Greg Giraldo (born December
10, 1965) is an American
stand-up comedian, television personality, insult comic and former lawyer.
Early life
Giraldo
was born and raised in Queens, New York
and attended Regis High
School
and was voted by his classmates as most likely to
succeed. He is the oldest son of immigrant parents
from Colombia
(father) and
Spain
(mother) and was raised Roman Catholic. From early on, he
excelled academically and was selected to attend
Camp Rising Sun, the Louis August Jonas
Foundation's international summer scholarship program. Giraldo
attended
Columbia University.
Before
becoming a comedian, Giraldo worked as a lawyer, having graduated
from Harvard Law
School
. Giraldo spent less than a year as an
associate for
Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher & Flom before deciding that the job wasn't for him.
Despite his prior career, Giraldo rejects that persona and very
rarely discusses his days as a lawyer.
Career
Giraldo is known for his distinct delivery and his skills in
ranting, never allowing his rhythm to be broken.
Giraldo performs
regularly at the Comedy
Cellar
in Manhattan. Giraldo was a regular panelist
on
Tough Crowd with
Colin Quinn. Additionally, he was the star of the
short-lived
Common Law and also starred in several pilots,
including
The Greg Giraldo Show and
Gone
Hollywood for
Comedy Central.
The
New York Times has praised
Giraldo as "a talented comedian with a winning personality." In
2004 he was featured in the hit spoken-word
Lazyboy song, "
Underwear Goes Inside the
Pants."
Although the series was not picked up in 2005,
The Greg Giraldo
Show was a similar format to the cancelled
Tough
Crowd. The regular comics often joked during the run of
Tough Crowd that Giraldo would eventually be the host of
the show. However, when Giraldo was offered this series, many of
the
Tough Crowd comedians were rumored
to be frustrated that Giraldo was essentially adopting the format
used by
Colin Quinn.
Giraldo has appeared on
The Late Show with David
Letterman,
Late Night with Conan
O'Brien over a dozen times,
The Howard Stern Show and
The Opie and Anthony
Show. Giraldo was a panelist on Comedy Central's
100 Greatest
Stand-ups of All Time special. He had two half-hour
specials on
Comedy Central
Presents. He has also written segments for
Last Call with Carson
Daly.
Giraldo, who has three children, was known among comedians to drink
heavily. However, he confirmed on
Late Night with Conan
O'Brien on
July 7,
2005 that he has quit drinking. Giraldo recently
starred in a series of TV cable commercials. His series
Friday Night
Stand-Up with Greg Giraldo began on Comedy Central in late
2005 and ran until 2006. His CD
Good Day to Cross a River
was released 2006 on
Comedy
Central Records.
Greg has appeared in Comedy Central's annual
roast roasting
Chevy
Chase,
Pam
Anderson,
William Shatner,
Jeff
Foxworthy,
Flavor Flav,
Bob Saget,
Joan Rivers
and
Larry the Cable Guy, as well
as the TBS roast of Cheech & Chong.
In 2008, Giraldo appeared in venues across the United States as the
headlining act of the Indecision '08 Tour, produced by Comedy
Central.
Giraldo was a regular on Comedy Central's television series
Lewis Black's Root of
All Evil. Giraldo is one of the Advocates who lobbies for
their side to be considered the "root of all evil." He has only won
in two of his nine appearances.
Discography
External links
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