RIP Greg Giraldo

[woodstockbirdybird]

Apparently comedian Greg Giraldo has died. It's all over Twitter and on his Wikipedia page. A shame. I always found him to be one of the most solid stand-ups currently working.

[Alan Bird]

Aw man, that's sad. I was a big fan of his stand-up and his roast appearances. I noticed they quite often would have him open the roasting, to get things off to a rollicking start. R.I.P Greg.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

I had never heard of him until a few months ago when he was a judge on Last Comic Standing, and I thought he was the single best thing about the entire show (although his fellow judge Natasha was a hot little stunner, even if not very funny).

He seemed fairly young, I would guess early 40s; anyone know how he died? :confused:

[Vinyl Turnip]

Apparently it's Comedy Month for the Grim Reaper. Too bad, Giraldo was a funny guy.

Meanwhile Artie Lange, the Keith Richards of comedy, somehow continues to draw breath...

[Face Intentionally Left Blank]

Did a Google search:
http://www.tmz.com/2010/09/29/comedian-greg-giraldo-dies-overdose-prescription-pills/

He overdosed 5 days ago, according to the link, and died today.

[Valerieblaise]

Wow, that's awful. He was hilarious.

[orcenio]

Dammit (http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/comedy-central-presents/volume-2/comedy-central-presents-greg-giraldo-rip/#clip96254).

[i am a scientist]

awful, one of my favorite comedians. 3 kids too.

[Revtim]

He was also one of my favorites, very sad to hear this.

[Sir T-Cups]

I too will join the sentiment that it is a tragedy he passed. I always thought he was funny and never seemed to me to be an arrogant asshole.

RIP Bud.

[woodstockbirdybird]

Didn't know until I read an obit that he had a law degree from Harvard. Weird.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

I was unable to get orcenio's link to work, but was able to read that Greg Giraldo was a graduate of both Columbia University and Harvard Law School, obviously a very intelligent guy.

I wish I would have known about him earlier (I don't have cable) because as I said before, he was the standout talent on Last Comic Standing, much funnier than any of the contestants or his two fellow judges.

[pbbth]

Holy shit. I saw him live about 4 months ago and his act was awful, all about how much coke he does and how evil his wife is for leaving him. We left being very disappointed and wondering if he would get off the drugs and back to being funny. I wish he could have had the opportunity because he started out his career being pretty hilarous.

[fusoya]

Sucks, I've seen Greg perform numerous times at the Comedy Cellar, and he was great on LCS this year.

Of course, since it was PRESCRIPTION drugs he died of, and not the illegal kind, then we need to treat this as a tragedy and put the blame on everyone else, sue his dr, etc. Just like Michael Jackson. Bill Maher's gonna have a fucking FIELD DAY on Friday with this.

[Cisco]

Meanwhile Artie Lange, the Keith Richards of comedy, somehow continues to draw breath...
It's only a matter of time for Artie. He's supposedly "doing better" at the moment, but I don't think you ever really come all the way back from the dark places he's gone.

[devilsknew]

I don't know if we should put the blame on everybody else, but I'll bet prescription opiates were involved somewhere in the mix, and well, he probably got them from some quack somewhere. It's no coincidence that there is a thread titled "Oxycodone- is it a big deal?" (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=579784) going on concurrently over in IMHO. There are a whole shitload of people strung out on opiates legally or illegally at this point in history and they are some of the worst addicts with some of the shortest shelflifes I have ever seen. They are even worse than the worst crackheads I have ever seen, and that's coming from a recovered crackhead... the current epidemic of prescription opiate abuse makes the crack and cocaine epidemic of the 80's and 90's pale in comparison.

[TriPolar]

Reading the thread title I was sure there was a joke. Apparently not. Sorry Greg. Hope you get a better crowd at your funeral than your usual show. Most people didn't know you were here, but I'll miss you.

[Rilchiam]

and that's coming from a recovered crackhead

OT: Have you ever started a thread titled "Ask the former crackhead?" If not, why don't you?

[devilsknew]

and that's coming from a recovered crackhead

OT: Have you ever started a thread titled "Ask the former crackhead?" If not, why don't you?

Because I don't feel comfortable doing that, simple as that.

[Rilchiam]

Okay, sorry; just asking.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

A slight hijack, but apparently he OD'd a few days ago and just passed away today---I thought with narcotics, (which I thought I read that he had taken) if you took an OD, you either died right away (from respiratory failure or something similar) or if help arrived in time, they pumped you full of a narcotic antagonist and you came to right away (almost instantly, in fact), and from what I have heard, usually not much the worse for the experience.

How did he OD, then linger in a hospital for 3 or 4 days until finally dying? This seems different than any overdose that I have ever heard of.

Any medical Dopers know what may have happened?

[Boyo Jim]

I will repeat my favorite Greg Giraldo joke:

It's the 21st century! Why aren't I snorting vitamin-enriched coke off the tits of my sex robot?

I want an answer to this question myself -- society has clearly got its priorities wrong.

[devilsknew]

I will repeat my favorite Greg Giraldo joke:

It's the 21st century! Why aren't I snorting vitamin-enriched coke off the tits of my sex robot?

