March 29, 2025

Celebrating Mitch Hedberg - A Tribute and a look at the upcoming Mitch documentary with Jeff Siegel

Celebrating Mitch Hedberg - A Tribute and a look at the upcoming Mitch documentary with Jeff Siegel

Johnny Mac commemorates the life and career of comedian Mitch Hedberg on the 20th anniversary of his passing. Through an insightful conversation with Emmy award-winning filmmaker Jeff Siegel, who is working on a documentary about Mitch, listeners gain...

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Johnny Mac commemorates the life and career of comedian Mitch Hedberg on the 20th anniversary of his passing. Through an insightful conversation with Emmy award-winning filmmaker Jeff Siegel, who is working on a documentary about Mitch, listeners gain deep insights into Hedberg's unique persona, his rise in the comedy world, and his lasting impact. The episode explores Mitch’s humble beginnings, his iconic comedy style, and touching anecdotes from those who knew him well, highlighting his enduring legacy and the ongoing efforts to celebrate his work.


01:29 Interview with Jeff Siegel: The Filmmaker's Perspective
01:58 Personal Encounters and Impact of Mitch Hedberg
03:25 Mitch Hedberg's Unique Comedy Style
06:31 The Legacy and Relevance of Mitch Hedberg
18:33 Unseen Material and Documentary Insights

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WEBVTT

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Caalaroga Shark Media.

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And I'm Johnny mag and this weekend not really comedy news.

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We will celebrate the life and career of Mitch Hedberg,

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who passed away twenty years ago this weekend. I'm even

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struggling how to get into the Show's part of it is,

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I've heard various dates for when Mitch passed away. If

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you google it, it will come up as March thirtieth.

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Some sources will say March twenty ninth. I've heard anecdotes

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where it was March twenty ninth and not announced to

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the thirtieth. I've also heard versions where it was the

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thirtieth and then not announced until April first, which made

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people think it was a prank. Personally, you've heard me

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talk about it several times this week. I remember being

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at the auto show with Brewer when we heard the news,

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and I just now went to look to see when

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we did the Auto show broadcast, and I can't find it.

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So we'll just celebrate Mitch this weekend. Mitch Hedburg was

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born February twenty fourth, nineteen sixty eight, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

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Three albums, one of them posthumous. We'll talk about that

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the first two strategic Grill locations, and Mitch altogether the

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posthumous one do you believe in Gosh? I have shared

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my story where I was sitting with Lynn Shawcroft and

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she had some tapes and I said to her, you've

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got an album here, and I connected her with Jack

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Vaughn at Comedy Central Records. That's where that came from.

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My guest today is filmmaker and Hepburg documentarian Jeff Siegel. Yeah,

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Jeff is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker and the director

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of an upcoming documentary about Mitch. I can't wait. So

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I reached out to Jeff and I asked him, Hey,

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will you talk Mitch Hedburg with me? And today I

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will share that conversation. So why Mitch Hedburg? What do

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your life about Mitch Heedburg?

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Wow?

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Why Mitch Hedburg?

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That's a loaded question because I've spent nearly five years

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piecing together his whole life story. My entry point to

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this was getting to meet Mitch at a very formative time.

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In my life.

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And it wasn't just on one occasion, it was four

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different times. And it could always be dicey when you

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get to meet somebody who you really look up to,

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and I've never met anyone quite like Mitch. He was

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one of the most sweet, genuine, incredibly kind, humble, hilarious,

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complicated people. He bundled up so many different things, all

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in this unique package. And I don't think it's just

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me who felt it, that this incredibly unique aura and

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desire to know more about him and this vulnerability it

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was all. There was just a lot of different things

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that you felt when you were around Mitch. And some

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of that came through from his comedy, from the records

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on TV and everything, But when you actually got to

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sit there with him and chat, even if it was

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just fleetingly, he made an impact on you.

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And he definitely did on me.

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And now I've spoken over two hundred people who were

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a part of his journey through life and comedy over

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the last few years, and every single one of them

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felt it. It is amazing the effect that he had

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on people and continues to have on people, even though

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he's no longer with us.

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Was he Midwester or nice? Was he stoned? Was he

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all of that at once? Or Hey, mister Hdberg, big fan,

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Nice to meet you. What do I get back?

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First of all, I had driven without going too deep

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into my own personal story.

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He was one of those people.

