Mitch Hedberg

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Mitch Hedberg
Mitch Hedberg
Born:	February 24, 1968 Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Died:	March 29, 2005 Livingston, New Jersey
Medium:	Stand-up
Nationality:	American
Years active:	1989-2005
Genres:	Observational humor surreal comedy
Influences:	Steven Wright George Carlin Bill Hicks
Spouse:	Lynn Shawcroft
Website:	www.mitchhedberg.net

Mitchell Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 29, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his stylistic elocution and routines that often consisted of a string of one-line non sequiturs.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Death 2 Style 3 Discography 4 Filmography 5 TV appearances 6 Quotations 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Mitch Hedberg was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was the son of Swedish immigrants Arne and Mary Hedberg, and was married to Canadian comedienne Lynn Shawcroft on February 25, 1999. He graduated from Harding High School in Saint Paul.

[edit] Career

He began his career in 1989 playing open mic nights in south Florida. Two years later, in 1991, he moved to Seattle, where, due to his continued efforts, his popularity increased. However, Hedberg did encounter some degree of difficulty. It took him more than a few years to come up with a good deal of material, and he also needed to conquer his stage fright, which was so intense that it left a mark on him throughout his career, sometimes even leading to him performing with his eyes closed, which he often incorporated into his jokes. He first began achieving national exposure with a special on Comedy Central. Hedberg appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman ten times and became one of the show's most successful American comedians. Mitch was also a three-time performer at the Montreal Just for Laughs festival.

[edit] Death

Late in the evening on March 29, 2005, Hedberg was found dead by his wife in a Livingston, New Jersey hotel room. He was 37 years old. Hedberg was touring at the time with comedian Randy Kagan. His death was first announced by Howard Stern on his morning talk show (on which Hedberg had appeared many times, including less than two weeks before his death) and later confirmed by the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. Many people who learned of his death thought it to be an April Fool's joke, because it was announced April 1 on his official website. Hedberg had reportedly been preparing for his first HBO special, which, according to his website, was his main goal as a comedian.^{[citation needed]}

Hedberg was known to be a drug user. He even had jokes which referred to his drug use ("I like the FedEx driver, because he's a drug dealer and he don't even know it," or "I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.") Hedberg was arrested in May 2003 in Austin, Texas for possession of heroin.

Hedberg was born with a heart defect for which he received extensive treatment as a child. Though this condition initially had been cited as a possible cause of death, in May 2005 the New Jersey medical examiner's office reported "multiple drug toxicity," including cocaine and heroin, as the official cause of death.^[1]

Results of the autopsy and toxicology reports were first reported by journalist Peter Hyman in the January 2006 edition of Spin magazine.

Hedberg could be heard as the voice of Jimmy John's radio advertisements during the months leading up to and after his death. He also was the voice of the Atlanta Thrashers "Hockey Love" ad campaign in 2002-2003. Every performance of the Insomniac tour, headed by Hedberg's friend and former tourmate Dave Attell, featured a toast to Hedberg at the end of the show.

[edit] Style

Hedberg was set apart from his stand-up comedy peers by many traits, including his unique pronunciations, his "abrupt" style of punchline delivery, and an unusual stage presence. His jokes focused largely on wordplay, non-sequiturs, whimsy, and "object" observations. His jokes rarely featured obscene material, although he would occasionally use a curse word as an exclamation.

Hedberg often performed with his head down and his long hair covering his face. It was not unusual for him to perform his entire routine with his back to the audience, or while lying on the floor.

Hedberg often joked with the audience if they hadn't reacted particularly well to a joke: "That joke's better than you acted. Perhaps it's not, maybe it's dumb, it could be." In the unedited Strategic Grill Locations CD, he tells a joke that did not receive any laughs, to which Mitch stated: "Alright...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."

His jokes ranged from compact one- or two-liners ("I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.") to slightly longer material (usually with multiple punchlines) in which he would take everyday ideas or situations and pick out certain aspects at which to poke humor.

[edit] Discography

• Strategic Grill Locations (1999)
• Mitch All Together (2003)

[edit] Filmography

Year	Title	Role
N/A	International Partyers	N/A
1999	Los Enchiladas!	Lee
2000	Almost Famous	Eagles Road Manager
2005	Lords of Dogtown	Urethane Wheels Guy

[edit] TV appearances

Year	Title	Role/Info
1998	That '70s Show	Season 1 episode 11, as Frank
1998	Premium Blend	Episode dated May 23, 1998 as Himself
1999	Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist	Episodes 604 and 609 as Himself
1998	Home Movies	Episodes 104, 105, 112, and 113 as The Pet Eulogist, Mitch, Cop, and Dr. Fizzel (Anger Management Counselor), respectively
1998	Comedy Central Presents	Himself
2001	Ed	Episode 110 as Dave
2001	Just for Laughs in Montreal	Himself
2001	Late Friday	Himself
2002	Saddle Rash	Various voices
(08-02-2002)	Late Show with David Letterman	Himself
(12-13-2003)	Late Show with David Letterman	Himself
(12-23-2003)	Late Night with Conan O'Brien	Himself
2003	Crank Yankers	Himself
2004	Shorties Watchin' Shorties	Episodes 1 through 9 as Himself

[edit] Quotations

• "I was in a casino, minding my own business, and this guy came up to me and said, 'You're gonna have to move. You're blocking a fire exit.' As though if there was a fire, I wasn't gonna run. If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit. Unless you're a table."

• "An escalator can never break; it can only become stairs. You would never see an 'Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order' sign, just 'Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience.'"

• "Alcoholism is a disease, but it's the only one you can get yelled at for having. 'Damn it, Otto, you're an alcoholic.' 'Damn it, Otto, you have lupus.' One of those two doesn't sound right."

[edit] References

1. ^ Susan Caseyn: "Report: Mitch Hedberg died of drug overdose.", USA TODAY, October 14, 2005

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Mitch Hedberg at the Internet Movie Database
• Entertainment Weekly report of his death
• Lynn Shawcroft's blog (Hedberg's widow)
• Interview: Mitch Hedberg in The A.V. Club

Persondata
NAME	Hedberg, Mitch
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Hedberg, Mitchell Lee
SHORT DESCRIPTION	stand-up comedian
DATE OF BIRTH	February 24, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH	Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States of America
DATE OF DEATH	March 30, 2005
PLACE OF DEATH	Livingston, New Jersey, United States of America