Geechy Guy, a favorite Vegas comic, found dead at 59

In his stand-up act, Geechy Guy tossed what he called “joke grenades.”

“You’ll get these later,” the gangly comic often said. Among his grenades: “My doctor tells me I’m a kleptomaniac, so I’ve been taking a lot of stuff for it.” And, “I couldn’t keep my eyes off the woman at the construction site. She was riveting.”

The veteran Vegas headliner, who beat Ray Romano on “Star Search” in the early ’90s and was a quarterfinalist on “America’s Got Talent,” died Thursday at his Las Vegas home. He was 59.

Guy had a recent history of health concerns, Jerry Jones, his housemate and landlord, said, especially high blood pressure. A nursing team had recently visited the home to check on his condition.

He was born Michael Paul Cathers on May 12, 1964 in Rochester, Mich. He was a popular club comic for years in Las Vegas, recently at such havens as Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at MGM Grand and Laugh Factory at the Tropicana.

The stage vet was known as a guy who could crush it for 15 minutes, or for an hour and 15 minutes.

Garrett said Guy filled in for him at a crucial moment in his career, when Garrett was cast in “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

“We go wayyyy back,” Garrett texted Thursday. “When I got the Raymond gig he covered for me, opening for The Righteous Brothers for a spell, right here at MGM Grand.”

Garrett admired Guy’s “unique style and delivery, a very funny guy” who worked at the club several times. The comic, actor and club operator said, “I’m so sad to hear this.”

Laugh Factory GM Harry Basil booked Guy several times in Las Vegas and at the club in Reno. Guy was a popular draw at both clubs. He also hung back for “Harry-Oke,” Basil’s late-night karaoke parties.

“Geechy always did a great job,” Basil said. “He would always come hang at our green room, and his go-to song was ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ by Billy Joel. He would always sing that song.”

Jo Koy once opened for Guy in 1997, at Huntridge Theater. The two were reunited when Guy visited Koy backstage after Koy’s sold-out show at T-Mobile Arena last November.

“I was so impressed, the whole crowd lit up their cellphones for him. It looked like a rock concert,” Guy said days after that show, when he joined Kelly Clinton-Holmes.’ “Sit In” show at Tuscany Suites. “But I wouldn’t want to be that famous. Could you imagine me in the middle of that crowd?”

Guy was nationally famous, a little more than a decade ago. He reached the quarterfinals (No. 48, specifically) on the sixth season of “America’s Got Talent” in 2011. He also appeared on “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

He had often claimed to be the fastest joke-telling comic, with 676 told in an hour, at the Improv at Harrah’s in 2011. But Guinness World Records has listed English comedian Tim Vine (who set his record of 499 on Oct. 7, 2004) as the official record-holder.