Greg Giraldo is Dead: Comedy's Talent-To-Hack Ratio Dives
You know, it's tough to find a comedian that doesn't get irritating after a while. And I don't mean irritating in a good way like, say, in the case of a prostate exam, I mean irritating in a "be funny, goddamn it" way. I'm always happy to listen to smart, funny cats like Doug Stanhope, Louis CK, Colin Quinn, and even that squinty-eyed freak Gilbert Gottfried (just not in an AFLAC commercial please), but I'd rather put my penis in a vice than watch Dane Cook do a routine.
And Greg Giraldo was another of those guys (the funny ones, not the penis-in-a-vice ones I mean). Even his stupid smirk and semi-obnoxious hair couldn't detract from how funny he was. I never heard him do shitty, stolen material, and he rarely came across as a hack (something obviously irrelevant in the fabric of the universe: Denis Leary and Carlos Mencia are still walking around, so fuck you, universe).
Giraldo was just a funny, funny dude, who sadly will probably be remembered by more people for being a judge on that abortion of a television show Last Comic Standing than for the hilarious stuff he did on Tough Crowd, which aired on Comedy Central back when that network's programmers had balls and a sense of humor, or his appearances on the Comedy Central roasts.
Giraldo's death last week was, reportedly, the result of an accidental prescription drug overdose. So, to add insult to injury, it's probably going to provide even more fodder for control freaks to try and tell you how to live when it comes to what you put in your body.
That's right: not only has the ratio of hacks to talent in the comedy world just tilted that much farther towards a universe in which people like Ant make up most of your comedy options, it'll probably get even tougher to get the medication necessary to deal with it. Way to go, Greg.
At this point, most maudlin remembrances would toss in a "Bon chance, Greg Giraldo, you'll be missed," but I try to avoid acting like a sappy douche (and he's dead anyway, so he's not going to read it).
Instead, I'll just recommend you go search YouTube for some of his wise-assery, particularly while on Tough Crowd, and see what you missed while he was alive, and what we all have to do without now that he's dead.
Follow Technorati