A Depressing Greg Giraldo Interview

The phenomenally talented comedian Greg Giraldo died of an accidental overdose this week, and though he had battled problems with drugs and alcohol for years, it doesn’t make his absence from the comedy landscape suck any less. Despite his success, Giraldo was constantly hounded by feelings of failure — feelings that he shared in this interview by Psychology Today. The whole thing is pretty enlightening (and depressing), but here’s the essence:

The reality is I’m not this person with this driving “get it done” attitude. I’m a complete f*ckup and I’ve f*cked up a lot of things in my life. I’m constantly tortured by a sense of failure. I feel like quitting all the time. I feel like hiding in drugs or alcohol. I feel like I’ve failed in terms of what my potential is.

Michael Ian Black — a comic actor with his fair share of successes and failures — shared the article on Tumblr and added his perspective:

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. We are all failures in one way or another, but failure is more than the end of something. It is the opportunity to begin something else. Enjoy your successes, accept your failures. Move on from both. But keep moving on.

Whoa, I didn’t expect Friday to start out so heavy. With the exception of the occasional depressed mood, I don’t think I’ve ever been so wrapped up in my own failure as Giraldo and Black. I’ve also never been accused of being “talented” or “funny” like them, though, so I guess it evens out in the end. Well, not for Greg. He’s still dead