We Love You, Harris.

I've been feeling a lot of things since I found out Harris Wittels passed away last Thursday. I've mostly been feeling sad. Very sad. I have been a follower of Harris' work for years. He wrote for some of my favorite shows (The Sarah Silverman Program, Parks and Recreation) and was a guest on many podcasts that I frequently listen to. In fact, I was listening to his most recent Comedy Bang! Bang! appearance when my friend broke the news to me.

I was immediately devastated, but my feelings were confusing. I felt like I had lost a best friend, but I never even knew Harris. I just knew him from twitter and podcasts. This is one reason I felt like I had lost a friend; podcasts are an intimate medium. Especially comedy podcasts. They're generally pretty relaxed and fun. It's a lot like revisiting your high school lunch table where you could sit back and listen to your friends riff the funniest bits. Harris was so candid in podcasts, so he wasn't exactly a "stranger". He was so open on every podcast he was on and he came off as a genuinely funny and likable lovable person.  It's awful when someone who is just obviously just a joy to know or listen to dies. I didn't personally know him, but his silly humor in his work and his funny insights brought a lot of laughter into my life. I believe that's the greatest job anyone can have. Making someone laugh. And Harris did that. A lot.

To tell the truth, he was an inspiration to me. At a relatively young age, I realized that I wanted to be a comedy writer. Parks and Recreation was one of the shows that helped me realize that. Harris helped me realized that a goofy kid like me from Texas could do that. It really hurts to lose someone you look up to so much. I am inspired by lot of people in the comedy community, but Harris was special. He wrote for one of my all time favorite shows, he was one of my favorite people to listen to on podcasts, and he was just a great person.

It's okay that his passing has affected me as much as it has. I've been battling these feelings all week, but with a little help from the Earwolf community, I finally decided they're okay.
If you don't know who Harris Wittels was, I beg you to do a simple google search of his name. Read his tweets, listen to podcasts, laugh...
Because "Motherfuckers wanna laugh".

I love you, Harris.