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I discovered him like so many people on TV Comedy

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Central presents. At first, when you discover him, you're just like,

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what is this? The very first few seconds of being

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exposed to Mitch, just this isn't another language. Most people

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aren't dialed into that frequency, and it takes you a

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second to click into it. And once you do, boom,

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You're in Mitch world and you will never see the

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world the same way again. You will always see it

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through his eyes. So I fell in love with him

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that way initially, you know, discovering him like so many

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countless other people. But the next step was, obviously, I

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want to see this guy. People forget that. Twenty five

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years ago it was a very different world without social

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media and all these things. It wasn't always easy to

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track these people down. So it took months of refreshing

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his remedial website to try to figure out, oh my god,

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he's actually coming somewhere in a radius I can get to.

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And I drove down with a few friends I was

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a senior in high school to Washington, DC to see

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him at the DC Improv. So that kind of set

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this up into more than just us going out for

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the night of five blocks from where we lived. We

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had to really make an effort to go track him down.

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We weren't even old enough at the comedy club to

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fulfill the two drink minimum. We had to order mozarella

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sticks and chicken fingers. But now knowing that was I

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think that was my first live comedy show ever. So

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it's when you enter through that perspective you realize, wow,

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this is so different than what you might expect.

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Otherwise.

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We were in the front row so many comedy shows.

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I would never want to be in the front row.

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I don't want to be the victim of crowd work

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and all that stuff. But with Mitchell was so different.

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So yeah, after the show, we tracked him down and

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the venue cleared out, and we said, hey, we drove

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three and a half hours to see you. Oh man,

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you drove all the way down here just to see me.

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He was so humbled by that and surprised by that,

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and he shouldn't be because so many people, I'm sure

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we're doing the same thing, but you know, to us,

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he cared and he was concerned if we are you

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guys staying down here, do you have a place to stay?

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You're not going home tonight, are you? It was this

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very sweet Midwestern hospitality, like caring about and who were we?

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We were just a bunch of high school kids who

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happened to go to a show. But you could immediately

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feel that he was this sweet, charming, incredibly kind, nice

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kid from Minnesota that never left him.

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And at what stage in his career is this after

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a few Comedy Centrals He's done Letterman and all that.

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Yeah, I had no idea of his timeline until I

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started doing this project, but yeah, this was two thousand

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and two when I saw him, So he's already he's

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done a bunch of Letterman's Comedy Central presences behind him.

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Nineteen ninety eight was really the big year when Mitch.

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Blew up and all eyes in the comedy world went

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to him and he was in Time magazine.

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They called him the next Seinfeld.

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You got a big development deal at Fox and that's

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that was that kind of big moment. But then it

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took a few years for him to really pick up,

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for the Comedy Central Presents, to go into heavy rotation,

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for Comedy Central Records to pick up his album, and

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then record a second album and to put those out.

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Those didn't come out till two thousand and three. It

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was all those later years of his life when he

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was really picking up in popularity, and once those albums

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came out, it was like game over. Those things were huge,

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especially among college age kids. They were just being swapped

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left and right on campuses.

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I'm sure we'll jump all over the timeline, especially I

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have hedburg add As I've been prepping for all these

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conversations I'm having this week, I started to think about

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you just talked about it. When those albums were out,

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they were very quotable. I was part of the cult.

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If I walked up to a soda machine that was

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selling mister Pibb, I would take a picture and text

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my friend and just where I who didn't get his degree,

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and we would chuckle about it. Ten years ago, on

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the tenth anniversary of Mitch's passing, I felt like he

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was very much in the zeitgeist because of Twitter, and

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was either being quoted or people were quoting in his style.

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Here ten years later, I'm not feeling that, and I'm

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worried that he's starting to become forgotten. I was thinking

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about our interview this morning, and I think back to

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Richard Jenny, who was super popular, and you never hear

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anyone mentioned Richard Jenny. I don't think Mitch's zeitgeistniss has

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fallen that far, but I worry that he's starting to

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become a comedian of the past.

