Mitch Hedberg

[Dave James]

If you watch the Comedy Channel at all or David Letterman, you've probably run into Mitch Hedberg. I saw him last year here in Portland with Lewis Black. A genuinely funny person has checked out way too early.

Up over and out.

[Rooster_Ties]

Saw this news on fark.com earlier today. I'd only caught Hedberg a time or two on Comedy Central, but immediately took a great liking to him.

In fact, he and Louis Black are/were probably the only two comics I would have ever made a point to see live, if they ever swang/swung through Kansas City. Never did catch Hedberg live (missed him when he was hear last year, and never knew if he was here before that, cuz I never really knew his name -- he was just "that guy" I liked on Comedy Central).

37 is way to fuckin' young to check out.

R.I.P.

[MartyJazz]

Saw this news on fark.com earlier today. I'd only caught Hedberg a time or two on Comedy Central, but immediately took a great liking to him.

In fact, he and Louis Black are/were probably the only two comics I would have ever made a point to see live, if they ever swang/swung through Kansas City. Never did catch Hedberg live (missed him when he was hear last year, and never knew if he was here before that, cuz I never really knew his name -- he was just "that guy" I liked on Comedy Central).

37 is way to fuckin' young to check out.

R.I.P.

Oh, no!!!! I really dug him a lot. Really sad news. How and why?

[Rooster_Ties]

Comedian Mitch Hedberg dies at age 37

Associated Press

ST. PAUL -- Mitch Hedberg, a Minnesota-born comedian who worked in nightclubs, college campuses, television and film in a wide-ranging career, and who struggled with drugs and alcohol, died in New Jersey, his family said. He was 37.

Hedberg died Wednesday in a hotel room in Livingston, N.J. Pending the medical examiner's report, the cause of death appears to be heart failure, said his mother, Mary Hedberg. She said her son was born with a heart defect and frequently felt anxious about his condition.

Mary Hedberg said speculation that her son's death was drug-related was gossip.

"We don't know that for a fact," she said, but added, "it's not a secret Mitch used drugs. Whether that played a role in his death or not, we don't know."

Jokes about Hedberg's drug use were a staple of his act and he took a hiatus from performing for several months after a May 2003 arrest in Austin, Texas, for felony possession of heroin.

Hedberg was born in St. Paul. After graduating from Harding High School, he rose through the ranks at Minneapolis' Acme Comedy Co. and caught his big break through a Comedy Central special.

Hedberg's one-liners, dished off in a spacy staccato, were based on absurdist, random observations. His long, dirty blond hair harkened to the image of a 1970s stoner.

A hit on "The Late Show With David Letterman," on which he appeared 10 times, and "The Howard Stern Show," Hedberg once was dubbed "the next Seinfeld" by Time magazine. But TV-series fame eluded him because his unique style of mumbled one-liners didn't lend itself to the sitcom format. His rambling, non-sequitur style often drew comparisons to Steven Wright, but Hedberg disagreed.

"If I made potato chips and put them in a can, people would say I was ripping off Pringles," he said. "But what if I put them in a bag?"

Hedberg had two popular comedy CDs, "Strategic Grill Locations" and "Mitch All Together." He acted in the movie "Almost Famous" -- smoking fake pot with Peter Frampton -- and appeared on Fox's hit series "That '70s Show."

Drawing on kitchen jobs he held before becoming a performer, he wrote, directed, produced and acted in the slacker comedy "Los Enchiladas," filmed at St. Paul's Boca Chica restaurant and the Maplewood Mall. The film was featured at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.

Hedberg was held in high regard among his peers.

"He was the greatest comedian ever," said his close friend, Doug Stanhope of cable TV's "The Man Show," who recently opened for Hedberg.

He is survived by his wife, comedian Lynn Shawcroft, his father and mother, Arne and Mary Hedberg of St. Paul, and sisters Wendy Brown of Woodbury and Angie Anderson of South St. Paul.

Visitation was scheduled for Monday at Woodbury Funeral Chapel in Woodbury, with funeral services Tuesday at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Woodbury. Burial will be private.

Edited April 1, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[catesta]

Bummer.

The guy was hilarious.

I never heard of him until I started listening to the XM comedy channel. Hedberg quickly became my favorite.

RIP

[catesta]

Some great lines by Hedberg...

