R.I.P. J. Scott Homan

Stand-up comedian J. Scott Homan died on Friday after a two-year bout with melanoma. He was 56.

Homan grew up in a military family, which means he moved around a lot, winding up in Texas for high school (Austin) and college (Stephen F. Austin State University).

His stand-up comedy career spanned a full quarter-century. He put out a comedy CD of his own in 1997 on Laughing Hyena label, and had bits in two other Laughing Hyena compilations (which you can listen to on Pandora/Spotify). You also could hear him regularly on the radio via Bob and Tom. Homan made the cut for Comedy Central’s Premium Blend showcase in 2000, and would write for Ron White’s 2005 Comedy Salute to the Troops. Doug Stanhope also considered Homan one of his many “Unbookables.”

In a 2009 interview with the Journal Star of Peoria, Ill, Homan revealed that moving around as a child made him more quiet than the other kids. “As I got older I needed an outlet to let some of that go, I guess. I moved out to Memphis and had never even been to a comedy club, but I happened to go on an amateur night. Since I didn’t know anybody in Memphis, I figured there’d be nobody to know if I made a fool of myself. It was a thrill and almost a high, and I haven’t stopped since.”

About that initial: Homan went by Scott. The J. stood for Jerald.

“When I first started, I was doing a joke about people with initials in front of their names and it just kind of stuck. I started getting billed as J. Scott Homan and I just kind of went with it.”

In June 2017, doctors found melanoma on his right leg. But by January 2018, the cancer had spread to his pelvis, lungs and neck, and his sister launched a GoFundMe to help cover his medical costs, as he didn’t have health insurance.

Comedy friends including Ron White, Rocky LaPorte and Alex Reymundo also put on a fund-raising benefit for Homan.

But another MRI taken last week in Nashville found the cancer in his brain had spread to the point where treatment no longer was an option, so Homan went home to Murfreesboro to spend his final days in hospice surrounded by his family and loved ones.

His funeral and visitation is today starting at noon at Woodfin Memorial Chapel in Murfreesboro. The family requests any memorials be made in Homan’s memory to Alive Hospice in Nashville.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

View all posts by Sean L. McCarthy →