ABOUT DEPRESSION 1

RICHARD JENI

Richard Jeni was one of the best comics in America. After rewatching one of his HBO specials, he may have been THE best. He killed himself at the age of 45. He suffered, it is said, from depression.

I don’t understand that. How can someone so creative suffer from depression? Creativity thrives of inspiration which sometimes means exaltation. It does not compute.

A friend of Jeni’s said he was making good money but he was disappointed his career was not doing better. His calendar was not filled up. So he put a pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

Here is part of a statement that his family put out:

"Rumors have been circulating as to the cause of his death and have included speculation of Richard being depressed over the state of his career or a physical ailment. His career was not even addressed by his specialists when they were trying to diagnose Richard's illness. In fact, he had just enjoyed one of his most financially rewarding years to date. He was consistently creating new material for his busy touring schedule, and during the last week of his life, he had meetings scheduled with CHRIS ALBRECHT, Chairman and CEO of HBO, to discuss future projects following his last HBO special. In actuality, the past few years had been more prolific than ever. As his agents can attest, prior to his illness, Richard only missed one engagement in over twenty years, and that was due to weather.”

I must be wrong. Depression does not inhibit creativity.

My bad.