Gallagher, Noted Comedian And Smasher Of Watermelons, Has Died At Age 76

Paul Natkin. Getty Images.

CNN- Comedian Gallagher, best known for his watermelon-smashing comedy routine and many popular specials in the 1980s, died Friday morning, according his manager Craig Marquardo. He was 76. According to a statement provided to CNN by Marquardo, the comedian died “after a short health battle” and “passed away surrounded by his family in Palm Springs, California.”

Gallagher, born Leo Gallagher, became a household name in the early ’80s with a comedy special titled “An Uncensored Evening,” the first comedy stand up special ever to air on cable television, according to an obituary shared by Marquardo. Gallagher’s most famous bit involved a hand-made sledgehammer he called the “Sledge-O-Matic,” which he would use to smash food on stage, spraying the audience.

Gallagher, a Fort Bragg, North Carolina native, earned a chemical engineering degree from the University of South Florida before moving to Los Angeles and developing his comedy act at legendary venue The Comedy Store, located on the Sunset Strip, according to his biography on the website for Selak Entertainment, a booking agency.

RIP a comedic staple from the youth of 80s and 90s children. Gallagher was obviously known for his shows where he would smash the everliving shit out of anything he could get his hands on, most famously watermelons, in what looked like a fever dream as you watched it.

However from what I remember, his comedy shows were pretty damn hilarious and witty in their own right. Smashing the hell out of watermelons definitely put food on the table, but I'm sure a stand up comedian with his chops and a goddamn chemical engineering degree at home enjoyed hanging his hat on specials like this.

I'm not going to talk down on the man's bread and butter that he splattered onto people cheering his name while wearing plastic ponchos. That shit is and will forever play. So let's wrap things up by watching Gallagher smash some shit, since it's what I'm sure he would've wanted us to do.

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P.S. I am responsibly adding the Cowboys to my card this week on the Barstool Sportsbook.