Mitchell Lee Hedberg (February 24, 1968 ? March 29, 2005)^[1] was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and unconventional comedic delivery.

Remembered for his distinctive delivery, Hedberg's comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-liners,^[2] and observational comedy, mixed with absurd and cool elements as well as non sequiturs.^[3] Hedberg's comedy and on-stage persona gained him a cult following,^[4] with audience members sometimes shouting out the punchlines to his jokes before he could finish them.^[5]

Biography

Early life

Mitch Hedberg was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the son of Arnold and Mary Hedberg.^[6] He graduated from Harding High School in Saint Paul and was married to Canadian comedian Lynn Shawcroft^[7] on February 25, 1999.^[1]

Career

He began his career in 1989 playing open mic nights in southern Florida.^[2] 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. His fear was so intense it left a mark on him throughout his career, sometimes even leading to him performing with his eyes closed. He first achieved national exposure in 1996, performing at the prestigious Just for Laughs Montreal International Comedy Festival,^[2] which aired on Comedy Central. Hedberg appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman ten times^[5] and became one of the show's most successful American comedians.

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.

Death

Late in the evening on March 29, 2005, Hedberg was found dead in his room in Livingston, New Jersey.^[8] His death was confirmed by the St. Paul Pioneer Press later in the day.

Hedberg was known to be a drug user, referring to it in some of his jokes ("I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too"). Hedberg was arrested in Austin, Texas, in May 2003 for possession of heroin.^[8] He was also born with a heart defect for which he received extensive treatment as a child.^[9] It was initially speculated that his heart condition may have played a part in his death until the New Jersey medical examiner's office reported "multiple drug toxicity," including cocaine and heroin, as the official cause of death.^[8] Results of the autopsy and toxicology reports were first reported by journalist Peter Hyman in the January 2006 edition of Spin magazine.^[8]

Style

Hedberg was set apart from his stand-up comedy peers by many traits, including his unique manner of speech, (a style he adopted later in his career^[10]), his abrupt delivery, and an unusual stage presence. His jokes focused largely on wordplay, non-sequiturs, whimsy, and object observations. His act usually consisted equally of compact one- or two-liners similar to the style of Steven Wright in addition to longer routines, often with each line as a punchline. Many of his jokes stemmed from his everyday thoughts or situations.

As a result of his stage fright, Hedberg often performed wearing sunglasses, with his head down, with his hair in his face or with his eyes closed in order to avoid eye contact with the audience. He would often stand upstage during performances or perform with his back to the audience.^[11]

Hedberg was noticeably self-aware of the status of his jokes, whether they were poorly delivered, underexplained, or just poorly received. He occasionally added disclaimers to the end of jokes to let the audience know that his reaction to the joke matched theirs.

Hedberg most notably acknowledged when jokes were poorly delivered or received in the form of a resigned "all right." He also toyed with his audiences after a joke did not gain the reception he had intended; occasionally quipping, "That joke's better than you acted." During recordings for CDs, he would often joke that he would find a way to edit a failed joke to make it seem well received, such as "adding" laughter to the end of the joke. Following a bombed joke on Strategic Grill Locations, Mitch 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."^[12]

Comedy Central Records announced the release of the first album of new Mitch Hedberg material on June 10, 2008. The CD, titled Do You Believe in Gosh? was released September 9, 2008, and contains material recorded at the Improv in Ontario, Canada in January of 2005. Hedberg's wife Lynn wrote the introduction, in which she stated that the performance was in preparation for an end of the year CD recording.^[13]

Discography

• 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)^[14]

Filmography

TV appearances

References

External links

• Official website
• Rare clips of Mitch Hedberg at RooftopComedy.com
• Lynn Shawcroft's blog (Hedberg's widow)

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