Comedian Joe DeRosa at Comix.
Photo by: Brooke Niemeyer
By: BROOKE NIEMEYER
The New York comedy community is still reeling from the shocking death of "Last Comic Standing" comedian Greg Giraldo, according to fellow comic and pal Joe DeRosa.
"It was a very hard thing to wrap your head around," DeRosa told NiteSide at Comix in Manhattan this weekend.
"He's definitely left a tremendous void in the business, and I think particularly in the New York comedy scene because he's here. I feel lucky to have known the guy in the way that I did."
He added, "He was the life of the party, would light up a room, always had a smile on his face, always funny, always charming, and one of the best comics ever to grace the business. He's very, very missed."
DeRosa met Geraldo, who passed away on Sept. 29 at age 44 of an accidental drug overdose, after he moved to New York from Philadelphia a few years ago to pursue a career in comedy. DeRosa said he stumbled into the business by accident when a club manager in Philly asked him to tell jokes during Monday Night football halftime breaks.
"I always enjoyed trying to be funny, and making people laugh is nice," DeRosa said. "But the thing to me that was always so incredible is that a group of people would listen to your thoughts and opinions."
He idolized the acts of men already in the industry, including Giraldo, and also George Carlin, who DeRosa had a brief phone conversation with a few years ago.
"When I tell you that is probably my most robust comedy memory, I'm not exaggerating," DeRosa said. "I just admired the man at such a level that even just to talk to him for five minutes ... that moved worlds for me."
"It was a very hard thing to wrap your head around," DeRosa told NiteSide at Comix in Manhattan this weekend.
"He's definitely left a tremendous void in the business, and I think particularly in the New York comedy scene because he's here. I feel lucky to have known the guy in the way that I did."
He added, "He was the life of the party, would light up a room, always had a smile on his face, always funny, always charming, and one of the best comics ever to grace the business. He's very, very missed."
DeRosa met Geraldo, who passed away on Sept. 29 at age 44 of an accidental drug overdose, after he moved to New York from Philadelphia a few years ago to pursue a career in comedy. DeRosa said he stumbled into the business by accident when a club manager in Philly asked him to tell jokes during Monday Night football halftime breaks.
"I always enjoyed trying to be funny, and making people laugh is nice," DeRosa said. "But the thing to me that was always so incredible is that a group of people would listen to your thoughts and opinions."
He idolized the acts of men already in the industry, including Giraldo, and also George Carlin, who DeRosa had a brief phone conversation with a few years ago.
"When I tell you that is probably my most robust comedy memory, I'm not exaggerating," DeRosa said. "I just admired the man at such a level that even just to talk to him for five minutes ... that moved worlds for me."
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