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I certainly hope that's not the case, and that's why

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I've been trying so hard to get this kind of

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big project together to celebrate Mitch, to tell his unknown story,

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and really to introduce him to a whole new generation

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of people who may have not heard of Mitch and

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not discovered him. But the beautiful thing is that he

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is so instantly and forever discoverable, as Mark Maron put

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it in our interview with him, that he is just

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He's one of those guys. The evergreen nature of his

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material and the way he saw the world and processed

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it through his unique mind and put everything out there

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is that to this day, I think anybody could just

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pick up on him, see one or two jokes, and

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then absolutely fall in love. Maybe it's anecdotal, but I

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have been talking to tons of people, and a lot

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of people are obviously connected with his story. But I

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feel like I've actually been blown away by the fact

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that he still remains so relevant, and even though so

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many people talk about how had he been around a

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few more years, living into the age of social media,

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his jokes, his material would have been so perfect for that,

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because obviously it's these one liners, there's short bites. But

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you know, I feel like I've found that even though

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he didn't get to live into that era, and it's

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almost poetic he was this guy. He feels from a

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different era anyway, and it's almost poetic that he passed

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away before the whole world and the comedy world as well,

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but was upended by social media and just so many

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changes that we're still feeling to this day. But social media,

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I think has embraced what Mitch left behind. So even

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though he wasn't around to put new stuff out those clips,

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whether Letterman appearance is Comedy Central, animated gifts, all kinds

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of audio animation that people have done for it, I

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think that there's still a huge following that loves Mitch

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and is trying to keep him alive, putting him out

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there so that lots of new people can discover him

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and fall in love the same way.

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I was talking to someone else earlier today, And again

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I come at this as a big Mitch fan. I

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wouldn't have stalked you if I weren't a fan, and

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I was thinking in terms of modern social media and

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feeding the beast. I think at peak Instagram, taking a

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headburg one liner and putting a funny image to it

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was great. I wonder now how he would feed the beast.

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Not really a crowd work comedian, and I broke it

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down and if he's got a crowd behind him, he

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could say hey, nice hat and get a laugh because

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the crowd's at your back. But he's not a crowd

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work comedian. So would he be able to feed that

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constant beast that we have to feed in twenty five.

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I will never know, But like I said, I'm glad

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that we don't really ever have to know that he

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could be himself on his own terms. The big takeaways

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from again years of conversations with so many people are

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that Mitch was steadfast to do.

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Things his own way. He was willing.

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To swim up stream if he had to. He didn't

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care if he was struggling to find his audience, to

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figure out his sense of humor. In those early days,

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and nobody knows much about the early days of Mitch.

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It's really a kind of an arcane thing, the origin

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story of where this guy came from. But he was

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so perseverant and so dead set on doing every single

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thing his own way. I don't really think he would

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have necessarily bent and acquiesced into just trying to fit

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into the new mold just because that might drive the algorithm.

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I think he was going to do what he was

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going to do no matter what. And I think that's

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what part of what makes Mitch beloved and endearing to everyone,

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is that he was holy himself and not ever just

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trying to sell out to be something different.

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It's interesting all the what ifs, and I'll get back

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to reality in a second. But at the time of

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his passing, he was starting to really enter rockstar mode.

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And by why, I mean that just the crowds being

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raucous for him. Lyn Schawkroft told me that he was

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speeding up the act and it was bothering him a

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little bit because people were stepping on the lines. It

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would have been interesting to see how he navigated that

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period where maybe we're more into hey, it's a party

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and Mitch Hedberg's on stage, and that messing with the

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deliberate pacing and the timing is so key to what

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he did.

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Sure, if you look back to even the earliest stuff

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when he started, there was a distinct evolution of him

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finding his voice, and he used to be more long

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form in the early days, not rambling long stories, but

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longer setups to jokes, and slowly but surely those got

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whittled down because I think he just wanted to be

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more able to go into this non sequitor and throw

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whatever out and get through it, really boiling down these

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hilarious thoughts into these most efficient, compact joke delivery mechanisms,

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which is ultimately what he left us with, especially in

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those later years. But yeah, by the later years, I

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mean he got to the point where he was selling

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out theaters in an era where that wasn't as common

253
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as it is now, again without social media and without

254
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a big network show or something that was very rare

255
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back then, and he did it. He built this following

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through very grassroots, onerous process over fifteen years as a

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stand up just crisscrossing the country, making it in small markets,

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not necessarily focusing on the bigger places. But really just

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city by city, club by club, booker by booker, winning

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people over slowly but surely. And you know, by those

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later years, some of those last shows with thousands of people,

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they became very different than what the club shows were,

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especially with the college audiences. The last show I ever

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saw was a college gig, and it was a very

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different vibe than seeing him at the DC Improv.

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Unfortunately.

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I think a lot of the audiences were cheering him

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on and encouraging some of the more raucous stuff, and

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it did seem there's a reason a lot of people

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have talked about him being this kind of rock star comedian.

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He certainly personified that rock star kind of vibe.

