- Warren Thomas
Warren Thomas (
June 5 ,1958 –September 2 ,2005 ) was anAfrican-American comedian. His greatest fame came during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he was a major figure in theSan Francisco comedy scene and began appearing onHBO comedy specials. He won theSan Francisco Comedy Competition in 1987. According toMargaret Cho , Thomas was cited as the funniest comedian alive byGreg Proops . Because of its speed, rhythm and flow, his comedy was often compared tojazz music. His other television appearances includedComedy 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 forAir America Radio , and was a frequent guest atRocky Sullivan's "Satire for Sanity" show. He also was working on a project withJamie Foxx .Upon Thomas's death memorials were held in his honor in
New York City , where he had been living and working, inLos Angeles , and in his hometown of San Francisco. Mourners included many fine comedians who were close friends of Thomas's. Among them wereRobin 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 , andBarry 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 .
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