Yes, yes, Mitch Hedberg's death may have been drug related. It's not like it was any big secret that he liked to visit the lands of far-far-away at times. He talked about it in his shows. He had the look of the quintessential stoner. We get it.
That doesn't mean anyone has any right to assume that his death was an overdose when there's been no official word. His mother has reported that Mitch had a heart condition, and considering that the latest is that he died of heart failure... well, let's add that up, shall we?
Instead, everyone is railing against the evil of drugs and digging out anecdotes about MH's problems with drugs and alcohol. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune (a registration site) is one of my favorites. They've got some story from 1994 about the comedian apparently shooting heroin in the green room while waiting to go on stage at a local club. Eleven years ago does not some scandalous hotel room overdose a few days ago make.
Further, MH was apparently busted at one time, though for what, precisely, is unclear. His Wikipedia page is interesting lately; a few days ago (when rumors of his death began to surface), they featured a quote from him talking about the arrest, which he claimed was for possession and paraphernalia (which could be, hell, papers and a sack or something). He went on to say that people loved to blow that bust out of proportion, until he was hearing that he'd been busted for "like, a kilo of heroin." (That is a paraphrase; the quote is no longer there). Now they're only reporting that he was busted for possession of heroin.
This shift disturbs me... it seems a little ghoulish to start moving things around to prepare for what everyone expect to be the news that MH died of an overdose, or complications arising from his drug use. And it's not just limited to Wiki and the media; posters on forums across the internet are lamenting MH's drug use and regaling other posters with stories from the Fucked Up Mitch Chronicles, from shows they apparently attended.
Okay, asking for drugs from your audience is a bad sign, yeah, and it's not something I find very impressive (then again, people apparently offered up what they had, so... hell, ya gotta admire the balls), but what I rarely see mentioned anymore is MH's reported shyness. I started digging for some of the articles I'd seen this reported in, but got so depressed at all the reports of his death that I stopped - though I did find a few really good remembrance posts out there. Anyway, the story goes that MH was so shy that one of the reasons he tended to wear sunglasses is that he liked to have someone he knew in the first rows of the audience, and would typically deliver the show to them. This fits with what I've seen of his performances; downcast looks, when you could catch them, not a lot of moving his focus around, etc. So maybe some of those really jacked performances people are talking about are due to that.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Nathan
I've seen MH live once and he did ask for drugs on stage. He was too drunk to finish his own jokes and the audience actually helped him along with the punch lines. He kept messing up his Mitch's pizza joke. Mitch Hedberg was my favorite comedian, people tell like him; I admired him so damn much that I copied him. Now he's gone I'll never get to see him perform again. I've never had a celebrities death make me this damn depressed. I mean he was my idol, how much more of a loss can you have.
2 - Nathan
My grammar and spelling suck, now that I look at the message I realize I probably should have proof read itbefore I posted that shit.
3 - Paul Morgan
Proof positive that Mitch Hedberg's death was indeed an overdose. The account is supplied by a fellow comedian and close friend.
Go to:
http://joshsneed.com/
Click "Road Diary" and then "Mitch Hedberg"
4 - LegendaryMonkey
Proof positive where? All it says is that "drugs got the better of Mitch." That could simply mean that he had a heart condition and drugs exacerbated it. And STILL, it's just this fellow's opinion.
It's all opinions until a report is released. That's my point.
Can we all just stop having opinions for five minutes and just let the man be dead, and mourn?
5 - Heather
My thoughts exactly, monkey. No where in that post does it say "I watched him die of a drug overdose." You're right, when he said "drugs got the better of Mitch" it could simply mean that even though his death wasn't drug related, his life was and he struggled with that vice until the day he died. God bless him for all the laughter and good he brought into this world, and he will sorely be missed. RIP Mitch.
6 - This guy
So there should be no mention of his admitted drug use in newpaper articles following his sudden death? It's not the obituaries section, it's news. Even his mother said in interviews that he had been using drugs. He was funny, yes, but a newspaper article needs to include things like his past bust for heroin use and well-known habit.
And every story I've seen has included his shyness, hiding behind his sunglasses and long hair.
7 - Tom Johnson
This is really pretty stupid. Mitch was 37 years old and died of heart-related problems. The guy was also a drug user, a drug abuser, and frequently appeared on-stage in an altered state - and not merely drunk. I know, I saw him at his show here in Phoenix last year. You can read all about it here . He did not just up and die - he likely died because of his habit. It may have ultimately been heart failure, but something lead to that heart failure, and it was likely many years of very hard drug abuse.
