Comedian and the Bronx's own Mike DeStefano tragically passed away last night after suffering a heart attack. This Wednesday he was set to perform his one-man show, titled A Cherry Tree in the Bronx, at the Barrow Street Theater; he just reminded his Twitter followers about the show yesterday.
According to Punchline, DeStefano had gained some mainstream success last year when he reached the final five on the Last Comic Standing. The Examiner notes that he "grew up in the rough streets in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx, and experienced drugs at the age of 12. Mike attended catholic school throughout his childhood, and grew up with three brothers in a tough neighborhood infested with peer-pressure, local mobsters and drugs." DeStefano was HIV positive, and was a recovering drug addict; his wife died of AIDS in 1995.
Below you can watch his 2009 appearance at the Moth Reading series, here in New York:
