Patrice O'Neal

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More About

• Patrice O'Neal
• Richard Pryor
• George Carlin
• Stand-up Comedy
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Many comedians are inspired by watching great comics. For Patrice O'Neal it was the opposite. "Michelangelo wouldn't inspire me to draw because he's so good," O'Neal explains. "He would deter me from that." Similarly, O'Neal works hard not to embarrass the legacy of his two favorite comedians, Richard Pryor and George Carlin. Ultimately, he simply wants to be right. "I just want one day where all the stuff I thought about comedy and all the philosophy about comedy I have to manifest itself through my work, and people will say I'm right for a day." In other words, there will come a time when his brand of comedy is widely recognized as the best of its era. It's been a long journey for O'Neal, who fell into comedy after he himself heckled a comedian. "I was being exactly who I hate now," he says. "I was being a funny guy who thought he was funnier than the comedian. I didn't understand that a comedian is not just a funny guy, a comedian is a guy who took his funniness and turned it into a career." 18+; 21+ later shows.
March 11-14, 8 p.m.; March 12-13, 10:30 p.m., 2010