The comedy world has endured no end of pain on our behalf. We get only rare glimpes into the machinery that keeps the laughs coming for our sake, and we are usually spared the human cost. Once in a while something like Robin Williams’ suicide happens and we appreciate what we had in our midst–appreciate it anew because of its absence.
The death of Saturday Night Live veteran Jan Hooks brings that to mind again–and in turn it reminds us of the senseless murder of the great comedian and SNL star Phil Hartman in 1998. Hartman and Hooks worded together often. The two starred in a short, unlikely film called Love Is But A Dream on SNL, and the current cast aired it last night as a tribute to Hooks. SNL used the same film to honor Hartman sixteen years ago. It’s beautiful.
