Doug Stanhope is one of those comedians that you either “get” or you don’t.
To describe Stanhope’s humor as dark would be like describing Schindler’s List as a mild bummer.
His standup routines make the gnarliest segments on Tosh.0 look like a family-friendly tight five from Jeff Dunham, and he’s a firm believer that there’s no situation too bleak to laugh about.
Stanhope has mined real-life incidents like his own mother’s self-administered euthanasia for laughs, and the amazing thing is – he pulls it off.
This is a man who could “go there” on any taboo topic under the sun and his cultishly loyal fan base would follow him into the depths of human experience with complete faith in his ability to point out the glints of humor.
Unfortunately, a recent near-tragedy brought Stanhope attention from outsiders who are now being exposed to the comedian’s jet-black brand of humor for the first time – and not surprisingly, some folks are finding his jokes don’t quite turn their crank.
The story goes: last Sunday night, Stanhope’s longtime girlfriend Amy “Bingo” Bingaman was preparing for her 40th birthday party when she suffered a cocaine-induced seizure and cracked her head open on a cement step after falling backwards.
She was rushed to a Bisbee, Arizona hospital, and Stanhope was under the impression that she would require a few stitches and be back later that evening.
Upon learning that she had been helicoptered to nearby Tucson in a coma, Stanhope reportedly quipped, “Just when you thought Bingo couldn’t make this party any more about her, she pulled it off.”
(Like we said, bleak stuff.)
Stanhope cryptically confirmed the news of Bingo’s medical emergency on Twitter, informing his fans:
“BTW, Inappropriate jokes as welcome as hopes,prayers, wishes. And I will put her in my death pool on trade round just to prove no hypocrisy.”
And with that, he was off:
Stanhope also took time to respond to fans who offered support or inappropriate humor.
And, of course, he didn’t do so in the way you would expect from a grieving celeb:
During an appearance on friend Joe Rogan’s podcast, he offered more details about Bingo’s condition (It seems she very nearly required surgery to have part of her skull removed.), and opened up about the hours following her grim diagnosis.
Basically, Stanhope and his friends coped by doing the remainder of Bingo’s blow, singing karaoke and hanging with Marilyn Manson.
Stanhope is friends with Johnny Depp, and the party eventually wound up at one of the actor’s homes in LA.
It would have all the makings of an amazing weekend, were it not for the comatose girlfriend part.
On social media and comment boards across the Internet, there’s been much gasping and pearl-clutching in response to Stanhope’s running commentary on Twitter.
The above and below tweets in particular seemed to draw a lot of ire.
Thankfully, in a miracle worthy of Lazarus or Lamar Odom, Bingo has now awoken from her coma and is able to communicate with family and friends.
Stanhope offered the following updates on Twitter over the weekend:
“Dunno if you’d call her first poop in 6 days “progress” but her father described it as “an event.” Send more mops!”
“‘Bingaman spoke in/ Claaass today’ Got some words & opened her eyes a few times on her own. Long way to go but all far more hopeful today.”
“BREAKING NEWS: SHE JUST JUMPED UP , SAID “I GOTTA PEE!” THEN PEED AND WENT BACK TO SLEEP! I’M GONNA GO HIGH-FIVE STRANGERS IN THE LOBBY!”
Even if his humor doesn’t do it for you, you’ve gotta admit that the man has a preternatural talent for finding the laughs in desperately sad situations.
Or maybe you don’t.
We doubt he cares much either way.