"I was at this casino minding my own business and this guy came up to me and said your gonna have to move you're blocking a fire exit. As if there were a fire, I wasn't gonna run. If you are flamable and have legs you are never blocking a fire exit."

"Alcoholism, is a disease, but it's the only disease that you can get yelled at for having. Dammit Otto, your an alcoholic. Dammit Otto, you have Lupis. One of those two doesn't sound right."

"When you go a resturant on the weekends and it's busy so they start a waiting list. They say Dufrane, party of two, table ready for Dufrane, party of two , and if no one answers they'll say the name again, Dufrane, party of two. Bu then if no one answers, they'll move on to the next name. Bush party of three. Yeah, but what happened to the Dufranes, No one seems to care, who can eat at a time like this? People are missing. You people are selfish. The Dufranes are in someone's trunk right now ,with duct tape over their mouths and they're hungry.That's a double whammy! We need help! Bush search party of three. You can eat once you find the Dufranes."

"I was walking by a drycleaner at 3a.m. and there was a sign that said Sorry, we're closed. You don't have to be sorry. It's 3a.m. and your a drycleaner. It would be ridiculous for me to expect you to be open. I'm not gonna come by at 10 and say, hey I was here at 3a.m and you guys were closed. Someone owes me an apology."

"I hate turkeys. If you stand in the meat section at the grocery store long enough, you start to get mad a turkeys. There's turkey ham, turkey bologna, turkey pastromi,.Some one needs to tell the turkey, man, just be yourself."

[MartyJazz]

Hey thanks a lot. I enjoyed reading the material and imagining him delivering it. Extremely likeable on stage. I'm really sorry he's gone.

[rostasi]

"I got an ant farm. Them fellas didn't grow shit."

"I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long."

"Last week I helped my friend stay put. It's a lot easier than helping someone move.

I just went over to his house and made sure that he did not start to load shit into the back of a truck."

"I wanted to light some candles, but I didn't have a candle holder. So I got a cake."

[Rooster_Ties]

Keep 'em comin'. This guy was brilliant!!!

R.I.P.

[catesta]

"One time a guy handed me a picture of himself and he said. "Here's a picture of me when I was younger." Every picture of you is when you were younger. Here's a picture of me when I'm older. How'd you pull that off? Let me see that camera."

"An escalator can never break. It can only become stairs. You would never seen an Escalator temporarily out of order sign, just Escalator temporarily stairs. Sorry for the convenience."

"You know that Pepperidge Farm bread, that stuff is fancy. That stuff is wrapped twice. You open it, and then still ain't open. That's why I don't buy it, I don't need another step between me and toast."

"I opened-up a yogurt, underneath the lid it said, "Please try again." because they were having a contest that I was unaware of. I thought maybe I opened the yogurt wrong. ...Or maybe Yoplait was trying to inspire me... "Come on Mitchell, don't give up!" An inspirational message from your friends at Yoplait, fruit on the bottom, hope on top."

"My friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana, I said "No, but I want a regular banana later, so, Yeah."

[rostasi]

Hey, guys (and, of course, gals)!

I found a huge number of quotes

here!

Edited April 1, 2005 by rostasi

[maren]

Thanks, Rod.

here are two of 'em:

"See, I write jokes for a living, man. I sit in my hotel at night and think of something that's funny and then I go get a pen and write 'em down. Or, if the pen's too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain't funny."

"I don't have a girlfriend. I just know this lady who'd be really mad if she heard me say that."

[rostasi]

Sure, but I just noticed that a bunch of quotes were removed from the

"From Performances" section

I know that the Wikipedia is editable by the general public, but whaaaaaa?

[Guest Chaney]

---><---

[Free For All]

I didn't remember who he was until I saw the photo- long hair, sunglasses and a 70s hippie vibe. He was great, really funny and creative. Sorry to hear this. RIP.

[catesta]

long hair, sunglasses and a 70s hippie vibe. He was great, really funny and creative. Sorry to hear this. RIP.

Yep, he used to have the bass playing behind him.

[WD45]

I didn't remember who he was until I saw the photo- long hair, sunglasses and a 70s hippie vibe. He was great, really funny and creative. Sorry to hear this. RIP.

That is a great record. Had me in tears.

Comedy Central just aired his old 30 min special, and followed it with an "In memory of" thing.

Bummer.