Warren Thomas

Warren Thomas (June 5, 1958 – September 2, 2005) was an African-American comedian. His greatest fame came during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he was a major figure in the San Francisco comedy scene and began appearing on HBO comedy specials. He won the San Francisco Comedy Competition in 1987. According to Margaret Cho, Thomas was cited as the funniest comedian alive by Greg Proops. Because of its speed, rhythm and flow, his comedy was often compared to jazz music. His other television appearances included Comedy Central's "Comics Come Home" special, "The Dennis Miller Show", and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien". He also worked as a writer on "In Living Color". Prior to his death in 2005, Thomas was working as a writer for Air America Radio, and was a frequent guest at Rocky Sullivan's "Satire for Sanity" show. He also was working on a project with Jamie Foxx.

Upon Thomas's death memorials were held in his honor in New York City, where he had been living and working, in Los Angeles, and in his hometown of San Francisco. Mourners included many fine comedians who were close friends of Thomas's. Among them were Robin Williams, Barry Crimmins, A. Whitney Brown, Janeane Garofalo, Greg Proops, Will Durst, Bob Rubin, Sue Murphy, Tom Rhodes, Randy Kagan, Kurt Weitzmann, David Feldman, Charles Ezell, Barry Lank, Martin Olsen, and Barry Sobel.

Thomas's widow, January Thomas, is also a comedian and comedy writer; she has teamed up with Rubin, Kagan and other friends of Thomas's to produce "Comedy Tsunami" in Hollywood.