Mitch Hedberg, one of the most exciting comedians working today, died on Wednesday at the age of 37. Cause of death hasn't been announced, but lindsayism is reporting that it was a heroin overdose.

The cause of death was not immediately known, but Hedberg's troubles with drugs were a staple of his act. His busy touring schedule had become erratic in recent weeks. He had failed to appear for a weeklong engagement at Richmond, Va.'s Funny Bones comedy club, according to the club's spokesperson, Jessi Plucknett.

I saw Mitch with Stephen Lynch a couple of months ago, and his act was incredibly bizarre. He spent half the show lying on the stage on his back telling us he was horrible and that we should leave.
This is horrible; he was one of my favorite comedians.

fentopal

Denver, CO

July 2003

MAR 31, 2005 08:53 PM

Funny guy.
Sad end.

chuckgelman

New York, NY

July 2004

MAR 31, 2005 08:54 PM

That's a sad end for a funny funny guy. Real shitty news. He will be missed.

SomethingStupid

North Hollywood, CA

March 2004

MAR 31, 2005 08:56 PM

Hey, but now he can reach the sort of status that Bill Hicks has.

Edit: Eh, this was meant to be a half-hearted joke, but I read it and it comes off as just me being a jerk. I'm quite sorry to hear it; he was one of the genuinely original and funny comedians today.

[Edited on Mar 31, 2005 by TedKoppel]

Viola

SUICIDEGIRL

North Carolina, USA

MAR 31, 2005 08:58 PM

Here is a login that you can use to read the second page of the article without registering.

I am sad about this too. He was brilliant.

Cottser

London, ON

April 2004

MAR 31, 2005 09:06 PM

Definitely a loss for the comedy community, and one less funny man in our world.

scorpioopus

San Francisco, CA

May 2004

MAR 31, 2005 09:22 PM

Ugh. Not good news. Mitch, you will be missed.

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH

April 2004

MAR 31, 2005 09:22 PM

suck :0(

He looked at the world so differently than everyone else. His wasn't the "White people are one way, black people another. Women are one way, men are another" comedian. He didn't say, "What is up with airline food? Seriously! Four peanuts are not enough!" He saw the absurdity of the things we take for granted. "GIVE IT UP, MITCH!" an audience member shouted. Without missing a beat: "Give what up? Am I harboring one of your possessions?" "YOU RULE, MITCH!" "I do no rule. This is not a kingdom. I cannot say, 'Off with your head.'"

He embraced irony, word games, absurdity. At first, it takes you a moment to catch up with his punchlines. You don't laugh until he's halfway through his next joke. But fifteen minutes later, your eyes are tearing, your stomach hurts, and you're doing your best to file away all of these jokes in your mind for later use. They were jokes for everyone. The audience I saw at his show in Cleveland last month was primarily college kids, but his comedy was for everybody. His jokes were about such common things that they were universal. Everything he saw must have been a joke. The Canadian border, not winning a contest on a cup of yogurt, a wino drinking grape juice. All life was fair game to Mitch Hedberg.

Rest in peace, dude.

daniofthedead

Philadelphia, PA

June 2004

MAR 31, 2005 09:27 PM

I found his humor to be kinda not so amazing....it was all about the way he said it/timing.

None the less, i loved watching him/hearing him. he was good at what he did!

fadinghope

Red Hook, NY

August 2004

MAR 31, 2005 09:29 PM

He was definitely unique. His act was completely random but it was so fantastic, another amazing artist gone.