Big Laughs

Whoever said insults won't get you anywhere has never met Patrice O'Neal. The Boston native propelled himself into comedy when he heckled a Beantown comic and the comic retaliated, challenging O'Neal to do better. Calling his bluff, O'Neal came back to perform the next week, and a career was born. Nearly 15 years of standup later, the 36-year-old O'Neal has now had his own Comedy Central, HBO and Showtime specials, as well as numerous TV appearances on Arrested Development, Chappelle's Show, The Office and Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.

In his latest project, VH1's Web Junk 2.0, O'Neal spoofs some of the most outrageous clips he can find on the Internet. "Having commentary on it is almost like watching it with a bunch of people,” says O'Neal, who at 6'5” and 300 pounds is as imposing as he is amusing. "I was actually really against the Internet at one point in my life, but you can't escape that shit.”

Continue reading this story in the October ‘06 issue of KING (#36)