Mitch Hedberg

Comedy Central Records released an album, Do You Believe in Gosh? on September 9, 2008, that contained material Hedberg recorded at The Improv in Ontario, California in January 2005. His wife, Lynn, wrote in the introduction that the performance had been in preparation for a year-end CD recording.

Hedberg's comedy and onstage persona gained him a cult following, with audience members sometimes shouting out the punchlines to his jokes before he could finish them. He died of a cocaine and heroin drug overdose in 2005, but a heart defect may have contributed to his death.

On March 30, 2005, Hedberg was found dead in a hotel room at The Westminster Hotel in Livingston, New Jersey. The New Jersey medical examiner's office reported "multiple drug toxicity" in the form of cocaine and heroin as the cause. Hedberg's death was formally announced on April 1, 2005, leading some to believe it was an April Fools' Day joke. His funeral was held at St. Ambrose of Woodbury Church in Minnesota.

Hedberg had been interviewed by Jonathan Davis in the December 2001 issue of Penthouse. In the interview, published three years before his death, he was asked, "If you could choose, how would you end your life?" His response: "First, I'd want to get famous, and then I'd overdose. If I overdosed at this stage in my career, I would be lucky if it made the back pages." On October 12, 2004, Hedberg sat in on the news with Robin Quivers on The Howard Stern Show. He appeared on the show again on March 17, 2005, and briefly discussed his drug use, saying, "Well, you know, I got the drugs under control now." Stern asked, "Do you? You know how to take them responsibly?" Hedberg replied, "Yeah, you know, just for the creative side of it."

Hedberg was a frequent recreational drug user, mentioning it in some of his jokes (e.g., "I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too"). In May 2003, he was arrested in Austin, Texas for heroin possession.

In 1999, he completed his own independent feature film, Los Enchiladas!, which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. He recorded three comedy CDs: Strategic Grill Locations, Mitch All Together, and Do You Believe in Gosh?, the last released posthumously. He also appeared at the Montreal Just for Laughs comedy festival in 1998, 2001, and 2004.

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

Hedberg began his stand-up career in Florida, and after a period of honing his skills, he moved to Seattle and began to tour. He soon appeared on MTV's Comikaze, followed by a 1996 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman that brought him his big break. He won the 1997 grand prize at the Seattle Comedy Competition. The next year he appeared in an episode of Fox's series That '70s Show.

Mitchell Lee Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 29, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements and non sequiturs.

Hedberg was born on February 24, 1968, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the son of Mary (née Schimscha) and Arne Hedberg. He was of Swedish (from his paternal grandfather), Czech, and German descent. Hedberg attended Harding High School in Saint Paul. He admitted to having no interest in school and barely graduated.