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It's interesting you say that. As I was thinking about

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there's always the inevitable alignments of Stephen Wright style of comedy,

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and as I thought about it this morning, Stephen presents

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material at the audience and we take it in, and

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I felt like Mitch was part of the crowd. We

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were all in it together, and even if he busted

278
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a joke, he'd drop into the that didn't work. Yes,

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we knew it didn't work. He let us know. He knew,

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and it was one big communal thing that we were

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in it.

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Absolutely. I think that's such an important point in understanding Mitch.

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And yes, those inevitable comparisons with Stephen Wright again absurdist

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non sequitur. But I think the variable with Mitch, to

285
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your point, is this vulnerability, because he did exude that

286
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I'm up here, I'm telling the jokes, but you're receiving

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the jokes.

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But yes we are.

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It's a symbiotic relationship here and some of his great moments,

290
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and to show you how quick and smart he was,

291
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even though some of these jokes, his famous ones were

292
00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:10.799
so refined and over so many years and turn into

293
00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:14.720
these perfect little gems that will stay relevant forever. Some

294
00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:18.759
of his greatest moments and showcasing how quick he was

295
00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:22.360
is when something didn't work, or when he first walks

296
00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.759
on stage in a new venue, he often will break

297
00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:27.080
the ice with something that isn't a joke of his,

298
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just off the cuff observation he did just for laughs

299
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nineteen ninety eight, which is the big moment when he

300
00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:34.600
was the bell of the ball he walked into the

301
00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:37.039
big gala there that was televised and his first joke

302
00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:43.000
was finally some Canadian television exposure. And it's those moments

303
00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:45.720
show you that he was always thinking, always writing.

304
00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:47.720
Sorry to cut, but you just got to laugh out

305
00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:50.720
of me. Now if we read the transcript, finally, some

306
00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:55.120
Canadian television exposure is not funny on the paper, but

307
00:14:55.320 --> 00:14:57.480
you nailed the delivery of how he would hang the

308
00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:00.799
word exposure and just he just he's had that little

309
00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:03.679
touch and I think you just nailed you channeled it.

310
00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:04.759
Thanks again.

311
00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.720
I've been spending a lot of time thinking of talking

312
00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:12.559
with people and obviously devouring and processing everything that Mitch

313
00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:14.960
left behind. So I think he's rubbed off on me

314
00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:17.919
a bit and I'm honored by that. But yeah, to

315
00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:19.919
sum up what makes him great, and this is why

316
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:21.519
you need to talk to so many people, And it's

317
00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:25.559
so fascinating to triangulate Mitch from all the different perspectives

318
00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:27.279
of the people he crosspaths with in his life, from

319
00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:31.039
his family, from his close friends growing up, from the

320
00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:33.840
comedians he started coming up through, from the huge comedians

321
00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:37.120
who he broke out with, from the comedy industry, from

322
00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:40.600
people he was in romantic relationships with. Everybody has a

323
00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:43.919
perspective on Mitch. And when the more people you talk

324
00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:45.919
to the more it fills in pixels and we can

325
00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:49.679
start to glean things about who he was. And again,

326
00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:54.600
everybody channels something different. It's this look, it's this delivery,

327
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.960
it's this manner of speaking, it's the style of even

328
00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:02.559
the sense of humor of coming up with these jokes that,

329
00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:04.639
even though they might be in a non sequitor style.

330
00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:07.759
Some people equate him more as an alt comic, some

331
00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:10.559
people equate him more as No, he's really in the

332
00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:14.840
style of Aborsch Belt Henny Youngman type, because it's which

333
00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:17.240
group does he fit in. He was embraced by everyone,

334
00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:19.320
and it goes back to something that's come up a

335
00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:21.080
lot from people who went to high school with him.

336
00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:23.039
I've told me he was a little bit like Ferris

337
00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.879
Buehler back in that day, like he was gravitating in

338
00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:27.720
and out of all these clicks, but he wasn't really

339
00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:30.080
part of any one of them. He was Mitch, and

340
00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:32.559
absolutely everybody loved him and still does.

341
00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:35.519
No he now you point that out, I think I

342
00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:37.720
talk about it on the show The brick Wall comedians

343
00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:40.080
don't like the alt comedians, and then everybody gives the

344
00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.879
blue collar guys a hard time, And as I'm thinking

345
00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:45.399
about it. All the Camps liked Mitch. I can't think

346
00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.000
of I've never met a comedian bad mouth the guy.

347
00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:50.399
I haven't heard a bad story about the guy. I

348
00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:54.159
haven't heard anyone I roll as material. It's only respect

349
00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:54.840
and love.

