He scored in the 99th percentile on the LSAT, sailed through Harvard Law, and landed a coveted job at an elite New York firm, then walked away to perform stand-up in dive bars with his pants duct-taped together. It defies every conventional narrative about success, and it ends in tragedy.

This deep dive explores the life of Greg Giraldo, one of the sharpest insult comics of his generation, and the lifelong battle with his own brilliant mind that he ultimately couldn’t outrun. From Queens to the Comedy Central roasts, it’s a portrait of a genius whose greatest gift may also have been his heaviest burden.

• Why he lasted just eight months at the prestigious firm Skadden Arps before quitting
• The bizarre pro bono case defending fellow comic Jeff Ross on a weapons charge
• How he started comedy after watching bad comics and thinking ‘I could do that’
• The hidden meaning of his ‘525’ tattoo, marking the date he first got sober
• The devastating final weekend before a recovery rally, and the relapse that ended his life at 44