TV
Published December 24, 2023, 2:16 p.m. ET
Neel Nanda – an aspiring comedian who appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” – has died. He was 32.
“I [am] deeply shocked and saddened by this. He was a wonderful comedian, but a better person,” Nanda’s manager Greg Weiss said in a statement to Deadline. “He had the world in front of him.”
The cause of death was initially unknown.
Weiss also noted that he is fully booked with performances in January and February.
Nanda – who also appeared on Comedy Central's “Adam Devine's House Party” – hosted the weekly show “Unnecessary Evil” at the Westside Comedy Theater in Los Angeles.
Nanda made her first appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in 2017. Jimmy Kimmel Live/ABC
Following his death, many mourned the comedian on social media, including Matt Rife and Dace Cook.
“You were one of the kindest, hardest working comedians I've ever called a friend, and I hope you can be at peace, brother.” Rife wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
For more Page Six you love…
“I didn’t know Neel Nanda personally” Cook notes on X“But reading multiple tributes is both heartbreaking and eye-opening.”
No cause of death was announced. Neel Nanda/Instagram
Comedy clubs also mourned the actor.
“It is with a very heavy heart that we say goodbye to the great comedy star Neel Nanda,” representatives from the Port Comedy Club in Baltimore wrote on Instagram Saturday. “Absolutely shocked by the news. Such a positive force for comedy and a great loss to our community. Rest in peace, Neel.”
“Thank you for gracing our stage and piano, a great headliner gone far too soon,” the venue added.
Nanda, the son of Indian immigrant parents, told VC Reporter in a 2018 interview that he became interested in comedy when he was in middle school watching Comedy Central and transcribing his favorite jokes.
Nanda became interested in comedy in middle school. neelnanda/Instagram
“It wasn’t until I was in high school that I realized I was stealing jokes,” Nanda said. “When I was in high school, I started writing my own jokes, using the structure of some jokes I had previously stolen.
“I filled a notebook with jokes and didn't know until college that I could go to an open mic and tell them. I actually had a friend read the notebook to me and said, “You know you can just perform this, right?” I didn't know it, but after a quick Google search I ended up at Laughing's open mic Skull.”
He first appeared on Jimmy Kimmel in 2017 and called it his “proudest achievement in comedy to date…Jimmy Kimmel was the first place I appeared where my parents were a fan of the host.”
Load More…
{{#isDisplay}} {{/isDisplay}}{{#isAniviewVideo}} {{/isAniviewVideo}}{{#isSRVideo}} {{/isSRVideo}}
https://pagesix.com/2023/12/24/entertainment/neel-nanda-jimmy-kimmel-live-comic-dead-at-age-32/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons
Copy the URL to share