350
00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:59.559
And absolutely and that's what's so confounding, is how this

351
00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:03.759
person and can embody so many things and be beloved

352
00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:08.119
nearly universally. Again, even his fan base. It's it can

353
00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:12.880
be people of any age, any background. It's not controversial,

354
00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:15.319
it's not tied to any time and place. There's some

355
00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:18.720
cursing in his jokes, but it's all very wholesome. And

356
00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:21.759
I think what makes Mitch connect with so many people

357
00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:25.279
in such a wide swath is that there's the vulnerability aspect,

358
00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:27.799
but there's also just that he was so positive and

359
00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:30.960
full of love, and to me, that's what looking back

360
00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:34.039
twenty years since his passing and we absolutely miss Mitch.

361
00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:36.519
We adorn Mitch to this day. I really think the

362
00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:39.720
world needs more Mitch today. I think that, and thankfully

363
00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:41.880
he left so much that we can still share with people,

364
00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:46.799
especially in these times that are divisive, controversial, heated among

365
00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:50.359
so many people are just at each other's necks about everything,

366
00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:54.000
and it's just Mitch was so cool and can diffuse

367
00:17:54.119 --> 00:17:57.799
any situation, be friends with everybody, and just have everyone

368
00:17:58.039 --> 00:17:59.079
just take a deep.

369
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Breath and chill out and laugh. Laugh at the ridiculous.

370
00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:04.359
That's a thing that's come up throughout this is his

371
00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:10.559
absolute love for absurdity and all things ridiculous. And even

372
00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:13.119
though he makes such a profound impact on everybody, it's like,

373
00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:15.319
at the end of the day, there's a value to

374
00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:19.039
being silly. He processed silly in such an interesting, smart

375
00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:22.680
way that is so unique and makes everybody absolutely fawn

376
00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:24.799
over him to this day. But at the end of

377
00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:28.559
the day, it's just not taking things so seriously, being light,

378
00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:32.440
laughing at the minutia, looking at things through that unique lens,

379
00:18:32.839 --> 00:18:33.240
or take a.

380
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:35.319
Quick break, come right back with more than Jeff Siegel

381
00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:39.839
talking Hedberg, you talked about leaving behind. Last time, I

382
00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:41.680
was in a room with Lynn Shawcroft, and it might

383
00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:44.279
be twenty years ago now or no, it can't be twenty,

384
00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:47.759
but it's eighteen. She had Mitch's notebook and there were

385
00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:49.920
jokes in there. We did a few specials when I

386
00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:53.680
was at serious comedy with Lynn involved, and if I'm

387
00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:57.039
remembering correctly. We did some sort of special where other

388
00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:00.960
comedians performed a few of those jokes. Now hopefully somebody

389
00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:03.319
didn't delete the file and it's sitting in a computer

390
00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:07.240
on sixth Avenue somewhere and that still exists. But there

391
00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:11.039
is material out there not performed. But the thoughts of

392
00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:13.200
Mitch Heedburgh exist absolutely.

393
00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:13.599
This guy.

394
00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:16.319
One thing that's come up from everybody is he was

395
00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:21.000
writing constantly from I don't know the age of a

396
00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:23.319
year or two after graduating high school and hitting the

397
00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:26.519
road with his friends, before he started performing. He was

398
00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:32.680
just constantly observing processing writing. There were so many things

399
00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:34.359
to Mitch and another.

400
00:19:34.119 --> 00:19:34.920
Thing that's come up.

401
00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.599
There's lots of material, of course, the jokes, but Mitch

402
00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:40.920
was creative in so many ways and a lot of

403
00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:43.279
people don't get this, and a lot of people who

404
00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:45.680
are close with him, especially in the early years, really

405
00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:47.519
this is a point they wanted to make to me

406
00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:51.200
and make sure that people got that. While comedy is

407
00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:54.079
how he made it, he was an artist. He could

408
00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:57.240
draw the doodles. His handwriting is a work of art

409
00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.839
to anyone who's ever seen it. He copied the style

410
00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.000
that he learned from his dad, who was an architectural

411
00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:06.519
draftsman and wrote in the all caps, very angular, very artistic,

412
00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:10.960
fascinating way. I mean, everything he left behind is an artifact, photography,

413
00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:14.079
home videos, editing, all kinds of stuff. The first time

414
00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:16.279
he made any money doing comedy, he made a feature

415
00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:19.279
film that he wrote and start in with his longtime

416
00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:22.920
girlfriend and producing partner, Janna Johnson, and he would just

417
00:20:22.920 --> 00:20:26.279
do everything. They made music together. He was so creative

418
00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:30.039
in so many ways, and so yes, there's so much material,

419
00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:33.160
so many ideas that Mitch left behind, and we're trying

420
00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:35.640
to incorporate as many of those as we can into

421
00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:39.279
kind of rebuilding his story from scratch and doodles and

422
00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:42.039
drawings that he did and getting them animated and all

423
00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:43.559
kinds of interesting stuff like that.