And I'm sorry, but if you're a celebrity, your life - and your death - are going to be open topics for people. I don't care how shy Mitch was. If he didn't want people talking about him, he could have found a profession that didn't involve public exposure. This is part of the lifestyle. And if you further choose to perform under the influence and, indeed, often so impaired that you can't really actually perform, yes, people are going to talk about that. Either clean up your act or learn to deal with it. And if you die, you should do so knowing that people are going to immediately say it was the drugs.
And why does it matter? This post is completely unnecessary. Mitch died, Mitch and his comedy were well-loved, and people are sad that he is gone and his career is over. Asking people to not talk about it is just plain stupid.
So maybe some of those really jacked performances people are talking about are due to that.
No. Are you in denial? The Mitch Hedberg you see in the Comedy Central Presents performance is not the Mitch Hedberg I saw and related in my post, or the Hedberg that many of these other people saw. What we saw was a man on the verge of collapse, or actually in the process of collapsing, barely able to function and speak. These are not the actions of someone that is shy. I am shy. I do not stop functioning when in public. I get nervous, sweaty, quiet, maybe shaky. I do not slur my words or forget well-known routines. I do not lay down in the middle of the stage because I cannot stand anymore. This is a man severely disabled by an addiction that prevented him from carrying on normal life. Let's not beat around the bush - this was bound to happen, judging by the many, many reports of shows ruined by his impairment. I'm very sad that it did happen, as I think he was one of the most gifted comedic talents we had today. But it did, and not talking about it is exactly the wrong thing to do. Maybe if some teens who enjoyed his work realize what may have killed him, maybe they won't get involved in drugs because of that.
He was a great comedian. He seemed to genuinely care about his fans. And he will be missed.
Apparently you haven't been paying attention to the posts on his death - people are popping by in droves to leave comments about how much they enjoyed Hedberg. I've recieved more hits on my site than ever before because all the searches lead to my post about his extremely impaired performance. Mitch was and will always be well loved. Unfortunately, he's now truly a legend.
8 - LegendaryMonkey
Maybe I wasn't very clear. As the poster, I suppose the burdon of proof is on me.
No, I don't think his drug use should be ignored. I don't think the fact that his drug abuse likely contributed to his death should be ignored. I think it's very valid to any discussion of Mitch Hedberg's life, and his death.
However, I find it a little saddening that as a culture, with news at our fingertips, we feel that it's perfectly okay to stand around virtual water coolers and talk about a drug overdose (which is really a very specific thing) that hasn't been confirmed.
The fact that he enjoyed some measure of fame doesn't make it okay, in my eyes, for us to sit around hashing over his death. Of course, I didn't think hanging over Terri Schiavo's hospital bed with television cameras was okay, either, so I'm obviously in the minority.
However, I'm sorry that anyone finds my post "stupid." Last I checked, I do have a right to my opinion, and even when I don't agree with the opinions of others, I do try to respect that right and not fling around ad homs like necklaces at Mardi Gras.
But maybe that's just me.
9 - LegendaryMonkey
ergh. Burden, rather. Hate that I can't seem to edit my comments.
10 - Meowchi
Here is the Comment one of you was looking for. I found it on MTV.com
According to an article published in the Los Angeles Times in 2003, Hedberg spent two and a half days in jail, and six weeks in a hospital bed, following his arrest in May of that year for felony heroin possession. But Hedberg said he was arrested for "possession of paraphernalia and pills and things like that. My actual bust was minor. I got a misdemeanor. People used that bust to try and prove that I was busted for having, like, a kilo of heroin on me."
11 - Eric Olsen
the good die young, the bad die younger
12 - denali
I think if Mitch were here he would be laughing at the press--good or bad. It seems the people who have been left "behind" are turning this into a media drug frenzy. Drugs or no drugs, he chose to live his life a certain way and did not hide it--like so many people have a tendency to do. I admire someone who wears their heart on their sleeve--drug or no drugs. To the end he was a good person.
13 - Mitch fan
I think Monkey's point that the mourning is being skipped is a valid one. Mitch took drugs. Yeah, ok, so what? Robin Williams took drugs. Doesn't mean the person shouldn't be mourned.
