Mitch Hedberg

Hedberg was born on February 24, 1968, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the son of Mary (née Schimscha) and Arne Hedberg.[8][9] He was of Swedish (from his paternal grandparents), Czech, and German descent.[10] Hedberg attended Harding High School in Saint Paul. He admitted to having no interest in school and barely graduated.[10]

Hedberg began his stand-up career in Florida, and after a period of honing his skills, he moved to Seattle and began to tour. He soon appeared on MTV's Comikaze, followed by a 1996 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman that brought him his big break. He won the 1997 grand prize at the Seattle Comedy Competition. The next year he appeared in an episode of Fox's series That '70s Show.

In 1999, he completed his own independent feature film, Los Enchiladas!, which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in.[11] He recorded three comedy CDs: Strategic Grill Locations, Mitch All Together, and Do You Believe in Gosh?, the last released posthumously. He appeared at the Montreal Just for Laughs comedy festival in 1998, 2001, and 2004.

Concurrent with his rising fame in the entertainment industry, Hedberg appeared on Letterman nine more times, signed a half-million dollar deal with Fox for a television sitcom, and was dubbed "the next Seinfeld" by Time magazine.[12] George Carlin, Dave Chappelle, Mike Birbiglia and Lewis Black were among his comedian fans.[7]

Hedberg's standup comedy was distinguished by the unique manner of speech he adopted later in his career, his abrupt delivery, and his unusual stage presence. His material was based on wordplay, non sequiturs, paraprosdokians, and object observations. His act usually consisted equally of compact one- or two-liners and longer routines, often with each line as a punchline. Many of his jokes were inspired by everyday thoughts or situations. Comedian Demetri Martin's style has been compared to Hedberg's.[13]

Hedberg suffered from stage fright throughout his career; he often performed in sunglasses, with his head down and his hair in his face or his eyes closed, and sometimes stood upstage or with his back to the audience, constantly moving in place. At times, he nervously shook his microphone unconsciously.[14]

Hedberg occasionally added disclaimers to the end of a joke if it was not sufficiently well received, frequently variations on "that joke's dumb, I'm aware of that." During recordings for CDs, he would often say that he would find a way to edit a failed gag to make it seem well-received, for example by "adding laughter" to a failed joke containing arithmetic. Following such a failure on Strategic Grill Locations, Hedberg suggested, "All right ... that joke is going to be good because I'm going to take all the words out and add new words. That joke will be fixed."[15]

Comedy Central Records released an album, Do You Believe in Gosh? on September 9, 2008, that contained material Hedberg recorded at The Improv in Ontario, California in January 2005. His wife, Lynn, wrote in the introduction that the performance had been in preparation for a year-end CD recording.[16]

Hedberg was married to Canadian comedian Lynn Shawcroft from 1999 until his death in 2005.[2][17]

Hedberg was a frequent recreational drug user, mentioning it in some of his jokes (e.g., "I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too"). He was interviewed by Jonathan Davis in the December 2001 issue of Penthouse. In the interview, published three years before his death, he was asked, "If you could choose, how would you end your life?" He replied, "First, I'd want to get famous, and then I'd overdose. If I overdosed at this stage in my career, I would be lucky if it made the back pages."[18][19] In May 2003, he was arrested in Austin, Texas for heroin possession.[1] On October 12, 2004, Hedberg sat in on the news with Robin Quivers on The Howard Stern Show. He appeared on the show again on March 17, 2005, and briefly discussed his drug use, saying, "Well, you know, I got the drugs under control now." Stern asked, "Do you? You know how to take them responsibly?" Hedberg replied, "Yeah, you know, just for the creative side of it."

On March 30, 2005, Hedberg was found dead in a hotel room at The Westminster Hotel in Livingston, New Jersey.[1] The New Jersey medical examiner's office reported "multiple drug toxicity" in the form of cocaine and heroin as the cause.[1] Hedberg's death was formally announced on April 1, 2005, leading some to believe it was an April Fools' Day joke. His funeral was held at St. Ambrose of Woodbury Church in Minnesota.[20]

• Strategic Grill Locations (1999) (Originally self-published, later re-released on the Comedy Central label, edited)
• Mitch All Together (November 18, 2003)
• Do You Believe in Gosh? (September 9, 2008)[21]

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