Yesterday Paul Reubens passed away at 70 years old. Apparently he had cancer for six years and was able to keep that out of the news. This sucks.

People may know Paul Reubens better as Pee Wee Herman. I was a very, very big Pee Wee Herman fan as a kid and even into adulthood. I was obsessed though with "Pee Wee's Playhouse" as a kid. That was my jam. There were three things I was super into as a kid, one was baseball, two were dinosaurs and three was Pee Wee. This show grabbed me tight and I never wanted it to let me go. I would watch with tons of intrigue at each new episode. I devoured it. It was the best, and one of the funniest and unique shows I had ever watched. I think it was my intro to alternative comedy without knowing what alternative comedy at the time. Pee Wee was different. He spoke with a wild voice, which I instantly connected with. He had weird friends on his show, namely a chair. The skits and bits were different from what I saw on what was considered other kids' shows. They were funnier and a little more out there. They let Pee Wee take chances and I was fully in with every chance he took. "Pee Wee's Playhouse" did it and did it better than anyone else could. I adored this show.

I then went and watched "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" when it came out in theaters. I'm sure my folks took me and I loved every bit of that movie. But, it also scared me. When he got in the truck with Large Marge, that was terrifying when I was younger. I revisited the movie as a teen and then in my 20's, and I got it. But as a kid, that frightened me. But the movie also stayed with me almost as much as the tv show. I was all in on Pee Wee.

Then as I got a bit older I kind of forgot about him. The show ended, he didn't make any big movies and I kind of moved on. He then got arrested for being nude in public. He was at an adult theater and did what I assume most people do in adult theaters. But since he had a big name, the news blew this whole story out of proportion. I didn't care what he did on his own time as a grown adult. That stuff never mattered to me. So when people tried to make this a bigger deal than it actually was, I shut them out and went back and watched his show and movie even more. He then showed up in the movie "Blow". I don't like that movie all that much, but seeing him do something completely different, my respect for him only grew. He was very good in that movie and his performance stayed with me. I then saw him in "30 Rock", and his role in that was amazing. It felt like an even odder version of Pee Wee. He got to really go for the comedy and he totally nailed it. I love his one episode in that fantastic series. He also ended up making another Pee Wee movie, which is very solid. He was also on shows like "CBB", both the tv show and podcast, and it was always nice when I would see him pop up on a show I was watching. He was also always funny. I think about him being on "CBB The TV Show" during a Halloween episode and him making me laugh very, very hard. Pee Wee was such a great character that he created.

From what I have read since I learned of his passing is that Paul Reubens was a very good person. He helped those around him. He made strangers and friends alike laugh at a moment's notice. He cared for the people in his life, be it family or friends. He seemed like a genuinely good person who had a very big and full heart.

This really bums me out that he passed. I know he was sick, but he was still young. Seventy years old is not that old. And the fact that he had cancer, seemingly bad cancer, and was able to hide it from the general public, that is brutal. This has hit me as hard as Chadwick Boseman's passing. I didn't know either was sick, and when I learned of their passing, it made me very sad. Pee Wee was a vital figure in my life even though I never met or knew him. He introduced me to a different style of comedy and helped shape my taste in it today.

Rest In Peace Paul Reubens. You are very, very missed. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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