American stand-up comedian Greg Giraldo, familiar to audiences at Montreal’s Just for Laughs comedy festival and host of the TV series Last Comic Standing, has died at age 44 of an apparent overdose. He died Wednesday in a New Jersery hospital days after being hospitalized for an overdose of prescription medication.

Reports are spreading across social media platforms, with Twitter users weighing in. “Very sad to hear the news about Greg Giraldo,” MTV Movie Awards host Aziz Ansari tweeted. “One of the most respected comics I can think of. The world has lost a hysterical man. RIP.” Host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel tweeted: “Greg Giraldo was a great and funny man”. Also, Giraldo’s own site was directing people to leave condolences on his Facebook page.

Before becoming a comedian, he worked as a lawyer, having graduated from Harvard Law School. Greg Giraldo spent less than a year as an associate for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom before deciding to change his occupation and his life completely. Despite his prior career, Giraldo rejected that persona and very rarely discussed his days as a lawyer.