Comedian Mitch Hedberg dies at 37

[BBF]

Here's some info from E! Online's News Brief that appeared today:

PASSING: Mitch Hedberg, a funnyman who got his first big break on The Late Show with David Letterman and went on to appear in MTV's Comikaze, Comedy Central's Comedy Product, and NBC's Comedy Showcase, died March 30, reportedly after suffering a heart attack. He was 37.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/arts/01hedberg.html

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=495&ncid=762&e=3&u=/ap/20050401/ap_en_mu/obit_hedberg

http://www.comedycentral.com/standup/central/detail.jhtml?p=/comedians/h/mitch_hedberg.xml

[BBF]

St. Paul-born comedian Mitch Hedberg dead; heart failure blamed

Colin Covert, Star Tribune
April 1, 2005 HEDBERG0401.ONLINE

St. Paul-born comedian Mitch Hedberg, whose skewed perspective on everyday life grew into a long career in nightclubs, college campuses, television, film and recording, died Wednesday. He was 37.

Hedberg died in Livingston, N.J., while traveling between shows. Pending the medical examiner's report, the cause of death appears to be heart failure, his mother, Mary Hedberg, said Thursday.

She said Hedberg was born with a heart defect and spent much of the first year of his life receiving treatment at the University of Minnesota. He frequently felt anxious about his condition and reported heart palpitations, she said, but "it was determined to be something that would be fine as long as he stayed within the reaches of normalcy."

She characterized speculation that his death was drug-related as "gossiping. We don't know that for a fact," but added, "It's not a secret Mitch used drugs. Whether that played a role in his death or not, we don't know."

J.T. Trollman
Special to the Star Tribune
Jokes about Hedberg's drug use were a staple of his act and he took a several-month hiatus from performing for after a May 2003 arrest in Austin, Texas, for felony possession of heroin.

His busy touring schedule had become erratic. In mid-March, his performance at the University of Maryland was described in the school newspaper as "unprepared and rushed." During that appearance, Hedberg read his act from notes. A week later he failed to appear for a five-day engagement at the Funny Bones comedy club in Richmond, Va., calling night after night to cancel each performance, according to club spokeswoman, Jessi Plucknett.

Mary Hedberg, who spoke with her son on Saturday, said "he was struggling" but appeared to be "OK."

Hedberg's comic style was smart and whimsical. "An escalator can never break," he observed. "It can only become stairs. You would never see an 'Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order' sign, just "Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience.' "

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 Cameron Crowe's movie "Almost Famous" -- smoking fake pot with Peter Frampton -- and appeared on Fox's hit series "That '70s Show."

Drawing on kitchen jobs that 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.

He 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.

Heroin in the green room

Hedberg's act often alluded to drinking and drug use.

"I used to do drugs. I still do drugs. But I used to, too," he often said, adding, "Alcoholism is the only disease you can get yelled at for having."

Comedian Scott Hansen, a former club owner who gave Hedberg his first booking at the St. Paul Comedy Gallery, said he caught Hedberg shooting heroin in the green room at his club in 1994.

"I threatened to call the police if he didn't guarantee that he would stop. He told me that he didn't want to stop and if I couldn't deal with it, it was my problem. We never worked together again," Hansen recalled. Still, they parted on good terms. "Whenever we happened to meet, he thanked me for giving him his start."

[Dale512]

to bad, he was a great comedian to.

RIP Mitch

[Juggalo]

THAT SUCKS! mitch and brian regan were my 2 favorite comedians. i was plannin on goin and seein mitch when he came back around my parts. he was so hilarious. R.I.P mitch :(


"I think pizza hut is the cockiest pizza chain on the planet because pizza hut will except all competitors coupons. that makes me wish i had my own pizza place... mitch's pizzaria...this weeks coupon: unlimited free pizzas"

[FTR250Rnif]

that sucks he was pretty funny:(

[insaneracin2003]

omg,that is so creepy,i went and seen his show a few weeks ago here in houston...:ermm:

[BBF]

Here are ton of quotes from his shows:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mitch_Hedberg

[Wood250RMX]

he was wicked funny but he brought it on himself..... liked the nose candy to much

[WEEZIL]

CRAP! DUDE THIS IS WORSE THAN THE POPE DYING!

THIS BETTER BE SOME SORT OF A JOKE!

[iceracer65]

man i loved that guy...such a unique way of delivering his material..he will be very missed!

He was the funniest comedian Ive ever seen.

[400exrules]

dang he was pretty funny too:(

[hessianmx111]

My manager told me, "Mitch, don't use alcohol as a crutch." A crutch is something that helps you walk, alcohol is like the step I didn't see.I was at a bar once, and no one was talking to me 'cuz I just did a show, and I ran into a guy, and instead of saying "excuse me" I said "get the hell out of my way," and ran. He caught up to me, he had on a hat, a nose ring, an eybrow ring, a goatee, a tongue ring, and 3-earings. He said "Hey man, you've got a lot of nerve," and then I said "Hey man, you have a lot of cranium accessories. You guys are smart, when I do the dumber shows, I have to say "Hey man, you've got a lot of sh*t on your head!"

I never knew this guy's name but I've seen his show countless times on Comedy Central, and he was one of the funniest guys I've ever seen. R.I.P Mitch:(