Oddly enough, I saw Mitch at Zanie's just a few weeks ago and he was LOOKING at and INTERACTING with the audience. He was clear-headed and hysterically funny. He really wanted some suits in the front row to enjoy his show. He had them name a topic and he'd do a joke on that topic, to make sure they got at least one laugh. The suit relunctantly said "golf" and Mitch fired out: "I play golf -- I never got a hole in one, but I once did hit a guy and that's way more satisfying. I hit a guy in 1. You can hit a guy in 2, but that's not right." He easily pulled that joke out of storage and told it, adding additional lines, even, as the audience started laughing. He talked and bantered with the audience. He was really on his game. And that's less than 3 weeks ago. Some could argue that showed he was OFF drugs and turning his life around. Maybe going off drugs triggered the heart problem?
I've seen him live about 8 times. Never saw him muff a joke. Sometimes saw him in perfect form, firing out jokes (Boston a few years ago and Zanie's Chicago). I've seen him do pretty good shows, too. I've never seen him lie down on stage and be unable to perform. But those one or 3 or 8 times will get the press and his 5000 other shows won't. Gotta love the media and the few jackasses who post online to grab the limelight.
Do right by Mitch. All he ever wanted to do was make us all laugh.
Go, Monkey!
14 - King Butter
I'm on board with the fact that we should be mouring Mitch. This post was neccessary. There is too much focus on the fact that he "may" have died from an OD. I'm not saying it isn't posssible nor probable, I'm just saying we don't know. People need to quit defacing his memory, and just respect a man who was hilarious and is no longer with us.
15 - LegendaryMonkey
Well, I think Mitch is being mourned. I just think that, in the midst of that, somewhere all the rhetoric changed. In death, he's become not just a "stoner comic" (as he was often called), but another victim of an overdose.
An overdose that has not, to my knowledge, been confirmed.
The shift of the quotes at Wikipedia bothered me in particular, as did everyone assuming this was an overdose. There is a LOT of difference between drugs contributing to death when a person has a heart defect (such a person should probably have made some better choices, but who am I to judge? My choices have been no better in life) and a straight up vomit-out-the-nose overdose.
Everyone wants to say, oh, what a shame. What a shame that Mitch ODed. But... the most recent items on Google news seem to indicate that the medical examiner's report hasn't yet been released.
I say, can the speculation... and yes, let's focus on the mourning. Maybe he flubbed some shows because he was too screwed up to perform. I doubt he's the only comedian in the history of the world to do so. As already referenced, he's surely not the only one to get lost in drugs (Williams, Belushi, Kinison...). It's sad. It's tragic. But at the heart, it's a huge loss to the world of comedy. I think Mitch had a bright future. He had a lot of things going.
And we lost that potential, and him. I think fans owe it to his memory to say... yeah, Mitch screwed up sometimes, but damn. We sure miss him.
Whether you agree or disagree with the topic at hand, and my take on it... I'm glad that this discussion is taking place. I've seen some interesting thoughts here. Keep going!
16 - Hallmark
I just have to say in response to the comment on Mitch's shyness... I saw Mitch live two summers ago in Ohio. I drove from Michigan because as of that date he had never performed in Michigan... anyway, the guy was INCREDIBLY shy. I asked for him to come out after the show (it was a REALLY small club) so I could have my picture taken with him and he would not come out. The club host told me he was antisocial - that he just really didn't like to talk to strangers. I gotta say, I was bummed, but I get it. Some people aren't just people people, you know?
Anyway, I am not a drug user, never have been, but the cause of Mitch's death is rather irrelevent, it's just a heck of a loss - He was a master comedian - I, too, am sad that I will not again get to see him perform.
By the way, he did not ask the audience for drugs at the show I attended...
May he rest in peace - Hopefully more peace now then he seemed to ahve in his life on earth...
17 - tmalone2K5
The death of Mitch has left us all with a tender spot. Only we can really understand what Mitch Hedberg meant to us. I have been trolling the internet constantly since I heard the news last week, I bet I've seen 95% of every written article/blogs/message boards etc. I am extremely pleased at the overall response, and that is that Mitch meant alot to everyone who embraced him. We not only loved Mitch's comedy, but loved Mitch himself. Dont worry much about the negative press, it is actually very minute compared to the droves who are pouring out love for Mitch Hedberg.
