I'm deeply saddened to hear about the sudden passing of Keith Patchel.

He was a mad genius, a

brave artist, a generous spirit and a good friend. He may not have gotten to accomplish all that he
wanted to before leaving this world, but does anyone really get to?
He did accomplish a great deal in the few years we spent together in NY while I was getting my
MFA at Columbia 2013-16. We met in line at the Met getting rush seats for the Opera, and
became fast friends. We saw the show together in our punk t-shirts, snuck up to better seats when
the lights went down, and got into lots of theatrical trouble together after that.

To start off, he composed, devised, performed and even ACTED in my Edward Snowden themed
Cabaret called “Mr. E’s Humongous Underground Digital Extravaganza!!!” in which he played
Uncle Sam, who ended the show by ridiculously wrestling an Ipad (with Snowden’s image on it).
I tried suppressing my laughter every night as this stalky, wild man would fling himself across
the inflatable pool with the device in hand. It was sloppy, silly and a bit dangerous, I’m sure. I
nightly had to remind him that he was in control, he assured me that he knew what he was doing.
He ALWAYS knew what he was doing.

We went on to do "Uncle Vanya" at Medicine Show Theatre, which he composed a beautiful

piano score for (and some sound fx we were never able to use due to an incompetent Stage
Manager). This project was a real love fest though. He and I both made many new friends and
connections that we would go onto work with on future projects at MST and beyond.
Our last project together was my thesis project at La MaMa: Screeching Weasel’s “Baby Fat” a
punk opera with a live onstage band, which Keith was the leader of. He played guitar and keys,
and learned a lot of complex music in a short time. He brought so much to that show, there’s no
way I could have done it without him.

We’d go see rock shows together around New York. The last one we saw was my buddies
D.O.A. play the Bowery Electric. That night around the post-show-late-night dinner table
singer/songwriter and professional shit disturber Joe Keithley told us that he was soon going to
be running for public office back in BC. Upon hearing this, Keith got up from the table, went
across the street to bank machine, took out 100$ and gave Joe his first contribution for the
campaign. I don’t know that Keith had a 100$ to spare, but he always committed 100% to what
he believed in, no matter what the price.
I’m gonna miss you Keith. You taught me so much about being brave, being committed to your
art and most importantly about being kind. I hope you knew that you were loved. Rock in Peace.

You can read more about Keith in his memorial in the Village Sun:
https://www.google.com/.../keith-patchel-65-musician.../amp