Greg Giraldo died today, four days after being hospitalized following an accidental overdose of prescription medication. He was 44.Greg Giraldo was born The Bronx and was raised in Queens. Early on, he excelled academically and was selected to attend Camp Rising Sun, the Louis August Jonas Foundation's international summer scholarship program. Giraldo attended Columbia University.
Before becoming a comedian, Giraldo worked as a lawyer, having graduated from Harvard Law School. Giraldo spent less than a year as an associate for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom before deciding to change his occupation. Despite his prior career, Giraldo rejected that persona and very rarely discussed his days as a lawyer.
Giraldo was known for his distinct delivery and his skills in ranting, never allowing his rhythm to be broken. Giraldo performed regularly at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan. Giraldo was a regular panelist on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. Additionally, he was the star of the short-lived Common Law, and also starred in several pilots, including The Greg Giraldo Show and Gone Hollywood for Comedy Central. The New York Times has praised Giraldo as "a talented comedian with a winning personality." In 2004, he was featured in the hit spoken-word Lazyboy song, "Underwear Goes Inside the Pants."
Although the series was not picked up in 2005, The Greg Giraldo Show was a similar format to Tough Crowd. The regular comics often joked during the run of Tough Crowd that Giraldo would eventually be the host of the show. However, when Giraldo was offered this series, many of the Tough Crowd comedians were rumored to be frustrated that Giraldo was essentially adopting the format used by Colin Quinn.
Giraldo appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien over a dozen times, The Howard Stern Show and The Opie and Anthony Show. Giraldo was a panelist on Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time special. He has also appeared as a member of the panel in the NBC show The Marriage Ref. He had two half-hour specials on Comedy Central Presents. He has also written segments for Last Call with Carson Daly.
Giraldo, who had three children, was known among comedians to drink heavily. However, he confirmed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on July 7, 2005 that he had quit drinking. Giraldo recently starred in a series of TV cable commercials. His series Friday Night Stand-Up with Greg Giraldo began on Comedy Central in late 2005 and ran until 2006. His CD Good Day to Cross a River was released 2006 on Comedy Central Records.
Greg appeared in Comedy Central's annual roasts roasting Chevy Chase, Pam Anderson, William Shatner, Jeff Foxworthy, Flavor Flav, Bob Saget, Joan Rivers, Larry the Cable Guy, and David Hasselhoff, as well as the TBS roast of Cheech & Chong.
In 2008, Giraldo appeared in venues across the United States as the headlining act of the Indecision '08 Tour, produced by Comedy Central.
Giraldo was a regular on Comedy Central's television series Lewis Black's Root of All Evil. Giraldo is one of the Advocates who lobbies for their side to be considered the "root of all evil." He won in two of his nine appearances.
Giraldo served as a judge during season seven of the NBC reality competition show Last Comic Standing.
To qoute Greg Giraldo, "Why do we need another station where everyone has a gun? We already have BET".
Good Night Greg
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
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