17 Facts About Mitch Hedberg

1.

Mitchell Lee Hedberg was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery.

2.

Mitch Hedberg was born on February 24,1968, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the son of Arne and Mary Mitch Hedberg.

3.

Mitch Hedberg was of Finnish-Swedish, Czech, and German descent.

4.

Mitch Hedberg took little interest in school, and claimed he was barely eligible to graduate.

5.

Mitch Hedberg began his stand-up career in Florida, and after a period of honing his skills, he moved to Seattle and began to tour.

6.

Mitch Hedberg soon appeared on MTV's Comikaze, followed by a 1996 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman that brought him his big break.

7.

Mitch Hedberg won the 1997 grand prize at the Seattle Comedy Competition.

8.

Mitch Hedberg appeared at the Montreal Just for Laughs comedy festival in 1998,2001, and 2004.

9.

Concurrent with his rising fame in the entertainment industry, Mitch Hedberg appeared on Letterman nine more times, signed a half-million-dollar deal with Fox for a television sitcom, and was dubbed "the next Seinfeld" by Time magazine.

10.

Mitch Hedberg's material was based on wordplay, non sequiturs, paraprosdokians, and object observations.

11.

Mitch Hedberg's act usually consisted equally of compact one- or two-liners and longer routines, often with each line as a punchline.

12.

Mitch Hedberg was married to Canadian comedian Lynn Shawcroft from 1999 until his death in 2005.

13.

Mitch Hedberg was interviewed by Jonathan Davis in the December 2001 issue of Penthouse.

14.

On October 12,2004, Mitch Hedberg sat in on the news with Robin Quivers on The Howard Stern Show.

15.

On March 30,2005, Mitch Hedberg was found dead in his room at The Westminster Hotel in Livingston, New Jersey.

16.

Mitch Hedberg's death was initially believed to be the result of a congenital heart defect, but in December 2005, the New Jersey medical examiner's office reported that he died accidentally as the result of "multiple drug toxicity", including cocaine and heroin.

17.

Mitch Hedberg's funeral was held at St Ambrose Catholic Church in Woodbury, Minnesota.