Comedian Neel Nanda Dead at 32

Neel Nanda

Neel Nanda, a young comedian who has been seen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Comedy Central’s Adam Devine’s House Party, has died. He was just 32 years old.

The stand-up's manager, Greg Weiss, confirmed his passing to Deadline, stating, “I [am] deeply shocked and saddened by this. He was a wonderful comic, but a better person."

Weiss continued, “He had the world in front of him.” In fact, the comic was fully booked through the month of February.

It's unclear exactly when or where Nanda passed, and his cause of death has not been made available.

In a 2018 interview with VCReporter, he called appearing on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show his "proudest accomplishment thus far in comedy," noting that the series was his "first choice" when it came to late-night.

The comedian was born to Indian immigrants in Atlanta, and comedy was ingrained in his bones from an early age, when he began watching Comedy Central with a notebook in hand to record his favorite jokes and retell them at his middle school.

“I didn’t realize I was stealing jokes until I was in high school,” recalls Nanda. “When I was in high school I started writing my own jokes using the structure of some of the jokes I had previously stolen. I filled up a notebook of jokes and didn’t realize until college that I could go to an open mic and tell them. I actually had a friend read the notebook and tell me, ‘You know you can just go perform these, right?’ I didn’t know, but after a quick Google search I was off to the Laughing Skull open mic.”

Several friends and colleagues of the comedian took to social media to reflect on his passing.

Filmmaker Sara Joe Wolansky shared that Nanda was the "first friend" she made in Los Angeles. "It's hard to find the perfect words," she continued. "I can't believe he's gone."

Fellow comedian Matt Rife called Nanda "one of the nicest, hardest working comedians" he's met, adding, "i hope you can be at peace brother."

Comedian Kate Willett recalled the way he "crushed on every show and was always sweet to everyone."

Nanda's friend Spencer Breslin called his death "a huge loss," dubbing the comedian "one of the funniest people [he] ever knew."

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