Greg Giraldo has died

Greg Giraldo was such an uncommonly smart and funny comic, it was actually sort of depressing, in a “why can’t I do that” sort of way. A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law, he was best known for his stand-up, as a judge on ‘Last Comic Standing’, and for the Comedy Central Roasts (and maybe this spoken word song from 2006 that got some decent time on radio). He died today after an overdose of prescription meds at the age of 44. His friend and fellow comic Jim Norton was the first to report the news with an announcement on his twitter.

Though he had a long and well documented history with drugs and alcohol, his death is being considered accidental. And hopefully it will stay that way. Hopefully it won’t be cocaine or something. Because Giraldo was cool, and he had cool stories. If you don’t want people doing coke, you probably shouldn’t make it sound like so much fun.