A Reminder that Great Comedy is no Match for Mortality

Yesterday I was shocked to learn that comedian Greg Giraldo died. I searched on the internet and found reports that he had accidentally overdosed on prescription medication. It struck me as sadly ironic that he died in the same way he hysterically roasted some deceased celebrities on the annual comedy central roasts that he helped make famous. A line from the Monty Python song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" instantly came to mind. "You'll see it's all a show, keep them laughing as you go, just remember that the last laugh is on you". The last laugh was on Giraldo like it will be for everybody and along the way he kept many people laughing and some harder than they'd ever laughed before.
I first became aware of Greg Giraldo on Colin Quinn's show "Tough Crowd" on comedy central in 2003. His humor was dark, edgy, smart and poignant. His wit was razor sharp but not mean spirited. When he came to the metroplex to perform at the Addison Improv, I went with a friend to see him to see if he was as funny doing stand up live as he was on television and found that he was even funnier. I don't remember how much the tickets cost but I know I would have paid double to see him. Giraldo, like all great perfomers, didn't just perfom his comedy on the stage, he owned it. Less than a minute into his monologue, I had completely forgotten everything about the two opening acts. The highlight of the show was where a woman not far from the stage was laughing so uncontrolably at one of his jokes he said earlier that Giraldo couldn't continue his monologue. He politely asked the woman her name and the good natured woman answered. Giraldo then asked what she did for a living and she said she was a claims adjustor. Giraldo responded "okay you're an adjustor" and the woman interjected saying "now get it right, I'm a Claims Adjustor". Giraldo then quickly responded "oh I'm sorry, please tell us more about your meaningless shit job". The crowd and the woman all laughed out loud and the rest of his monologue carried on. Giraldo was a comedian that knew how far to take dark edgy humor without going over the line into anger and vindictiveness. His insults at people on the surface seemed brutal and you would wonder if the person he insulted would ever have any self respect again but Giraldo did it in such a good natured way that even after he insulted you, you would be glad to have a beer with him. He was also very intelligent and had a Law degree from Harvard. Watching Giraldo do stand up you could tell he had gained throughout his life a thorough understanding of history, american culture and the troubles that plague our society. Unlike some comedians who think they're smart (hello Bill Maher and Jeanneane Garofalo) Giraldo truly was.
Giraldo was not a perfect man and often directed his humor at himself which I suspect was the result of demons that he struggled with inside from drugs and alcohol addictions. At this point we can only wonder how much his internal struggles lead to his early death. Regardless of how he died, I know that an easy thing for me to do was to get ready and watch Giraldo peform his brilliant comedy that I identified with and a difficult thing for me to accept is that I will never get to see him perform comedy live again.
Thank you Greg Giraldo for all your years as a comedian and the countless number of laughs you gave us.