Gregory C. Giraldo

 Gregory C. Giraldo (December 10, 1965 – September 29, 2010)

He is remembered for his appearances on Comedy Central's televised roast specials, and for his work on that network's television shows Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, and the programming block Stand-Up Nation, the last of which he hosted. Initially, Giraldo passed the bar exam and practiced law at a firm in New York, before changing careers. Giraldo went to Harvard Law School, achieving a near perfect score on his Law School Admission Test (LSAT), scoring in the 99th percentile of students taking the test. Giraldo found that, although he did well in law school, he did not like the practice of corporate law. Giraldo started doing stand-up comedy in 1992, performing regularly at the Comedy Cellar comedy club in Manhattan, as well as clubs all over the country. He appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Politically Incorrect, The View, Fox News Channel's The Full Nelson and Beyond the News, Louie Anderson's Comedy Showcase, Comedy Central's Comic Cabana, Showtime's Latino Comedy Festival and Funny is Funny, as well as on the BBC's Live at Jongleur. He had two half-hour specials on Comedy Central Presents, wrote segments for Last Call with Carson Daly, and was a panelist on Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time special. Giraldo also performed at the United States Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of a USO tour in 2002. He was married twice, and had three sons with his second wife. On Saturday, September 25, 2010, Giraldo overdosed on prescription medication; the exact medication is unknown. It is believed to have been accidental.

After Giraldo failed to appear for a scheduled performance at The Stress Factory that evening, police were notified and officers went to his hotel room. He was found unresponsive and remained in a coma while on life support, which was removed by family orders. Giraldo died on September 29, 2010 at age 44. Giraldo is buried at Good Ground Cemetery in Hampton Bays, New York.