RIP Robert Schimmel

I was saddened to learn this morning that Robert Schimmel had passed away. Over the past few years I've become a pretty avid fan of stand up comedy (which is funny, since I've only seen it live, like, once), and Robert Schimmel is absolutely one of the comics on the top of my "must see" list. I remember the first time I saw him on television, he made some joke about black people not tipping and making noise in the movie theater, and I thought, "Wow, you rarely see white comedians taking such blatant race-related shots." And I quickly came to appreciate his "no person and no subject is off limits" style, reminiscent of comedians such as Larry David.

Schimmel was apparently in a severe car accident last week (his daughter was driving), and he died today from injuries he had sustained (thankfully his daughter and son, who was also in the car, will be fine). I suggest you check out some of his stand up routines on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=robert+schimmel&aq=f