424
00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:46.480
Let's talk about the documentary what makes you wake up

425
00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:48.559
out of bed and go this? I'm going to make

426
00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:50.079
this Why Mitch Hebburg.

427
00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.960
The last time I saw Mitch was less than a

428
00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:55.200
year before he passed in two thousand and four, and

429
00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:56.680
I spent a little time with him was the Four

430
00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.680
Step and met him and it was at this college

431
00:20:58.680 --> 00:21:00.480
gig and the venue was clearing out and I went

432
00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:03.160
backstage and was in the green room and we were

433
00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:07.240
catching up, and I'm sure that this happened with countless

434
00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:09.759
other people. Obviously everybody loved him, and I'm sure he's

435
00:21:09.960 --> 00:21:11.839
made time for other people. But when I was with him,

436
00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:14.359
like I said, Mitch made you feel like you were

437
00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:17.480
really special, like you were the only person he cared

438
00:21:17.480 --> 00:21:20.559
about at that moment. And we had a great conversation

439
00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:22.720
about film and filmmaking. I was at film school at

440
00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:26.880
NYU at the time, and on the way out, the

441
00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.720
college had provided to catering. It was a big party

442
00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:32.440
sub and Mitch said, hey, man, I'm not going to

443
00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:35.000
eat that whole thing. Why don't you take some with you?

444
00:21:35.400 --> 00:21:38.440
And he gave me this sandwich and just a nice gesture.

445
00:21:38.839 --> 00:21:40.920
I wouldn't probably think too much of it, but to

446
00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:45.559
me at that moment, I left there driving home, eating

447
00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:49.039
this ham sandwich that Mitch had given me, and just thought,

448
00:21:49.720 --> 00:21:51.400
I need to know more about this guy.

449
00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:55.039
I am fascinated. He is so many fascinating things.

450
00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:57.640
Yes, hilarious of course on the service level, but so

451
00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:01.400
much more than that complex enigma to some degree, and

452
00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:04.359
you just wanted to know more about him. So I

453
00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:06.680
was hoping to go on the road with him and

454
00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:11.799
film something for my NYU Senior Thesis project unfortunately passed

455
00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:14.200
less than a year later, but that planted the seeds

456
00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.000
over twenty years ago that I wanted to do something,

457
00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.559
and over the years I kept once in a while

458
00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:22.880
reaching out to someone or chatting with people and floating

459
00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:26.319
this idea. And we finished a documentary project that I

460
00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:29.000
produced four part series for Netflix in twenty twenty called

461
00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.680
This Is a Robbery. And I had some time on

462
00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:33.519
my hands and it was COVID and I just dipped

463
00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:35.559
my toe in the mitchwater, and I said, I had

464
00:22:35.799 --> 00:22:38.799
a similar thought process as a lot of people, which

465
00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:40.720
is I love this guy, but I don't really know

466
00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.039
much about him, and I want to know more. And

467
00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:46.119
I know that is echoed by so many people out

468
00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:49.160
there who just are dying to know anything more about Mitch.

469
00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:52.759
And so I started just piecing it together and put

470
00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:55.720
timeline and pulling out names and calling people. And it's

471
00:22:55.720 --> 00:22:58.160
a slow process when you do that, but over the

472
00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.680
last four going on five years, it has slowly turned

473
00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:05.559
into this incredible thing. And I've been met with so

474
00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:08.960
much love and endorsements from so many people.

475
00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:09.400
Along the way.

476
00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:12.640
I've gotten to know Mitch's entire family, and not just no,

477
00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:15.559
but we speak frequently. I was texting with his dad

478
00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:18.319
earlier today. It's an ongoing thing, and I've just been

479
00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:22.279
going across the country, connecting the dots, trying to invite

480
00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:26.400
everyone on board to finally celebrate Mitch, to tell his story,

481
00:23:26.759 --> 00:23:29.160
and to explore everything that made him who he was.