I want an answer to this question myself -- society has clearly got its priorities wrong.


I start every VSM session with a Red Bull, Extenze, Ritalin, and a viagra, and a line of coke then I snort some vicodin, pop a xanax, and snort some ambien to get to sleep ... I mean, isn't that the pinnacle of New Millenium druaboose.

[Face Intentionally Left Blank]

A slight hijack, but apparently he OD'd a few days ago and just passed away today---I thought with narcotics, (which I thought I read that he had taken) if you took an OD, you either died right away (from respiratory failure or something similar) or if help arrived in time, they pumped you full of a narcotic antagonist and you came to right away (almost instantly, in fact), and from what I have heard, usually not much the worse for the experience.

How did he OD, then linger in a hospital for 3 or 4 days until finally dying? This seems different than any overdose that I have ever heard of.

Any medical Dopers know what may have happened?

I wonder if acetaminophen wasn't involved, and he destroyed his liver.
Some painkillers combine acetaminophen with a more powerful drug, and I'm starting to believe that's a very bad idea, given how easy it is for acetaminophen to kill your liver, and how addicted ppl act.

[Cisco]

I wonder if acetaminophen wasn't involved, and he destroyed his liver.
Some painkillers combine acetaminophen with a more powerful drug, and I'm starting to believe that's a very bad idea, given how easy it is for acetaminophen to kill your liver, and how addicted ppl act.

I've always been told that that's the point. The idea is that Vicodin is pretty much given out like candy (seriously-- go tell your doctor you have a hangnail if you don't believe me), so they add the acetaminophen so people know not to abuse it. Take with a grain of salt, of course, but I have heard this from people in the medical field.

[devilsknew]

All I know is that I'm tired of my family dying, fuckin' up, and being incarcerated for lifetime sentences from the traces and tracks of opiates.

It killed my Uncle with morphine, as he was dying of cancer.

[Face Intentionally Left Blank]

I wonder if acetaminophen wasn't involved, and he destroyed his liver.
Some painkillers combine acetaminophen with a more powerful drug, and I'm starting to believe that's a very bad idea, given how easy it is for acetaminophen to kill your liver, and how addicted ppl act.

I've always been told that that's the point. The idea is that Vicodin is pretty much given out like candy (seriously-- go tell your doctor you have a hangnail if you don't believe me), so they add the acetaminophen so people know not to abuse it. Take with a grain of salt, of course, but I have heard this from people in the medical field.

Wow, what a remarkably bad idea. The single highest cause of liver failure is acetaminophen. (http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Depression/2233) I wonder if even half the ppl who would take it for 'a good time' would have a clue that it could cause liver damage. I don't think that folks who are of that mind are necessarily the best educated or most responsible ppl, nor are they likely to be thinking clearly at the time. Why don't they put something in there to give them the shits, or make them vomit if they take too much of it. "Nah, let's fix it so that they could kill themselves if they take too much. I'm sure they're all educated, responsible ppl." Genius.

[BigT]

I believe the idea of those types of additions are not so you know it's bad for you, but so that you'll feel bad if you take too much. I'll admit that acetaminophen is a bad choice, though, as I know people who have taken more than the maximum dose for quite a long time. Heck, I had an aunt who died from it.

[Vinyl Turnip]

Oddly, I can still find no mention of Giraldo's death on CNN.com, at least in any of the links on the main page. Plenty of space to mention Snooki's new book, and the non-news that there's no progress in Korea talks, however.

He may not have had Dane-Cook-level exposure, but he was well-known in comedy circles and just appeared on a primetime network show. So far, about the only coverage I've seen is on TMZ. Did Giraldo make fun of CNN and they're holding a grudge?

[Boyo Jim]

Jon Stewart did what seemed a very heart-felt though brief eulogy for him at the end of last night's Daily Show.

[Boyo Jim]

Oddly, I can still find no mention of Giraldo's death on CNN.com, at least in any of the links on the main page. Plenty of space to mention Snooki's new book, and the non-news that there's no progress in Korea talks, however.

He may not have had Dane-Cook-level exposure, but he was well-known in comedy circles and just appeared on a primetime network show. So far, about the only coverage I've seen is on TMZ. Did Giraldo make fun of CNN and they're holding a grudge?

There is a story about his death listed on CNN's "Entertainment" page. Apparently they find his death a form of entertainment.

[Marley23]

He wasn't my favorite, but he was very good on the Hasselhoff roast and some of the others. Even before the overdose it seemed like he was having some problems (I remember some jokes about it during the roasts) and it's too bad he died young.

[Moriarty]

and that's coming from a recovered crackhead

OT: Have you ever started a thread titled "Ask the former crackhead?" If not, why don't you?

I did, if you want to search for it.

Let me add my condolences to Greg Giraldo, who was great at the Friar's Club Roasts. In classic roast form, Gilbert Gottfried asked if cremating Giraldo would count as "Roasting Greg Giraldo"?

[ftg]

Two degrees of dead: I have a relative who is "in the business" and knew Greg. She actually knew he was in the hospital and heard he was doing fine. Then dead. Not sure if it was bad medical treatment or they were misinformed. Either way, friends and co-workers are not happy about what happened.