What an unbelievably shitty month it’s been for lovers of stand-up comedy. After losing Robert Schimmel just a few weeks ago in a shocking car accident, another revered comedic talent has suddenly passed away. TMZ is reporting that Greg Giraldo, best known for his classic celeb-skewering appearances on the Comedy Central roasts, has died at the age of 44.
Hit the jump for more!
According to the classy folks at TMZ, “Greg had been hospitalized in New Brunswick, NJ after he overdosed on prescription pills last weekend. A source said the overdose was not a suicide attempt.”
In a September 2005 interview with Howard Stern, Giraldo revealed that he struggled with a serious addiction problem. At that point, he claimed he “had been sober, minus one slip-up, for five months,” says E! Online. Like Schimmel, Giraldo was a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show, and his name now joins the ranks of Stern show regulars whose demons got the best of them (think Sam Kinison, Mitch Hedberg, Dave Chappelle, and Artie Lange, just to name a few).
More recently, Giraldo had been participating as a judge on the latest seasons of Last Comic Standing and The Marriage Ref. His many appearances on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, The Late Show with David Letterman, and the old Late Night with Conan O’Brien made for always funny, always engaging television.
Though Giraldo never did get that mainstream breakthrough he obviously deserved, he remained a a master craftsman who was extremely well-respected by his peers. His comedy was honest and witty, his celebrity take-downs harsh and unrelenting, and Giraldo himself was an affable, wickedly smart talent. In fact, Giraldo “was actually a Columbia and Harvard Law School-educated attorney who strayed from his original path to school himself in the art of insult comedy,” says E! Online.
Greg Giraldo’s untimely death only solidifies his reputation as a great comedian. His presence at future roasts will be greatly missed. And though he died far too young, his body of work lives on in countless videos, some of which you can check out below.
-The daNk Knight
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sQZVguySms]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPTowp3e77k]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYealpIVUPc]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o6DF2qKucg]
