(Update 12:23 PM EST) We have confirmed through two reputable sources that Mitch Hedberg died yesterday, March 30, 2005. A statement will be issued shortly by his representatives.
We are sad to report that Mitch Hedberg is dead.
We’ve referred to Mitch as one of the few “rock stars” of comedy. We saw him perform at a gala at Just For Laughs in 2001 and it was astonishing to see the reaction of the crowd in the theater that night. Radically different from any other response.
From our Sunday, July 22, 2001, J.F.L. update:
The highlight, though, was seeing Hedberg live. It was like seeing a rock star. The response was tremendous and he was forced to step on the laughter to get all the material in. It was frenzied. To top it all off, he’s a nice guy.
We never did get to see him do an extended set. Our schedules never worked out. We made a half-assed attempt to get one of us (the male half) on the bill when he and Stephen Lynch came to Philly to perform at the Tower Theater late last year, but it never worked out.
We met him in Montreal, just after his gala performance. He was gentle, quick to laugh, seemingly shy– a lot like his onstage persona.
We had the pleasure of interviewing Mitch early on in the magazine’s history (1999?) and that interview put us on the map. For that, we’ll always be grateful.
Shortly after it ran, we recieved an email from Mitch’s mother, requesting a hard copy. We printed it out as best we could and sent it along with a note saying how nice her son was. She was very proud of him and she liked to collect all of his clippings.
To this day, it is one of our most-hit files. We declared, to anyone who would listen, that, more than any comedian who was out there working, Mitch Hedberg inspired an internet buzz, a fan reaction, a loyalty like no other. His fans, owing to their average age or sensibilities perhaps, made him the first comedian to become a WWW star as well as a television and live performance star. We could tell that he was appearing somewhere when the number of hits on that file spiked.
He was one of our favorites here. Our hearts go out to his friends, his family and his loved ones.