Mike DeStefano (November 29, 1966 – March 6, 2011) was an American

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

. He used material from his heroin addiction, which began at age 15, and his recovery in brutally honest, profanity-laced routines. He was also a drug counselor to others.

Career

His first gig was in Florida, and that convinced him there was something to live for, and that he had options outside of taking his own life. His second gig was at a Narcotics Anonymous convention in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, where he stepped before the microphone after a rained-out pool party and started ranting about drugs. A regular at clubs in New York and around the country, DeStefano gained popularity after appearing on television on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

’s '' Live at Gotham''. He also appeared on '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'',

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's ''Whiteboyz in the Hood'' and other radio and television shows, and at popular comedy festivals, most notably

US Comedy Arts Festival The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, was a comedy festival that ran from 1995 to 2008. The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component calle ...

and Montreal's '' Just for Laughs'' festival. In 2010, he competed in the seventh season of NBC's ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

'' and finished in fourth place. He is the comic used in the logo for the New York based restaurant and comedy clu
The Stand
On October 9, 2010, DeStefano appeared with Jim Norton, Rich Vos and Robert Kelly in the

stand-up special "Comics Anonymous"; all four comedians appearing in the special were former addicts who had been clean and sober for 10 years or more. DeStefano was also an executive producer on the special, which was dedicated to their friend, comedian Greg Giraldo, who had died of a

drug overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

in September.

Personal life

DeStefano's wife, Franny, died of AIDS, which he talks about in "The Junkie and the Monk", recorded for The Moth on Jan 23, 2009.

Death

On March 6, 2011, Mike DeStefano died as a result of a heart attack. His death came hours after filming a video for funnyordie.com. DeStefano's funeral was held three days later on March 9 as well as March 10 at the Schuyler Hill Funeral Home in The Bronx.

Unfinished projects

DeStefano's death came just days before he was scheduled to perform his one-man show, ''A Cherry Tree in the Bronx'', in New York. He had just finished a run of shows titled ''Drugs, Disease and Death: A Comedy'', which was largely based on being HIV positive, his past drug addiction an
his wife Fran's death
several years earlier after her drug addiction and affliction with

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

Discography

*2010: ''OK Karma'' - released on

Stand Up! Records Stand Up! Records is an American independent comedy record label founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Grammy-winning producer Dan Schlissel. It has been called "the country's most respected indie comedy label." Stand Up! has released more than 20 ...

comedy label

References

External links

Mike DeStefano MySpaceMike DeStefano FacebookMike DeStefano Twitter
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Destefano, Mike 1966 births 2011 deaths Male actors from the Bronx American people of Italian descent American stand-up comedians Last Comic Standing contestants AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) Comedians from the Bronx 21st-century American comedians Stand Up! Records artists American male comedians