You might also like...
Laugh Track: Ron White — More Than Blue Collar Comedy
Most people only know Ron White from his work on The Blue Collar Comedy Tour, but his body of work extends far beyond that.
Laugh Track: Mike Birbiglia
Mike Birbiglia is one of the funniest, sharpest storytellers working today. We’re happy to include him in the canon of our favorite comedians.
Laugh Track: Mitch Hedberg
Imagine composing an entire act made up of one liners and you’ll get a good idea of Mitch Hedberg’s act. It’s an hour of stream of consciousness that sucks you into Mitch Hedberg’s bizarre world where even Steven Wright seems normal. It’s a brand of comedy perfectly tailored to both stoners and the ADD-addled youth of today alike.
Hedberg started doing stand up in the late 80s and struggled to find success until he managed to land an series of appearances on Comikaze and The Late Show with David Letterman. After his successful appearance on David Letterman’s show, he was invited back nine more times and he started touring around the country.
During this time, Fox offered him his own sitcom, but sadly, it never went into production. Instead, he went out and made a movie. The film, Los Enchiladas!, was screened at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and received very good reviews. The film never recieved wide distribution (although Mitch Hedberg’s widow has been working for the past decade to get the film released) and it was not seen by many people until it was leaked online earlier this year.
That same year, he released his first comedy album. Since he released the album by himself and only sold it at his live shows, Strategic Grill Locations did not sell very well. It wasn’t until the release of his next album, Mitch All Together, that his first album found an audience. Comedy Central re-released Strategic Grill Locations and it was a much bigger success, widening his audience.
Mitch Hedberg struggled with drugs for a good portion of his life. Even if he didn’t freely admit it in his act, it was readily apparent that he was whacked out of his skull while recording his album Strategic Grill Locations. In March 0f 2005, Hedberg overdosed on a combination of heroin and cocaine. He was found dead in his hotel room in New Jersey.
Since his death, his popularity has grown. In 2008, Comedy Central Records released a posthumous album, Do You Believe in Gosh?, that was recorded just months before his death.