As for the issues on this post. They are all valid and all encompassing, I only have a few things to throw in. To me personally, it's amazing how this death and the death of Kurt Cobain affected me the EXACT same way. When Kurt died, I was younger (16) of course and had been through much less emotional trauma so it seemed worse at the time. The press was more than all over that one, suicide, 3 times the lethal dose of heroin, etc. (the whole thing is still fishy in my book) but Kurt was mourned by millions and he was an automatic legend. Mitch Hedberg was a much different person who had the same chemical romance. He had brilliance in his profession, there is no disputing that, the outpuring of admiration is tremendous. I have loved Mitch Hedberg for more than 3 years now, have seen him live here in Dallas and have heard every single bit of audio I could buy/download/trade etc. I have turned alot of people on to Mitch, people who never heard him a year ago! Now they were feeling the same heartache I did when I heard the news. What I'm saying in a nutshell is, yes Mitch was a heroin user (im a pothead, we all have our vices), so what he had a few bad days (we all do) and I think the majority of the fans and public understand that. There is no huge outcry of heroin overdose, it's a few bits here and there. Every single newspaper article has cited heart failure, yet they all mention he used drugs. Jeeezus people, Mitch himself told us that!!! "I used to do drugs, I still do, but I used to too!"
Also about Mitch's shyness. Anxiety is a very REAL problem and it's a bitch. I take Xanax and Lopressor which actually slows my heart down because I too have a heart/anxiety issue. People need to first understand that in all likelyhood Mitch had severe medical issues with anxiety, and I say that because of the widespread reports of his shyness/stagefright (anxiety). He probably self medicated for many years. He probably didnt just love Xanax, he probably needed it! Other drugs calm us too. I cannot vouch for heroin, but marijuana, and a variety of pills are very attractive alterantives to feeling the damn anxiety! Vicodin is about as hard as I go, but the overall idea is that the drugs are fixing the problem temporarily. I totally understand that, thank the lord I hate needles so bad!
Anyways, I didn't mean to ramble, thanks for letting me post here. Lots of love to everyone who is part of this (the fans in mourning) and never let Mitch Hedberg die, he has actually never been more ALIVE!
18 - Halleyscomment
It was show business that killed Mitch. Being on the road all your life, playing clubs, staying in motels. It's a meat grinder. It's no accident Mitch died in a motel room.
19 - denali
Has anyone heard the actual cause of death yet? I live in NJ, close to the hotel where Mitch was staying. I feel the media has done a terrible job of keeping the puclic informed.
20 - King Butter
per BG news
"And on March 30, Hedberg was found dead in a New Jersey hotel room at the age of 37. While the autopsy showed no link between the heart failure and drugs, he was notorious for drug use"
http://www.bgnews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/04/07/42552f3fc3032
21 - denali
I think it would be great if the toxicology report shows no link between the death and drugs in his system.
22 - Judy
I LOVED Mitch Hedberg and his comedic genious, and I'm a 59 year old woman!!!
He is probably in heaven right now making the good Lord laugh! He will be truly missed. My condolences to his wife and family.
23 - Tanea
My husband and I saw Mitch's comdey central special and just thought Mitch was the funnies comedian we had ever seen. We had the oportunity to see him live in 2004 and it was the same routine we saw on his special and it still made us laugh like it was the first time we had heard his routine. Thank you Mitch for the laughter, you will be deeply missed by all your fans, friends and fellow comedians.
24 - Paul Morgan
If Mitch had died of natural causes (heart failure) the medical examiners report would have been made public by now. Given that he died 19 days ago -- and no such report has surfaced -- suffice it to say that his death was probably drug related (and no it doesn't take THAT long to determine if someone died of a drug overdose.)
25 - Da Interestor you're fired!!
What really is more interesting to me than to know the exact cause of his death would be to learn why a highly likable, relaxed guy with a huge drug problem seems to be abandoned by his beloved ones. How could he be on heroin for years with a wife and a healthy career and still end up alone in a NJ hotel room. Why didn't anyone try to take him aside and tell him 'give yourself a break!'. It's a common fact that comedians are likely to be overtaken by their dark, depressive side, so the best thing for him would have been to take a break and try to get rid of his habit, and surely not to travel alone. Why hasn't his wife taken the necessary steps? To me it sounds very much like he wasn't involved with the right people, both privately as well as professionally. There are managers who keep singers and actors in line with their bad selves, it would have been easy to hire one for him, especially if you have friends like Letterman and others who probably didn't give a shit as long as he performed well.
From all the reviews I read for the other article, Mitch must have had a very visible decline since at least the beginning of this year, there were enough warning signs for everybody to see, yet the dude still ends up alone in a hotel room.
Not cool.