Accomplished Cosplayer and Incredible Human Being, Mike Biasi, Has Passed Away
Accomplished Cosplayer and Incredible Human Being, Mike Biasi, Has Passed Away
It is rare in life to encounter human beings that are filled with such talent that it leaves their peers in awe. It is even more rare when that same person is kind-hearted and nothing but supportive to every person he encounters. Unfortunately, the cosplay community has lost such an individual. His name was Mike Biasi. As a huge fan of Blizzard content, he participated in Blizzcon multiple years. He won the 2016 Blizzcon costume contest as well as the global costume contest with his famous Grommash Hellscream build. Everyone in the community has great stories about the man. While I only knew him on a shallow level, we had been Facebook friends for years and I saw first-hand his support of others.
It is with a heavy heart that I report after suffering a stroke on January 8th, he has passed away. His loved ones have set up a GoFundMe in order to help with the medical and funeral expenses during this tragic time.
Monday January 8, when Mike got home from work, he suffered a stroke. On Tuesday, it looked good Mike was responsive and could talk although his right side was affected. Unfortunately, Michael’s condition has deteriorated this past week. And since Wednesday he has been unconscious with assistance for breathing and eating. At this point it is just day to day to see if/when he wakes up. And if he does recover it’s impossible to say what quality of life he will have.
Mike and his son Devon live in Escondido together, Devon found Mike in his car suffering the stroke and was able to get help immediately. Many of you probably have met Devon over the years gaming or helping Mike with his cosplay of Grommash Hellscream, a character from World of Warcraft. I am sure they both would appreciate any financial assistance provided through this go fund me campaign.
Mike is still in ICU and the money would be used towards any expenses incurred during this time. Sorry to share such bad news. Please keep praying for him. He is fighting for his life.
-Leslie Biasi (Mike’s sister-in-law)
We encourage you to take the time to review the GoFundMe and donate if able. Such a sudden loss is hard in every way. He reached so many lives all around the world through his art and his kindness.
A lot of people knew him for his work. And his work was amazing. He was passionate, and he never did anything by halves. I am so happy that he has a legacy in the cosplay and gaming community that will ensure he’s always remembered.
Some of us were truly blessed to know him personally. And I want to share, so more of who he was as a person is remembered. Not to mourn, but to celebrate.
The passion he displayed in his art, was something he displayed in all aspects of his life. If you were his friend, he was there to hold your hand when you were sad, to hug you during your triumphs. He always gave you his full attention, even if he was busy. Even if it meant, he’d be up late that night, catching up on his own things later. He’d go without sleep, if he knew that it would provide you comfort or a smile.
And he was smart. He actually had a photographic memory. He’d remember dumb shit you’d say when you were half-asleep, and make fun of you later for it. Even if it were years before. Or you could spend hours drifting from nerd quote to nerd quote, across genre’s for hours, seamlessly. I’d often spend an evening with him bouncing between Ren & Stimpy, World of Warcraft lore, Monty Python movies, the Conan the Barbarian comics, and wondering what it’d be like to have tea with Elminster. And all the while his hands would be busy fiddling with parts to 40K figures or parts to a time machine, for all I knew.
And he was a consummate nerd. The kind of nerd that lives and breathes their sci-fi and fantasy and horror passions. Who has no shame wearing his nerd shirts everywhere. Who loved something so much, he spent 2 days wondering what the tread of the shoe of Grommash would look like. And who wrote Games Workshop one day asking to sculpt Titans for their games because he wanted to PLAY with something bigger. That was him – he wanted something more fun, so he offered to do it himself.
These are some of the things that, together, made Mike a great man. While words don’t truly capture his infectious laugh or the way he’d roll his eyes, I hope some of people understand how amazing he was beyond his cosplay and how much he’ll be missed. – Kristi Foxx
From early on in my cosplay journey Mike Biasi was a sweet and supportive friend. I loved being in google hangouts with him watching him sculpt his amazing Grommash costume. He was always willing to teach anyone in our Blizzcon cosplay family when they had questions about sculpting and mold making. He always had kind words and an awesome bear hug whenever I got to see him.
I was super honored to be with him when they announced the winners of Blizzcon 2016 and the Blizzard cosplay global championship which he won. The look on his face was such shock, but we all knew his amazing talent would push him to the top once he finally got that costume on stage. I got to snap a photo of his silly surprised face and we just laughed and cheered.
He passed away today and there is a huge hole in my heart. I know all of the friends he has met in his too short life will all feel a piece is missing now that he’s gone. His talent inspired us to make bigger and crazier things. I’ll always think of him when I’m backstage at Blizzcon sweating and crying in pain and frustration, and remembering Mike’s crazy journey with Grommash will push me through. – Kristin Stumpp, Little Sparkz
Lok’tar ogar, brother. May the Warsong never fade.
If you would like to donate to Mike Biasi’s GoFundMe please visit: https://www.gofundme.com/mike-biasi . If you are unable to donate but would like to show your support, please to share the page. If you have a story about Mike you would like to share with us, please do so in the comments.
From all of us here at The Geek Lyfe, we give our heartfelt condolences to everyone grieving this terrible loss.
Chicano | Fighting/Writing for Diversity | DM since 08 | Anime Lover | Site: https://www.thegeeklyfe.com | info@thegeeklyfe.com | http://twitch.tv/that_deangelo | https://linktr.ee/deangelomurillo
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Edward Anderson
Thank you for this. Let me assure you that this is Mike through and through. All through High School his enthusiam and skill were amazing, something which he shared with anybody interested, and never something which he thought made him better or more important in any way. It’s heartwarming to see that he never changed, and that he touched so many more lives.
Rich Biasi
Thank you for the wonderful article about my brother. The past week has been rough. And I will never get over this loss. But the outpouring of love and support from the community has helped us through this difficult time. It’s amazing to see how many lives my brother touched with his work. And as you mention above, he was also a warm, caring, gentle, helpful human being.
laura
Anasounds started four years ago with Alexandre and his fiancé, Magali. Based in the Nice region of France, the former was in engineering school at the time and, not having the resources to buy the pedals he wanted, began cloning his favorite designs.