Podcast of the Week: Marc Maron on Giraldo and Schimmel

"He was really baffled at at the fact that he could not stay off fucking drugs and alcohol. And he tried. And this was a miscalculation."
-Marc Maron

Photo Credit: Bobby Bank
Posted by The Stress Factory

If you're only going to listen to or read one more remembrance of Greg Giraldo, make it Maron's tribute on his podcast. The half-hour he spends remembering Robert Schimmel and Giraldo is a pure example of his characteristic honesty and vulnerability. Maron knows fear and pain and doubt really well. But more importantly, he knows that he doesn't know it all. Calling Giraldo's overdose a "miscalculation" is about as precise a term as I can imagine. It doesn't matter what the truth is about which drugs he was using and which choices he was aware of; whatever the numbers, at some point Giraldo started adding them up wrong.

Tributes to Greg Giraldo have been going up on all sorts of sites. And they're worth reading. Some of them are simple statements of sadness and remembrance, and some of them are more detailed thoughts on the significance of Giraldo and his death.

Comedy Central:

Greg was our go-to comedian for a reason: he was always game, always generous, and always brilliantly funny.

Ted Alexandro (@ The Comic's Comic):

It was a week or so after September 11th and Greg walked into Gotham Comedy Club. I was thrilled because I was curious to see if he would address the attacks and how he would handle it. I hadn't really seen anyone do it yet. Greg proceeded to launch head on into the topic with a daring and magical set that was both astoundingly funny and cathartic. I laughed so hard that I cried. I cried because maestro Giraldo had taught us all a lesson once again. Nothing stops life. Nothing is off limits. It is all fodder, it is all available to us to create something beautiful. There was something so reassuring in his cocksure presence on stage. It was like 'Okay motherfuckers, here we go!'

Dave Anthony:

I'm not sure why Greg's death has knocked me down the way it has. … Could just be because he was one of the nicest stand up comedians I've met. I am a man obsessed with justice and things being right. This is just so wrong I can't wrap my head around it.

Dylan Gadino (Punchline Magazine):

I hope he knew that I was inspired by his performances. On his albums and during his live shows, no matter how frustrated or angry he seemed while dissecting society’s foibles, there was a quiet, constant and underlying fragility that endeared him not only to me but also to all of his true fans.

Sean McCarthy (The Comics Comic):

One of the first things I wrote publicly about Greg Giraldo in 2006 was this: "Greg Giraldo should be a lot more famous than he is. Of all of the stand-up comedians working the circuit and talking topical, few know how to tell it like it is like Giraldo can." I still feel the same way about him today.

Vinnie Brand:

For those of you that got to know him, you knew him instantly as a fine man and if you were fortunate, a good friend.

Michael Ian Black:

I was struck by his immense intelligence and good spirit. … The lesson I take away from it is one I hope I’ve been learning over the years: have gratitude for what you have and forgive yourself for what might have been.

Michael Ian Black's comments are, in part, his response to an interview Giraldo did with Psychology Today on the topic of failure.