Just after I clicked "post blog" for the Mt Eden entry, I saw a TMZ article about Greg Giraldo dying of an overdose. I wished hard that it was one of those ridiculous rumors, but by the time I got to "greg giral" in Google, Google Instant told me it was true. Giraldo reportedly overdosed accidentally this past weekend and was in the hospital for several days before passing away today, September 29th. He's had some pretty significant substance abuse problems, but his career was on the upswing and he really cut back on the drinking... which I was thrilled about, because I thought there was less of a chance of him pulling a Mitch Hedberg and checking out early. I mean, seriously, how did Giraldo beat Artie Lang to the punch?
As some of you may not know, Giraldo worked as a lawyer; he graduated from Columbia and Harvard Law. The first Roast at which I ever saw him perform was Chevy Chase's Roast. He was visibly nervous, but amped, and warmed up to the scene after a couple of minutes. From then on out, he was a staple on Comedy Central roasts. I look forward to his and Jeff Ross' sets every I time I turn on a Roast. He murdered the Flava Flav Roast and fried The Hoff up for dinner. Joan Rivers and the entire panel bit it when he did his Lord of the Rings gag - "Man, what a night. A couple of trolls, a fairy, and a giant all going after a sunken eyed little monster who's obsessed with jewelry. It's like the Lord of the Rings!"
His comedy specials were hilarious. I remember re-playing the "letters home during wartime" bit over, and over, and over.
"I read a book recently; it was filled with letters that soldiers during the Civil War wrote to their girlfriends back home. These were kids, they were 17 year old kids and most of them never went to school. But every letter in the book was incredible. Every single letter was like, 'My Dearest Hannah: This morn finds me wracked by the fiery pains of your absence. I'll bear your cherished memory with me as I battle the forces of tyranny and oppression.' Now, think about what the typical letter from your average Gulf War soldier to his girlfriend back home in, like, Brooklyn must have read like. 'Dear Marie: It is hot as fuck out here. It is hard to fight the sand monkeys with your balls stuck to your legs. It is very, very hot and I am very, very sweety [sic]. It is very, very hot out here because I am in the dessert [sic]."
Here's to his family... we'll miss you, funny man.
Giraldo's set on the Roast of Larry The Cable Guy
"Gary Busey's here, kind of... Jesus, Gary, you horse-faced lunatic! You look like Nick Nolte f'd a Clydesdale."
"Reno Collier, I don't know who or what that is. I guess he's part of that next wave of low-brow dipshits that'll make me want to kill myself."
Greg Giraldo Destroys A Heckler
"Normally there's not a wasted 60 yr old... normally I just do my own thing... Are you on vacation? Are you the local groundskeeper?"
Giraldo's set on the Roast of Joan Rivers
"Thank you, Tranny Bonaducci! You look like Ronald McDonald f'd Lucille Ball's corpse and then pushed it down a flight of stairs."
"You are such a comedy icon that Joan named one of those shitty watches she sells on QVC after you. It's called the 'Carl Reiner' edition, it's got liver spotted hands and it's running out of time."
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