482
00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:31.039
And I have been blown away. This has been the

483
00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:33.279
most meaningful project I've ever worked on. I have been

484
00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:36.200
humbled by the trust that so many people have put

485
00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:36.480
in me.

486
00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:38.640
Everything we found.

487
00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:41.599
And people have been sharing, It's just it's really special

488
00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:45.720
and unique. And even reconnecting old people who were part

489
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:48.440
of Mitch's life and haven't spoken in decades through this

490
00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:51.079
process has been wonderful. And the best part has been

491
00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:53.920
that so many people have told me how therapeutic it

492
00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.920
is after a long time to finally sit down and

493
00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:58.359
speak about Mitch.

494
00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:02.039
The tragedy never goes away, but after a certain.

495
00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:04.000
Point it's a little easier for a lot of people

496
00:24:04.039 --> 00:24:07.240
to talk about the good stuff. And there's so much

497
00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:10.960
good stuff. He was an incredible human being. Again, so

498
00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:13.720
many things beyond being funny. But even in the later

499
00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:17.960
years when he was struggling offstage. The stories that we've

500
00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:22.480
found from a wholenother generation of comedians beneath him, who

501
00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:26.200
idolized him and adored him, And he would do absolutely

502
00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:29.319
anything for anybody to help them get their footing in

503
00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:31.599
the comedy world, making calls, putting them on the bill,

504
00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:34.759
giving them time, talking them up to managers and agents.

505
00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:39.680
He was just an incredibly great human being, and absolutely

506
00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:43.039
everyone who knew him, even briefly met him, felt that

507
00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:45.920
and continues to feel that, And the love for Mitch

508
00:24:46.039 --> 00:24:48.279
to this day is enormous.

509
00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:51.519
It sounds like you're on a really good path putting

510
00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:53.720
these things together. You would know better than I. But

511
00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:55.200
a lot of times when you put these things together,

512
00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:57.240
you initially get there, who's this guy? He's just trying

513
00:24:57.240 --> 00:24:59.160
to make money off Mitch Hedberg. So I imagine how

514
00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:01.079
the parents are part of of this, or the parents

515
00:25:01.079 --> 00:25:03.240
are friendly with you. You can speak for yourself obviously

516
00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:05.519
how much they're part of it or not. That goes

517
00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:07.920
a long way. And then I find with such projects

518
00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:11.480
it becomes the I call it the cool party to

519
00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:13.279
be who else has done this? And if you have

520
00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.240
some people you can name drop? Oh okay, all right,

521
00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:17.079
We're all doing this one. This is a safe space.

522
00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:19.359
This isn't some sort of money grab. Can you speak

523
00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:21.880
to how that process has been are the Kenyans? Are

524
00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:24.359
you seeing the snowball effect of Oh I talked to Maren,

525
00:25:24.440 --> 00:25:25.400
so someone else will do it?

526
00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:28.200
Absolutely if there's so many different bins of people to

527
00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:30.839
connect with, Like I said, and obviously you want the

528
00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.680
big famous comedians and contemporaries who came up with Mitch,

529
00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:39.440
and someone like Maren or Stanhope or David Tell or

530
00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:43.039
Lewis Black who have so much direct crossover with him,

531
00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:45.680
obviously have a big personal aspect. But then you know,

532
00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:48.359
it's also fascinating to talk to people who knew him

533
00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:50.680
a little bit, like Jim Gaffigan is in it, or

534
00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:53.839
bj Novak is in it. He'd never even met Mitch,

535
00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:57.559
but he speaks for the perspective of people who just

536
00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:00.960
view Mitch strictly from the fan point of view, and

537
00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:03.880
like what that means to people. I'm trying to triangulate

538
00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:06.359
it from all sides, from the people who knew him

539
00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:10.240
intimately well to people who just understand where he fits

540
00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:14.839
in this incredible pantheon of the comedy world. And definitely

541
00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:17.079
the more people you get, the more you know. People

542
00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:19.319
are excited to be a part of it and realize

543
00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:22.599
that this is the chance to definitively speak about him.

544
00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:25.799
And everybody has something to say. Everyone has a great

545
00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:30.039
story about Mitch. There's so much there, and it's thrilling

546
00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:32.799
to finally accumulate all that. And it's going to be

547
00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:35.559
even better when we could finally put it all out

548
00:26:35.640 --> 00:26:37.039
and share it with the world.

549
00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:39.960
With this weekend being the twentieth anniversary of his passing.

