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Posts tagged as mitch hedberg

Tributes

Mitch Hedberg: Different Ingredients

by | March 1st, 2013

Deep in the desert of Death Valley, there sits a sleepy little resort called Panamint Springs. The cottages and modest restaurant there are a part of no town, connected to no power grid. For several years, the normally quiet cacti and climes were invaded once a year in the peak of heat for four days by a loose band of comedians and their friends. In the summer of 2005, there were seventy-three of us.

On June 5th, the Sunday night of this four-day party, comedian Emery-Emery read a newspaper article about Pope John Paul II, but instead of the Pope’s name, he inserted fellow comedian Mitch Hedberg’s, both of [...]

RIP

Listen to This Interview With Mitch Hedberg From Five Months Before His Death

by | March 27th, 2012

This week marks seven years since Mitch Hedberg's death. In between repeated listens of his standup albums, you might take a break to listen to this unreleased interview with Adam Cayton-Holland, conducted just five months before Hedberg died. He talks about starting out in dive bars, the RV lifestyle, and the movement of standups onto TV, among other things. If there was ever a comic worth remembering, it's this guy.

Quicklink

Mitch Hedberg's Website Relaunching with Never-Before-Seen Material

by | April 26th, 2011

Lynn Shawcroft, the widow of the late Mitch Hedberg, is going to relaunch MitchHedberg.net on May 17th. As a part of the relaunch, it'll include new and never-before-seen video and artwork. The whole thing will kick off live at the Steve Allen Theater in LA with an event featuring comedians reading and performing in a tribute to Hedberg, with all proceeds going towards the Innocence Project.

Genius

This Short Documentary on Mitch Hedberg's Writing Process Will Floor You

by | August 7th, 2012

A month ago, we reported that Mitch Hedberg's widow, Lynn Shawcroft, had over 30 never before seen notebooks of Mitch's. This documentary does a truly wonderful job of capturing his process and giving us a glimpse inside those books. "Men's Clothing Liquidation, I had to buy something before they melted," read one of the pages. You can just hear Hedberg's distinct cadence in that one sentence. You know what I like? This documentary. (You are like, "Dude, you have to give me time to guess. If you're going to quiz me you have to insert a pause.")

Unpopular Opinions

Who Cares About Joke Stealing?

by | March 20th, 2012

Unpopular Opinions is a new weekly column in which a writer takes a stand against popular opinion, whether it's asserting the true merit of a supposedly guilty pleasure or dissenting against the universally lauded.

Joke “stealing” is not a new phenomenon. Hell, Milton Berle basically made a career out of it, earning himself the nickname, “The Thief of a Bad Gag.” With the rise of the Internet and cellphone cameras, however, it seems like fans have started to care more. But how did something that used to only be a comedy community matter give birth to a legion of joke vigilantes?

Let’s start with a couple examples.

Example [...]

Profiles

Mike Birbiglia on New Material, Mitch Hedberg and the Difference between Theater and Stand-Up

by | April 22nd, 2011

While Mike Birbiglia's My Girlfriend's Boyfriend enjoys it's run at the Barrow Street Theater, the comedian stopped by Gothamist to discusses comparisons between Girlfriend and his previous one-man show Sleepwalk With Me. While working with the late great Mitch Hedberg, Birbiglia realized for the first time the peculiar tension between giving the people what they want, and surprising them with new material that will actually strike them as funny. "I was opening for him, in central Pennsylvania at a theater, and it was all these superfans and they were just shouting like, BANANA!, or whatever joke they wanted to hear," the comedian says. "That's a paradox Mitch [...]

Jokes

There Are 30 Never Before Seen Notebooks of Mitch Hedberg Jokes

by | July 3rd, 2012

"You know what I like? The idea of 30 notebooks of Mitch Hedberg's jokes getting published as a book." Dude, you have to give me time to guess. If you're going to quiz me you have to insert a pause. That being said, this seems like it might happen. Mitch's widow, Lynn Shawcroft, tweeted yesterday: " I have over 30 Hedberg notebooks. I guess it's about time I share." She didn't mention how these things will be shared but it sure sounds like a potential book. Urban Outfitters would undoubtedly be super pumped to be able to sell it. Below are a few choice one-liners from the [...]

Heroes

When Mitch Hedberg Tried to Get Uniball Pens to Sponsor His Comedy

by | September 27th, 2011

Here's a delightful hand-written letter from the late Mitch Hedberg to Uniball, makers of fine pens: "I STILL HANDWRITE MOST OF MY JOKES. PERHAPS I WILL TYPE THEM MORE IF UNIBALL UNLEASHES A GEL IMPACT KEYBOARD. I USE PENS CONSTANTLY. YOUR PEN IS IT. I'VE TRIED BUYING EXPENSIVE PENS BUT NONE HAVE LIVED UP TO THE G.I.. SO SMOOTH AND EASY TO CONTROL."

People

Trying to Know Mitch Hedberg

by | October 21st, 2010

The following is excerpted from Mike Birbiglia's Sleepwalk with Me, specifically the chapter about his experiences touring with his hero, Mitch Hedberg.

One night Mitch was onstage and in the middle of his set he said, "Oh no, I got to go to the bathroom. Can someone come onstage and tell a joke?" There was this long gaping silence, then he said, "I'm serious, you guys. I really gotta go." And it's still silent. People didn't know what to do.

Backstage I turned to Lynn and said, "Are you gonna go up?"

"Will you?" she said.

"Okay."

I walked onstage and approached Mitch. He didn't know I was [...]

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