It’s Whatever Wednesdays and this post is late because I slept in. Apologies. Kind of randomly… I feel like talking about Mitch Hedberg today.

Photo from: Comedy Central

Who is Mitch Hedberg?

Mitch Hedberg was a brilliant stand-up comedian… that we lost too soon.

“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 depended heavily 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.” – Wikipedia

What happened?

Mitch’s death came from a mixture of a cocaine and heroine overdose in 2005.

In fact, by the time I had even heard any of his stuff, he had already passed away. I was home for Christmas one year and I remember pretty vividly that my friend was playing his stand-up act while we were driving to Starbucks. I think it was 2006. By the time we got to Starbucks, we just sat in the car listening to the rest of the act because we all found Mitch so funny. I was really excited and asked when this guy was going to be doing another stand-up routine.

My friend solemnly told me… “Sorry dude, there won’t be any more Mitch. He’s already dead. Rest in peace.”

Where can I find his work?

He recorded three comedy CDs: Strategic Grill Locations, Mitch All Together, and Do You Believe in Gosh?, the last released posthumously. He also appeared at the Montreal Just for Laughs comedy festival in 1998 and 2001. – Wikipedia

If you have Amazon Prime – you can listen to any of the three comedy CDs above for free, and I really recommend that you do.

Strategic Grill Locations [Explicit]

Mitch All Together [Explicit]

Do You Believe In Gosh? [Explicit]

You can buy the audio CD versions as well if you prefer something tangible. For those who prefer vinyl, he does have a vinyl collection as well.

What’s your favorite Mitch Hedberg joke?

There are a ton of great jokes, but there is only one that is probably my favorite.

However, just listing it here would not do Mitch Hedberg justice, because his delivery is what makes it so good.

So listen to his stuff — my favorite has to do with teeth whitening.

Anything else to say…? Or this just a short post?

This IS a short post. However, one more thing about Mitch Hedberg is that his one-liners work so very well for inside jokes. My wife and friends still sling his one-liners at each other once in awhile. You’ll see what I mean when you listen to his stuff.

However, I do want to remind everyone:

Please don’t do drugs.

We lost Mitch too soon. I do realize that he felt that drugs gave him a creative edge, but the cost was too high.

On October 12, 2004, a few months before his death, Hedberg sat in on the news with Robin Quivers on The Howard Stern Show. He appeared on the show again on March 17, 2005, just 12 days before his death, 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.” – Wikipedia

You don’t ever really get drugs “under control”.

Please don’t do drugs.

TL;DR

Mitch Hedberg was hilarious.

However, we lost him too soon.

You don’t get drugs “under control”.

Please don’t do drugs.

-Sensei

What do you think of Mitch Hedberg? What is your favorite Mitch Hedberg joke?

Questions, Comments and Suggestions are welcome.

You don’t need to fill out your email address, just write your name or nickname.