Minnesota native Mitch Hedberg died in March of this year. He was discovered in his hotel room, and while his cause of death is still yet to be determined, the current assessment is severe heart attack, likely the result of a drug overdose.
Hedberg was a pioneer with his brand of humor. Always the shy one, Hedberg rarely faced the audience when he was on stage, almost always wearing sunglasses and staring down at his feet. His absurd observations on life, and his slow, stoner-like pattern of speech were used to generate small chuckles out of the audience. His goal was to keeping them amused with a constant ribbing of giggles, instead of the big laughs several comedians try for.
Hedberg had several cameo roles in television shows, including “That 70s Show,” “Ed” and “Crank Yankers.” In 1999, he released “Los Enchiladas!” an indie comedy about what life was like at a Mexican restaurant, which he directed, produced, wrote and starred in.
Hedberg was a breath of fresh air in the comic world and millions will miss his presence on and off stage. NCC students who enjoyed his work, spoke about the “Mitch Hedberg Effect” that occurred after listen to a few of his jokes. The effect occurs while listening to the slow, almost hypnotic tones of Hedberg's voice. Afterwards, the tone and style of speech he used will be present in your style of speech for a few hours.
“The effect? Yeah, I've heard about it,” NCC student Rhonda Jones said. “My brother does it all the time after he listense to it, and sometimes I find myself doing it, if I hear a little bit of the CD from the other room.”
Mitch Hedberg's humor was generally short, offbeat observations of everyday life. Here are some examples of his work:
I was at this casino minding my own business, and this guy came up to me and said, “You're gonna have to move, you're blocking a fire exit.” As though if there was a fire, I wasn't gonna run. If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit.
I was walking down the street with my friend and he said ‘I hear music.' As though there's any other way to take it in. You're not special. That's how I receive it too ... I tried tasting it, but it did not work.
I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry. And that's extra scary to me, because there's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. Run. He's fuzzy. Get outta here.
I had a bag of Fritos. They were Texas Grilled Fritos. These Fritos had grill marks on them. Hell yeah. Reminds me of summer time, when we used to fire up the barbecue and throw down some Fritos. I can still see my dad with the apron on. “Better flip that Frito, Dad. You know how I like mine.” |
