women.

Yet the documentary that I saw covered these topics at sufficient length. If we didn't directly hear that clip, I think the point about his sexism was already implied by his friends and spouse telling us he was no different on- and offscreen, and by us hearing the sorts of things he had to say in his act about women being a "series of holes", and his celebration of infidelity.

On that point, this reviewer also seems to have a big problem with Bonnie McFarlene appearing on screen because he presumes her being in the documentary is merely a kind of affirmative action.

[Joe Oakes]

Full thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L2hzy-WCbQ

Finding it hard to get through, can almost hear the ghost of Patrice whispering “yuck” at the end of each talking head.

I’m one of those who discovered his genius through O&A, although I’ve now grown to detest most of the people who were involved with the show. Some of his stand-up was great, but he really shone when he was just chatting shit with other comedians.

Really weird the way they seemed to be setting up the famous rape sentence story by using jokes about white women specifically inspired by the event, then totally ignored it. Felt like they were ordered to make a late edit.

The omitting of Anthony Cumia was also jarring. He’s a trump loving racist who bites women and refused to visit his dying mother in the last few years of her life because it made him “feel sad”. But some of Patrice’s best moments were undoubtably interacting with him.

Also wish they’d asked Von what happened to the money she crowdsourced for the doc that never happened. Dunno what dirt she has on Bill Burr, but the poor bugger is forced to organise an annual benefit concert in Patrice’s memory, and her pocket. Even the fucking Manchester bombing victims only got the one benefit concert.

[Retinend]

What is "the famous rape sentence story"?

[Noodle Lizard]

I'm a big Patrice fan, but I can't imagine needing a by-the-numbers documentary about him. He was one of the most prolific comic speakers throughout his career, hours upon hours of him talking about his life and work on O&A alone, not to mention the Black Philip Show and various other things. Aside from maybe Doug Stanhope (pre-depressing Bisbee funk years anyway), I can't think of a more "out in the open" comedian than him, to the point where a documentary timeline seems almost redundant. I get the impression from a lot of comics (who will no doubt turn up in this) that they're just proud to have known him more than anything else. I don't know if I have the patience for an hour and a half of that.

I will be watching it, of course.

[Joe Oakes]

What is "the famous rape sentence story"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CybGo6hALVo

[Ptolemy Ptarmigan]

Full thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L2hzy-WCbQ

Consarn it, it's already gone.

Sorry for swearing.

[MortSahlFan]

Also wish they’d asked Von what happened to the money she crowdsourced for the doc that never happened. Dunno what dirt she has on Bill Burr, but the poor bugger is forced to organise an annual benefit concert in Patrice’s memory, and her pocket. Even the fucking Manchester bombing victims only got the one benefit concert.

Dirt on Burr? He's always mentioning these benefits, sounds like he participates and donates.

[Retinend]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CybGo6hALVo

Would you say that the reason this should be "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (as it is hyperbolically titled) is because it is dropping "RED PILLS" about how false rape accusations are ruining men's lives?

I'm not asking because I suspect you of thinking this way,  but only because I saw Patrice O'Neal clips plastered on "Manosphere" sites back in the day (circa 2014) and I associate the O&C community with that sort of "red pill" thinking.

I saw you yourself mentioned how toxic the erstwhile O&C community (now splintered) was, so I know you're a good guy, by the way. If you could say more about that, I'd be interested to hear about it.

[Joe Oakes]

Would you say that the reason this should be "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (as it is hyperbolically titled) is because it is dropping "RED PILLS" about how false rape accusations are ruining men's lives?

I'm not asking because I suspect you of thinking this way,  but only because I saw Patrice O'Neal clips plastered on "Manosphere" sites back in the day (circa 2014) and I associate the O&C community with that sort of "red pill" thinking.

I saw you yourself mentioned how toxic the erstwhile O&C community (now splintered) was, so I know you're a good guy, by the way. If you could say more about that, I'd be interested to hear about it.

I don’t think it’s one of greatest stories ever told, but it was the most relevant story in terms of giving context to a lot of his material/opinions on race and women. Some of his views were acutely insightful, some were just plain dumb.

Not sure about the red pill stuff, I didn’t know he’d been appropriated by right-wing idiots.

I tended to tune-out when he was talking about relationships and women, was never his strongest stuff. I enjoyed him most when he was being mean to other comics or bullshitting about pop culture. Small things like when it dawned on him in real-time that Face Off was a terrible film. And the Nazi v N word game, when Anthony Cumia and Patrice had a competition to see who taxi drivers would pick up first when they both hailed a cab. Anthony was dressed in a Nazi helmet and ‘heiled’ the cabs with a Nazi salute. Patrice was black. Naturally, every cabby drove straight past Patrice to collect Anthony’s Nazi gold.

Btw, I didn’t finish the doc before it got pulled, did they cover Patrice’s brutal conversation with Chris Rock about his career and how he lost a spot on the Everybody Hates Chris sitcom? That was very revealing as to why he never hit the mainstream.