Mitch Hedberg died

Daniel Moore

Daniel Moore

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Jul 28, 2003
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He was one of my favorite comedians, he will be missed. He revived one-liner stand-up in my opinion.

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. http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/11278099.htm
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From WikiQuote:

I once saw a forklift lift a crate of forks. And it was way too literal for me.

You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the fish; they just want to make it late for something.

I got an ant farm. Them fellas don't grow s***

I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long.

I was in downtown Boise, Idaho, and I saw a duck, and I knew the duck was lost, 'cause ducks ain't s'posed to be downtown. There's nothin' for 'em there. So I went to a Subway sandwich shop, I said, "Let me have a bun." But she wouldn't sell me just the bun, she said that I had to have something on it. She told me it's against regulations for Subway to sell just the bun. I guess the two halves ain't supposed to touch. So I said, "Alright, well, put some lettuce on it," which she did. She said, "That'll be $1.75." I said, "It's for a duck." And they said, "All right, well, that is free." See, I did not know that. Ducks eat for free at Subway! Had I known that, I would have ordered a much larger sandwich. "Let me have the Steak Fajita Sub - but don't bother ringing it up, it's for a duck! There are six ducks out there, and they all want Sun Chips!"

I tried to throw away a yo-yo. It was f****** impossible.

I got my hair highlighted, because I felt some strands were more important than others.

I have an underwater camera just in case I crash my car into a river, and at the last minute I see a photo opportunity of a fish that I have never seen.

One time a guy handed me a picture of himself, and he said, "Here's a picture of me when I was younger." Every picture of you is of when you were younger. Here's a picture of me when I am older. You son of a b****, how'd you pull that off? Let me see that camera ...

Sometimes I wave to people I don't know. It is very dangerous to wave to people you don't know, because what if they don't have a hand? They'll think you're cocky. "Look what I got motherf*****, this thing is useful...I'm gonna go pick something up."

On a traffic light green means go and yellow means yield, but on a banana it's just the opposite. Green means hold on, yellow means go ahead, and red means where the f*** did you get that banana at?

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

I have a friend who is a juggler. When I go to his house I don't like to take food from him if it is in threes. "He has three apples left ... I guess I can't have one."

As an adult, I'm not supposed to go down slides. So, if I'm at the top of a slide, I have to pretend like I got there accidentally. "How'd I get up here, Goddamnit!? I guess I have to slide down. WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!" That's what you say when you're having fun — you refer to yourself and some other people.

When you go to a restaurant on the weekends and it's busy they start a waiting list. They start calling out names, they say "Dufresne, party of two. Dufresne, party of two." And if no one answers they'll say their name again. "Dufresne, party of two, Dufresne, party of two." But then if no one answers they'll just go right on to the next name. "Bush, party of three." Yeah, but what happened to the Dufresnes? No one seems to give a s***. Who can eat at a time like this - people are missing. You f***** are selfish... the Dufresnes are in someone's trunk right now, with duct tape over their mouths. And they're hungry! That's a double whammy. We need help. Bush, search party of three! You can eat when you find the Dufresnes.

I dont like grouper fish, well they're okay. they hang around star fish. because they're grouper fish....

Man. I went to the doctor the other day. All this guy did was suck blood out of my neck. Thats the last time I am going to see Dr. Acula.

I bought myself a parrot. The parrot talked. But it did not say, "I'm hungry,".............. so it died.

Rice is good if you're hungry and you want to eat 2000 of something.

My apartment is infested with koala bears. It's the cutest infestation ever. Way better than cockroaches. When I turn on the light a bunch of koala bears scatter. And I don't want them to, you know, I'm like, "Hey, hold on fellas, lemme hold one of yous... and feed you a leaf."

A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer.

The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how much I play, I'll never be as good as a wall. I played a wall once. They're ****ing relentless.

Foosball ****ed up my perception of soccer. I thought you had to kick the ball and then spin 'round and round. I can't do a back flip, much less several ... simultaneously with two other guys.

My friend said to me "Man, this weather is trippy." I said to him, "No man, perhaps it is not the weather that is trippy, it is the way we perceive it that is indeed trippy ..." then I thought, man, I should have just said, 'yeah' ...

I hope the next time I move I get a real easy phone number. Something like, 222-2222. I would say sweet. People would say, "Mitch, how do I get a hold of you?" I would say, "Press 2 for a while, and when I answer, you will know that you have pressed 2 enough."

I don't own a cell phone or a pager. I just hang around everyone I know, all the time. If someone needs to get a hold of me they just say "Mitch," and I say "What?" and turn my head slightly ...

If you had a friend who was a tightrope walker, and you were walking down a sidewalk, and he fell, that would be completely unacceptable.

Waiting for the results is frightening. So I don’t get the regular AIDS test anymore. I get the roundabout AIDS test. I call my friend, Brian. I say, ‘Brian, do you know anybody who has AIDS? No? Cool. ’Cuz you know me.
 
I've seen Mitch Hedberg several times, most recently just a couple of months ago. He was my second favorite comedian, next to Brian Regan.
 
I had never seen the guy, but that was some funny stuff you shared. It is a good thing I sit back in the corner by myself so no one can hear me laughing. :D

cerberus
 
I saw that guy a few times and he was the funniest guy I had ever seen. It's all because of how his hair was long and he would never laugh.

What a riot :)

Thanks for the post.
Cheers,
FoM
 
:confused: He did? He was one of the funniest comedians out there. You can still catch him on Comedy Central sometimes (maybe even more now that he is gone.)

Thanks for the quotes, NR.

~ashes
 
Ashes said:
:confused: He did? He was one of the funniest comedians out there. You can still catch him on Comedy Central sometimes (maybe even more now that he is gone.)
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They just played his special the other night with a message at the end about his passing. Thats how I found out.

He was truly a great comedian, and I don't normally care for one liners at all. Most comedians who tell one liners aren't any good at keeping the humor going. Its all very abrupt with a joke, maybe a laugh, then a completely seperate joke. Mitch Hedberg knew how to keep the flow going even when telling one liners. His bit about the restaurant search party is one of my favorites.
 
He didn't have to lace his act with over the top, taboo and profane material...which is very rare for a comic these days.
 
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