Stand-up comedian Neel Nanda died unexpectedly this week at the age of 32 as tributes flooded in for the young rising comic.
“He made our audiences smile and so happy,” Jokers Theatre & Comedy Club owner Dave Curran said Sunday.
The cause of his death is not yet known.
Deadline reports:
“Neel Nanda, a stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Comedy Central’s Adam Devine’s House Party, has died, his manager Greg Weiss confirmed to Deadline. The cause of death is not immediately known. He was 32.”
“I [am] deeply shocked and saddened by this. He was a wonderful comic, but a better person,” Weiss said in a statement. “He had the world in front of him,” Weiss added, noting he was fully booked with appearances throughout January and February.
The Port Comedy Club also paid tribute to Nanda on social media.
“It is with a very heavy heart we say goodbye to comedy great, Neel Nanda,” The Port Comedy Club reps posted Saturday on Instagram.
“Absolutely shocked by the news. Such a positive force for comedy and a huge loss to our community. Rest in Peace, Neel,” adding, “Thank you for gracing our stage and piano, a great headliner, gone too soon.”
“At this point all I can do is confirm, yes, unfortunately my client of over 11 years has passed,” manager Greg Weiss told The Times on Sunday.
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The LA Times reported:
“Nanda may not have been a household name, Curran said, but he had achieved notable success, with a strong number of club bookings and more than 100,000 followers on Instagram.
The comic had appeared on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and Comedy Central’s “Adam Devine’s House Party,” and in January he was featured on “Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents.”
Clips promoting Nanda’s appearances at Jokers centered on the comic’s Indian heritage and growing up in Atlanta with immigrant parents.”
“I only met him six months ago, but after a day or two he has the ability to make you feel like you’ve known him for years,” said Curran, who booked Nanda because he had an “it factor.”
Curran said he and Nanda went from “strangers to feeling like friends over 24 hours. He does that with audiences too.”
Several comedians shared tributes to Nanda over the weekend.
“RIP Neel Nanda,” embattled comedian Matt Rife, 28, wrote on X, “You were one of the nicest, hardest-working comedians I’ve ever called a friend and I hope you can be at peace brother.”
“I didn’t know Neel Nanda personally but reading several tributes is both heartbreaking and eye opening,” Dane Cook, 51, posted on the platform Saturday. “I echo so many in expressing there is help out there.”
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