Comedians Remember Brody Stevens With Broken Hearts

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Comedian Brody Stevens died on Friday at the age of 48. TMZ reported that Stevens committed suicide in his Los Angeles home. Stevens had struggled with mental health issues and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. But he had just recently performed two days before at a comedy festival, and if he had been contemplating suicide, nobody seemed to know it. He had roles in movies, “The Hangover” and “The Hangover II” and an unforgettable Comedy Central series “Brody Stevens: Enjoy It!” And he did warm up for television shows like “Why? With Hannibal Buress,” “Chelsea Lately,” “Who Gets The Last Laugh?,” and “The Best Damn Sports Show Period.” But his tv and film credits only tell a small part of the story of his life. More than anything else he was a stand up comedian, and loved and respected by everyone in the business. As the news spread across social media and in the press on Friday night, comedians flocked to social media to mourn, share their grief- using words to express their loss like devastated, heartbroken, and shaken to the core. It seemed that everyone in the community had a Brody Stevens story to share and everyone was crushed by the news.

A rep for Brody issued a statement. “Brody was an inspiring voice who was a friend to many in the comedy community. “He pushed creative boundaries and his passion for his work and his love of baseball were contagious. He was beloved by many and will be greatly missed. We respectfully ask for privacy at this time.” This was an understatement.

Across social media comedians tell a more personal story of their friend, and begged each other to look out for their friends, check in, look for signs of depression and offer help. They described him as one of the hearts of the Los Angeles comedy community but you didn’t have to be a Los Angeles comic to know and love him. People everywhere were shaken.

The messages they left on the interet tell the story of a complicated guy, who had darkness and light to share. Paul Provenza expressed in a post, saying, “Though there was such a darkness in him, he still brightened every room he was in. He could peer into your soul and say exactly what you didn’t even know you needed to hear. Gone too soon. We’ve had too little time to enjoy his friendship.” Dave Attell called him “a true original. The only thing more fun than watching him on stage, were the great talks we had off stage.”

Friends and colleagues told stories about how he would get up on stage and improvise and was particularly great at reaching tough crowds. “Every set was insane and singular,” Joel Kim Booster wrote and recalled a time when Brody handled a crowd with “awful teen girls who just wanted to be in the AC” by doing 20 minutes about their homework. Jay Larson said you couldn’t truly get Brody unless you saw him live and in person. “It was the most unique and original experience you could have in stand up,” he wrote on his Instagram. “There was only one Brody. He was the only comic who’s social media I would watch to simply watch HIM! Brody throwing in a batting cage, drumming in his car, driving around with some old dude or messing with Mariano Rivera in Japan…he was entertaining.” Kate Berlant talked about being in awe of Stevens, who she called “incapable of conformity.” You repeatedly hear comics talking about how he could make them belly laugh or laugh till they cry- something that comedians don’t do often because they hear so much comedy. Patton Oswalt wrote that he will always remember him as “having fun and making the best of impossible situations. Which he did ALL THE TIME.” John Roy had what may have been the most shared story across the internet- remembering a time when he and Brody were doing a show for industry people- something notoriously difficult because industry people don’t laugh- and even though every comic had bombed, performing to virtual crickets, Brody cracked the room, making everyone laugh, and clearing the path for everyone after him to have great sets. Jesse Thorn talked about how he could keep a crowd warm for four hours.

People referenced how much he liked to play drums, his 818 signature, his command to positive energy, and the way they would spend late nights pretending to be audience members when Brody was on stage. They called him original, magical, fearless, criminally underrated, a force of nature, singular, kind, brilliant and hilarious.

“We never lite him because some people need no lights,” Tiffany Puterbaugh wrote, recalling the times Stevens would stop by their show, Entertaining Julia, in Chicago. “He could make anyone, anywhere, anytime laugh uncontrollably and sometimes not even know why.” Matt Braunger remembered a time they were playing in a tent to a bunch of baseball heroes and by the end of the night, Brody was the celebrity everyone wanted to meet. Scott Thompson described him as “a powerful tornado taking the strangest path.” Chris D’Elia wrote “Brody Stevens made me, and all comics, laugh differently than anyone else we saw. On or off stage. He was on another wavelength. I really mean this when I say I’ve never seen anything quite like it. He was so unique that whenever he would go on at The Comedy Store we would all come in and watch.” James Adomian remembered how Brody made him feel like a part of a team. “He was always there: sweet, goofy and supportive offstage, a glorious, ferocious force onstage – prowling around like a lion that had somehow figured out how to make fun of itself through its own bravado. His style – attack the room – was enchanting to witness and a huge influence on me and many of our friends.” Neil Hamburger shared, “His show was a breathtaking whirlwind unlike anything I’ve ever seen before…what “improv” should be, but never is.”

