Real sad to hear about the death of comedian Kevin Meaney at age 60. His agent announced he was found dead in his home and no one seems to know yet what the cause was. But he was around sixty and he was a very funny man on stage. I thought he was great in short spots on programs like The Tonight Show but you had to see him live doing an hour or so to realize how good and how versatile he was. In five minute hunks, he did a lot of catch phrases and funny faces…but there was so much more to the guy.
I build a recurring character around his "scolding" voice on Garfield and Friends. He would have recurred more but he was in such demand as a stand-up comic that he was usually outta town somewhere. Whenever we could get him though, he livened up the shows and the recording sessions…and he always seemed to show up with some incredible story of what was going on his life.
One time, he told us he'd gone to Vegas, had way too much to drink and woke up married to a woman he barely knew. Another time was right after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in Southern California. We recorded a few days later and Kevin told us all a harrowing tale of being on the freeway when the quake occurred and finding himself trapped between two overpasses that had fallen, blocking off any route off the freeway. We never knew how much to believe his tales but they were always very tragic and very funny at the same time.
At one point, I believe he gave up stand-up for a time and appeared on Broadway and elsewhere in the musical Hairspray. Not long after, he came out as gay, telling all that his experiences working with openly gay people in the theater had given him the courage to do that. I heard him on some cable talk show discussing it and, again, it was very tragic and very funny. A fascinating, gifted guy…and he never failed to make me laugh.