AP: Hedberg OD'ed

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on December 28th, 2005

Associated Press is reporting that Spin magazine is saying that the NJ medical examiner determined that Mitch Hedberg died of “multiple drug toxicity,” including cocaine and heroin.

Spin being what it is, they can’t help but run quotes from various people who will say anything to get quoted in a magazine that caters to the young:

In the Spin article, Maureen Taran, a comedy manager who knew Hedberg, is quoted as saying that life on the road is difficult for a struggling comedian.

“It’s a very lonely existence,” Taran says. “If you aren’t born with manic-depression, you will have it after being in this business.”

Taran also said that if you eat too much sugar, you’ll get diabetes. And if you masturbate too much, you’ll go blind. Taran’s receptionist at the Mayo Clinic said that she was unavailable for any further comments.

SHECKYmagazine.com asks why, when an over-indulging rock star/rock band is depicted on Behind The Music, their drug use/overuse is always attributed to “giving into temptation,” or “having too much fun,” yet when a comic takes drugs, he is “laughing on the outside, grindingly depressed on the inside?” Why are we always depicted as one of those Red Skelton clown paintings with a tear running down his cheek? Why does a comic, who was packing them in at theaters across America, on a tour with the blessing and promotional muscle of Clear Channel and Comedy Central, depicted as “struggling” and why is a comic who was, more often than not, accompanied on his tour by his wife (and fellow comic) and/or other friends and comics depicted as “lonely?”

Because it makes for better copy.

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