Jeni canceled Chicago dates before death

By Terry Armour
Published March 13, 2007


Comedian Richard Jeni was to appear at the Improv in Schaumburg over the weekend. But a week before his scheduled appearances, Jeni contacted the club to cancel the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows.

Jeni died on Saturday in West Hollywood of a gunshot wound to the head. As of Monday evening, police had yet to confirm the shooting was a suicide.

Friends have said that Jeni, 49, battled depression. The Improv's Tony Baldino said that while Jeni didn't give a specific reason for canceling his Schaumburg shows, he did hint at personal problems when he phoned Improv co-owner Robert Hartmann.

"He called us and just said he wasn't going to make it," Baldino said. "At the time, he did not want to leave his house and make the trip. We knew it was a problem at that point. For the past few months he hasn't been feeling good, as far as his career was concerned. In the '90s, he was a hot commodity."

Jeni first gained national attention with his 1990 Showtime special "Richard Jeni: Boy From New York City."

He recently appeared in the film "The Aristocrats" and had a guest appearance on "Everybody Hates Chris," which is written and narrated by his good friend Chris Rock. Jeni also wrote material for Rock when Rock hosted the 2005 Academy Awards.

"Whenever we booked him, we knew we were going to get a solid show," Baldino said. "Whenever we lose somebody like this, it makes us stop and think."

another tragic comic....

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@audioidkid

Sad. Can you believe he lived thru the wound for long enough for police/medics to get there? How godawful must that have been?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

no kidding....
pretty sad all around.
if the successful, funny guys are depressed enough to shoot themselves.....

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@audioidkid

The interesting comment I've heard in the case is the comment that his girlfriend said to the police - 'my boyfriend shot himself in the head' No mention of suicide, no mention of accident. I'm not convicting....but I'm also not 100% sure he really wanted to off himself.

i'm guessing anytime you shoot yourself in the head, 99.9% of the time it is done with purpose....
just a guess though.

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@audioidkid

It could have been an argument and he threatened to shoot himself and did.....she could have done it....I mean there are alot of things here. My understanding too of Jeni is he was very vein about how he looked - usually those types don't blow off their face.....

this is a file photo the papers/net have been running of him....
he don't look to good here...

very pasty.

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@audioidkid

Too Chris Kattan-y.....

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https://twitter.com/DrKenCast

Yeah, he looks rehab bad in that photo. Sad, he was one of my early favorites when I got into stand-up comedy as a young man in the late 80s, early 90s.

I'd rather shoot myself than go to Schaumberg too...

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his stuff on showtime was so good. i was a big fan of his. i know i posted this in another thread but i had the pleasure of seeing him live back in his prime at zanie's. the whole place was electric. he was on fire.

i was bummed to hear about his death.

I liked him too Zack. The bit in A Big Steaming Pile of Me about how one becomes a proctologist KILLED me!

HEEEEEEEEEEEY.......what do we have here????????

What you got against Schaumburg, besides the fact that there's 2 u's and no e's?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Sorry Ken. Jeni wasn't g.ay enough.

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