Holy shit. How? I dealt with him a few times at a previous job and he was really really nice, soft-spoken, no bullshit ego. He was always extremely nervous before he went on, pacing and going through his set over and over under his breath. That is a total shame.
They said that they had yet to hear what happened exactly but had confirmation from a couple of reliable sources. My wife and I have two of his albums, which we love.
They said that they had yet to hear what happened exactly but had confirmation from a couple of reliable sources. My wife and I have two of his albums, which we love.
not to start the gossip but my boy in pittsburgh had tickets to see him a couple months ago. show got canceled, word was he OD'd.
damn, I saw him about a year ago at the Improv, real funny guy, the wife and I saw him later that night at a bar around the corner and chatted with him. A real humble guy, however he was a big fan of the d-r-u-g-s, so an OD would not have surprised me.
once he came to my college. the school had a stipulation that he was not aloud to drink on stage so during his routine (which was awesome, but went on for a really long time and he started to pancake at the end) he would walk to the wings of the stage to drink from a bottle of wine, it was funny cuase i was sitting on a side so even though he was off stage i could see him doing this the entire time.
Even family and close friends had a hard time understanding Mitch Hedberg, a St. Paul native who ran away from home and, despite living a scattershot life, became a runaway success as a standup comic.
Hedberg, whose space-case persona was as much part of his soul as it was his act, died early Wednesday morning in a New Jersey hotel room. He was 37. A medical examiner hasn't issued findings, but Hedberg's family is told he suffered a heart attack. His wife was with him.
After graduating St. Paul's Harding High School, Hedberg rose through the ranks at Minneapolis' Acme Comedy Co., and caught his big break through a Comedy Central special. He made several appearances on David Letterman's and Conan O'Brien's shows, made more Comedy Central appearances and produced two comedy CDs. His big dream, to have an HBO comedy special, was in the works.
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, and his success occurred in light of, in spite of and even because of his quarter-century affair with drugs and alcohol.
"I'd probably be living in Costa Rica, eating oranges on the beach, if I wasn't doing comedy," he told the Pioneer Press last September.
"There's no two ways about ??? having a son in entertainment industry is challenging," his mother, Mary Hedberg, said Thursday.
She recalls being at work when her oldest daughter called in a panic to tell her Mitch had packed some brown paper bags and left home. Mary Hedberg couldn't get home in time to either see him off or talk him out of it.
"That was heartbreaking for us, but he kept in contact with us. He called as soon as the car broke down," she said. "You know, it was like putting him through college, even though he wasn't at college. But when he got his first break, we were just so thrilled for him, because we wanted him to know he was O.K., and to have that self-confidence that he could do what he wanted to do."
Louis Lee, owner of the Acme, said Hedberg not only became the Twin Cities' first breakout comedian of the 1990s but, along with Lewis Black, helped shape a national resurgence in standup comedy.
"It's very difficult for one-liner comedians to get an audience going, but when Mitch worked here, you could see the kids call out the punchline," Lee said. "Mitch made the whole comedy community realize how important good writing is. It's a huge loss."
Unlike many comics, Hedberg was demonstrably thankful to his fans. Not long ago, a group of college students in Florida, speaking with Hedberg backstage after a show, mentioned how hot their dorm room was. Hedberg surprised them the next morning by showing up to their dorm with a new air conditioner.
"Mitch presented a lot of challenges, but a lot of opportunities for traveling that we wouldn't have otherwise had, and he had a heart of gold," his mother said. "He was a brilliant comic and a wonderful person."
Dates haven't been set, but eventual visitation and services will be at Wulff Family Services, Woodlane Mortuary, in Woodbury.
every time i want to use it I can't remember the name.
bookmarked now, thanks.
I dunno if you use Firefox, but if you do there's a nifty extension you can install that sets it so you can just right-click in the login screen of sites, click on "BugMeNot" and it will automatically fill in the info for you. That's pretty handy. That's all I did to check out the article... So, thank you "jb@jimbeam.com" for the account, whoever you are!
in all honesty he had become my favorite comedian as of late, and would have been the only standup act i would've paid to see (which i was lagging on doing so). respect due.
i hope i won't feel meloncholic when i watch/listen to his routines from now on.
He was one of the few standups I'd have paid to see... The others being Dave Attell, John Valby, Chappelle if he came around, and Dane Cook. A real pisser, this is.
All I can say it that I knew this would happen cuz his image didn't seem to be just an image. Usually you hear how the guy cleaned up and then got killed in a car wreck (Sam Kin....)