Everyone is reeling. “I am fucking heart broken. You were everything a comedian should be. Funny to the core!!! I’m sad and I’m angry and I’ll miss you,” writes Eddie Ifft. From Nick Swardson, “Crying a lot today. His leg kick at the end was amazing. And playing a chair. I first met him 20 years ago at a club called Surf Reality. Never forget it. I’m like “what is this guy doing?” Haha. He was doing whatever the fuck he wanted.” Jim Jefferies said “I am completely shattered.” Tammy Pescatelli wrote “I can’t standup. My heart is broken!”.

He made so many friends working on Chelsea, Lately, and comics like Guy Branum wrote remembering great times on the show. “The in-studio audience was just never as good as when Brody Stevens was getting them in the zone. He knew how to open people up, because he was always open.”

And people loved to hang out with Brody off stage. Dave Attell wasn’t the only one who referenced spending time offstage. Brendan Eyre talked about the time Stevens said to him “do you want to go in the woods and throw rocks at trees?” And we did. He probably wouldn’t remember, but I loved it so much.” The Sklars wrote that “he was the only guy we knew who if you hung out with for a bit you started talking like him.” Nick Youssef wrote on Instagram about meeting him 15 years ago. “There was no telling where the line between Brody the artist and Brody the guy was and that’s because there wasn’t a line. He was just Brody all day and all night onstage and offstage.”

Many were angry, and saddened. and looking for answer. Like Marlon Wayans who asked that people find out what meds Stevens was taken and what side effects they might have had. “We are losing too many people from suicide.” Adam Ray posted a photo and you can feel the anguish in what he wrote on Instagram. “Look at this face… he lit up every corner, club, coffee shop… He had his struggles with depression.. and it makes my heart fucking ache to know he was in so much pain to do this to himself. We can’t just say “talk to someone if they’re hurting.” We all gotta do a better job of checking in. This shouldn’t have fucking happened. Brody loved life. And shit did life love Brody.” From Andrew Santino, “I’m so fucking sad I could melt.”

Others posted videos of their favorite Brody moments captured on tape, and you should watch all of them. And just about everyone had a favorite photo laughing or arguing or just having fun with Brody.

The list of comics who paid homage to Brody on social media is all encompassing crossing all boundaries of race, gender, club alliances, all levels of fame and styles of comedy; road dogs, movie stars, tv actors, writers, directors. Beautiful words form the likes of Paul Provenza, Dave Attell, Doug Stanhope, Sarah Silverman, Jim Jefferies, Kristen Schaal, Natasha Leggero, Joey Diaz, Maria Bamford, David Spade, Bobby Lee, T.J. Miller, Nick Kroll, Judah Friedlander, Doug Stanhope, Christina P, Riki Lindhome, Whitney Cummings, Kate Berlant, Kumail Nanjiani, Nate Bargatze, Chris D’Elia, Jeffrey Ross, Bert Kreischer, Andy Levy, Dice, Joel Kim Booster, Tim Heidecker, Amy Miller, Eric Andre, Jim Gaffigan, Guy Branum, Steve Agee, John Hodgman, Joe Rogan, Neil Hamburger, Esther Ku, Margaret Cho, Ken Jeong, Moshe Kassier, Tiffany Haddish, Bonnie McFarlane, Tom Segura, Loni Love, Scott Thompson, Tom Green, the Sklars, Dane Cook, Tom Arnold, Adam McKay, Scott Aukerman, Patton Oswalt, Jay Pharoah, Dana Gould, Russell Peters, Marc Maron, Nikki Glaser, just to name a few.

Read through these stories and you’ll begin to understand what a gigantic loss comedy is feeling tonight. Condolences to Brody’s many friends, and family.

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Interrobang Staff

Interrobang Staff