Stand-up comedian Neel Nanda, who notably appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Adam DeVine’s House Party, has died. He was 32.
Nanda’s death was first reported on Sunday (Monday in Australia), with his manager Greg Weiss confirming the news to People overnight.
“I [am] deeply shocked and saddened by this. He was a wonderful comic, but a better person,” Weiss said in a statement to Deadline. “He had the world in front of him.”
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Nanda’s cause of death has not been disclosed publicly.
To Variety, Weiss described Nanda as a “great comic” and a “great human being”.
Fans and friends alike are paying tribute to Nanda, with comedian Matt Rife writing on X (formerly Twitter): ”RIP Neel Nanda 😔 you were one of the nicest, hardest working comedians I’ve ever called a friend and i hope you can be at peace brother ❤️🩹”.
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Nanda, according to VC Reporter, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and was a fan of comedy from childhood.
He told the outlet in 2018 that he would watch Comedy Central programs and write out the jokes he heard in a notebook, then re-tell them to his friends at school.
“I didn’t realise I was stealing jokes until I was in high school,” he told the outlet.
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https://twitter.com/mattrife/status/1738681382413422679
“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 realise until college that I could go to an open mic and tell them,” he said.
“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.”
Nanda also told the outlet at the time that his 2017 Jimmy Kimmel Live! set was his greatest accomplishment in comedy.
He told the outlet: “I’ve performed on other networks like Comedy Central, Hulu, Viceland, etc., but Jimmy Kimmel was the first place I performed where my parents were a fan of the host.”