Totally sucks cuz he wa really funny. I think I knowingly didn't get attached to him cuz I just saw it comming.
Also, if you ever saw Shorties Watching Shorties his stuff came across really funny in cartoon form.
funky16corners
7,175 Posts
Comments
whaaaaaaat!?!?!
you gotta be kiddding.
not to start the gossip but my boy in pittsburgh had tickets to see him a couple months ago. show got canceled, word was he OD'd.
RIP Mitch
Stern swore it wasn't a joke...
Defamer is also confirming...
haha!!!
Don't laugh Jeff. The dude was like your unattached siamese twin...
I know I know... but wouldn't a comedian want us to laugh?
sad that he's dead, real funny guy
There is that key word "allegedly" in teh first sentence.
YEt, there is nothing on his official site about his "death"
Still sounds bogus to me.
too lazy to register, post the article
BugMeNot is your friend....
Comedian Mitch Hedberg dead at 37
BY MATT PEIKEN
Pioneer Press
Even family and close friends had a hard time understanding Mitch Hedberg, a St. Paul native who ran away from home and, despite living a scattershot life, became a runaway success as a standup comic.
Hedberg, whose space-case persona was as much part of his soul as it was his act, died early Wednesday morning in a New Jersey hotel room. He was 37. A medical examiner hasn't issued findings, but Hedberg's family is told he suffered a heart attack. His wife was with him.
After graduating St. Paul's Harding High School, Hedberg rose through the ranks at Minneapolis' Acme Comedy Co., and caught his big break through a Comedy Central special. He made several appearances on David Letterman's and Conan O'Brien's shows, made more Comedy Central appearances and produced two comedy CDs. His big dream, to have an HBO comedy special, was in the works.
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, and his success occurred in light of, in spite of and even because of his quarter-century affair with drugs and alcohol.
"I'd probably be living in Costa Rica, eating oranges on the beach, if I wasn't doing comedy," he told the Pioneer Press last September.
"There's no two ways about ??? having a son in entertainment industry is challenging," his mother, Mary Hedberg, said Thursday.
She recalls being at work when her oldest daughter called in a panic to tell her Mitch had packed some brown paper bags and left home. Mary Hedberg couldn't get home in time to either see him off or talk him out of it.
"That was heartbreaking for us, but he kept in contact with us. He called as soon as the car broke down," she said. "You know, it was like putting him through college, even though he wasn't at college. But when he got his first break, we were just so thrilled for him, because we wanted him to know he was O.K., and to have that self-confidence that he could do what he wanted to do."
Louis Lee, owner of the Acme, said Hedberg not only became the Twin Cities' first breakout comedian of the 1990s but, along with Lewis Black, helped shape a national resurgence in standup comedy.
"It's very difficult for one-liner comedians to get an audience going, but when Mitch worked here, you could see the kids call out the punchline," Lee said. "Mitch made the whole comedy community realize how important good writing is. It's a huge loss."
Unlike many comics, Hedberg was demonstrably thankful to his fans. Not long ago, a group of college students in Florida, speaking with Hedberg backstage after a show, mentioned how hot their dorm room was. Hedberg surprised them the next morning by showing up to their dorm with a new air conditioner.
"Mitch presented a lot of challenges, but a lot of opportunities for traveling that we wouldn't have otherwise had, and he had a heart of gold," his mother said. "He was a brilliant comic and a wonderful person."
Dates haven't been set, but eventual visitation and services will be at Wulff Family Services, Woodlane Mortuary, in Woodbury.
every time i want to use it I can't remember the name.
bookmarked now, thanks.
I dunno if you use Firefox, but if you do there's a nifty extension you can install that sets it so you can just right-click in the login screen of sites, click on "BugMeNot" and it will automatically fill in the info for you. That's pretty handy. That's all I did to check out the article... So, thank you "jb@jimbeam.com" for the account, whoever you are!
comedy central confirmed it in his bio (of all places)
http://www.comedycentral.com/standup/central/detail.jhtml?p=/comedians/h/mitch_hedberg.xml
"Don't ever go see Dr. Acula!"
RIP, holmes.
in all honesty he had become my favorite comedian as of late, and would have been the only standup act i would've paid to see (which i was lagging on doing so). respect due.
i hope i won't feel meloncholic when i watch/listen to his routines from now on.
Totally sucks cuz he wa really funny. I think I knowingly didn't get attached to him cuz I just saw it comming.
Also, if you ever saw Shorties Watching Shorties his stuff came across really funny in cartoon form.