Patton Oswalt was one of many celebrities who tweeted their condolences over both Carrie Fisher’s and her mother Debbie Reynolds’ sudden death. And he chose a little humor amid the overwhelming heartbreak.
After news broke that Reynolds, 84, had died just one day after her daughter, one Twitter user posted about the irony of Reynolds’ death for those who were fans of Fisher’s book Postcards From the Edge. The semi-autobiographical novel was later turned into a film about an actress returning from rehab to live with her mother, whose shadow she has always lived in.
The humor was not lost on Oswalt.
Oswalt, whose wife, crime writer Michelle McNamara, died unexpectedly in her sleep in April and who has used humor to help cope with his own grief, also retweeted a YouTube video of one of Reynolds’ most famous performances: “Good Morning” with Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor from “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Fisher always appreciated and embraced humor.
“I make light of stuff ... It better get funny fast or it’s just gonna be something that haunts you,” she told Matt Lauer in 2008. “I make very difficult situations in my life funny as quickly as possible.”