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Zach Galifianakis paused onstage.
jokes hyped studio audiences.
Why come me dont have one?!
Friend Don Barris remembered watching Stevens transition on and off different medications for years.
Even amid his own struggles, Stevens helped talk comics like Esther Povitsky to Steven Randolph through difficult episodes.
He was so inclusive with everybody no matter what level you were at, recalled Store regular Jeremiah Watkins.
He was always looking for connections in the little things.
Someone like Brody was so many different things, and he never found that professional to talk to.
He would say to me, Zach, I have you to talk to.
But I tell diarrhea jokes!
And I come from a family where you dont do that.
Richard Jeni died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2007.
Robin Williams hanged himself in 2014 as did Stevens on February 22, 2019.
But things feel different this time around.
A void remains in the absence of Stevenss amplified physicality and affirmative catchphrases.
Yet his shirts, pins, and stickers are ubiquitously sported by performers and patrons alike.
(Merchandise sales fromBrodyStevens.combenefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness.)
Parks Foundation memorial bench near a Reseda Park baseball field and Stevenss Reseda High School alma mater.
Youve just got to stay positive, he says, citing Stevenss penchant for proclaiming, Enjoy it!
; You got it, yes!
; and Positive energy!
The Store also memorializes Stevens on its nightly lineups.
We love you and miss you.
Your positive energy will always be felt here.
Sadly we live in a society where were still reacting.
Its so hard to really take in trauma before were bombarded with some other tragedy.
Future ventures may include workshops, support groups, and even a senior retirement home.
Lawson calls Stevenss death a tipping point, saying, I do think theres a shift in mental-health awareness.
Advocate groups decry romanticizing any vital artistic correlation between mental illness and comedy.
And industry distributors like Netflix and HBO certainly havent shied from material tackling the topic head-on.
Comedy Central later launched aBe the Difference PSAvideo in honor of October 10s World Mental Health Day.
So much light was shed on mental illness from someone as great as Brody Stevens, he says.
Brody did something different.
Or as Rath puts it, There were two categories: everybody else, and Brody Stevens.
