Kill or Be Killed? Guess How Many of These Comedians Have Died From COVID-19 In The Month Since This Photo Was Taken

Spoiler alert: It's at least three, so far

The Clean Comedy Challenge cost between $275-$350 for comedians to perform at Gutty’s Comedy Club in Greenwood, Ind., from July 15-17, 2021, with a chance to win $1,000. Other comedians also participated in bootcamps or appeared as guests, such as Dennis Regan (brother of Brian Regan).

Since then, at least three comedians have paid for their participation with their lives.

Ron Barnett, Jason T. Goodall, and Patrick Andonie, all pictured above, have died in August 2021.

A source who attended the competition confirmed that a total of five attendees were hospitalized after The Clean Comedy Challenge, and that all five were unvaccinated. Nobody has yet come forward to identify the initial source of the viral spread at the event.

Leslie Norris Townsend, the headliner/organizer of the annual contest (her credits have ranged from A&E’s An Evening at the Improv to Huckabee), wrote on Aug. 21 after Andonie’s passing:

“Rest in Peace, Our Kind and Funny Comedy Comrade, Patrick Andonie ... 

Gone way too soon, laughing with the Angels now. 

When I last talked to him, July 19, 2021, he asked me,  " Should he stop doing Comedy?" 

I told him, "If he was enjoying the journey,

 then Never give up." 

I am so sad. Prayers for his wife, Eve and Parents in New Orleans. 

Please get vaccinated. Please.”

R.I.P. Patrick Anthony Andonie (March 28, 1965 – Aug. 20, 2021)

Official obituary for Andonie, with services moved to Sept. 1 due to Hurricane Ida, as he was a 56-year-old resident of Metairie, Louisiana, at the time of his death. “Patrick was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 28, 1965, and graduated from Archbishop Rummell High School in 1984. In 1988, he graduated from U.N.O., where he received his Bachelor’s of Science degree, and was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. Soon after, he attended Notre Dame Seminary, pursuing his vocation for three and a half years. After the Seminary, he began his career as an accountant with Murphy & Warren CPA in Metairie. He was also a religion teacher at Rummell, St. Edward the Confessor, and Mount Carmel. Patrick also spent two and half years as a Catholic Missionary with the Lay Apostolic Ministries with the Poor in New York City, where he met his wife, Share Foundation in La Porte, Indiana, and Bishop Grady Villa in Orlando, Florida. The last few years, Patrick enjoyed being a stand-up comedian, and performed around the country. If you would like to see Patrick’s comedy, please type his full name on “YouTube”. He also enjoyed making furniture.”

That same day, Goodall had died. Goodall apparently suffered a heart attack on July 31, and in the immediate aftermath of that, his friends not only were praying for his recovery, but also asking their mutual friends to get vaccinated and praying that Goodall had sufficient antibodies to heal.

Official obituary for Goodall. “Jason T. Goodall, 47, of Liberty Township, OH passed away on Friday, August 20, 2021 at University Hospital in Cincinnati. He was a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial and a comedian, performing at the Redmoor, Funny Bone and other comedy clubs. He was a member of Grace Chapel in Mason, OH; Kingdom Advisors and Greater Cincinnati/Dayton Comedy Team.”

Barnett had preceded them both in death on Aug. 10. On the ninth, his friend June Vaughn Colson posted: “Ron is in need of God’s healing hands. He is very very sick with Covid. He has been in a battle for his life and I am asking you all to lift Ron up in prayer.”

Death notice for Ronald Barnett. Barnett, originally from Norwalk, Ohio, was living in Port Orange, Fla., and teaching middle schoolers history at the Cavalry Christian Academy in Ormond Beach.

They’re all dead now. It didn’t have to be this way.

Apologies for burying the lede, so to speak. Griffin Sciarra from Indianapolis won the 2021 Clean Comedy Challenge. Winning might be an even more relative term now, although Sciarra has continued performing this month.

Please get vaccinated. Please wear masks. This pandemic is and never has been a joke.