550
00:26:40.200 --> 00:26:42.279
Just to get to the darker side of the story,

551
00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:45.039
do you have a sense of where people aware that

552
00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:47.519
he was struggling at the point in his life. I

553
00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:48.920
don't personally know that answer.

554
00:26:49.319 --> 00:26:51.160
Yeah, the people who were a part of his life

555
00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:54.240
for a long time, especially going back into the era

556
00:26:54.359 --> 00:26:56.880
of his life where no one really knows much about,

557
00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:00.359
absolutely were aware that Mitch was having struggles. It was

558
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:03.880
a slow moving thing. People like me, People who were

559
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:07.599
more peripherally connected, people like you. It sounds like fans

560
00:27:08.119 --> 00:27:12.119
who without social media weren't necessarily hearing things or connecting

561
00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:14.920
dots back then. I don't think they necessarily were aware.

562
00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:18.559
When I heard the news that Mitch passed, it was

563
00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:19.680
a complete shock to me.

564
00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:22.480
I had no idea, But it doesn't make it any

565
00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:26.279
easier when people, even though a lot of people knew

566
00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:28.319
that he was struggling with a lot of things, but

567
00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:31.680
there was this whole other, massive group who had no

568
00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:35.720
idea what was going on and were equally saddened when

569
00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:36.720
they heard the news.

570
00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:40.400
I remember we were floored. I was producing Jim Brewers

571
00:27:40.519 --> 00:27:42.279
radio show. We were at the New York Auto Show

572
00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:45.400
and Jim was doing a live thing in front of

573
00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:47.599
a crowd of people. Were there to otherwise see crowds,

574
00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:49.880
and Jim kept changing gears depending on who was in

575
00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:51.920
front of them. Okay, there's family people, I'll do this,

576
00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:55.319
there's adults, I'll do that sort of material. And Jim

577
00:27:55.599 --> 00:27:59.000
was cranky that day because the night before Jim had

578
00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:02.000
to do an extra hour were because Mitch didn't show.

579
00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:04.559
And then in the middle of our broadcast we found

580
00:28:04.599 --> 00:28:08.079
out why Mitch didn't show, and it went from I

581
00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:11.680
have that guy to oh shoot. We all felt terrible

582
00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:13.640
on several ols. First of all, that twenty minutes ago

583
00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:16.160
we were like, eh, that guy, and then just oh wow,

584
00:28:16.279 --> 00:28:18.920
somebody that we're fans of has passed away or somebody

585
00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.359
in Jim's case, somebody that had worked with had passed away.

586
00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:23.079
It was just I remember getting the call in the

587
00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:23.920
middle of the show.

588
00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:30.319
The general consensus was people being incredibly saddened and just

589
00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:33.279
devastated because of the impact he made. Everyone knew what

590
00:28:33.319 --> 00:28:36.519
a good guy he was. Everyone knew where Mitch's heart was.

591
00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:40.480
The silver lining to me, if there is any is

592
00:28:40.519 --> 00:28:46.319
that his story doesn't end. It is ongoing, and we

593
00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:48.319
may have to be fighting trying to make sure to

594
00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:52.119
post enough stuff to keep Mitch relevant. But that's what

595
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:53.960
we're trying to do on a larger level with the film.

596
00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:58.839
But he is still out there making people laugh every day.

597
00:28:59.799 --> 00:29:03.319
People are discovering them every day, and so many people

598
00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:06.920
I've talked to talk about how connecting with people over

599
00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:09.400
their mutual love for someone like Mitch. It's almost like

600
00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:13.720
the password at a speakeasy if somebody immediately responds to

601
00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:15.319
you there in the Mitch Club, and you know you've

602
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:17.920
got a friend, and you can bring out what's your

603
00:29:17.960 --> 00:29:20.160
favorite joke, and oh, this is mine. I always talk

604
00:29:20.200 --> 00:29:23.279
about his jokes to this day are like these bite

605
00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:27.480
sized nuggets of comfort food that are also incredible trading

606
00:29:27.559 --> 00:29:31.400
cards of oh yeah, I'll take your escalator temporarily stares

607
00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:34.519
and I'll raise you doughnut receip And it's like everyone

608
00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:37.880
gets to have a favorite and everyone gets to share them.

609
00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:40.519
It's wild even to this day. Anytime anything gets.

610
00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:45.119
Posted about Mitch on any Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, any social

611
00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:49.799
media Twitter, whatever it's called. Now, basically the comment section

612
00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:53.759
is just flooded with people putting the exact, verbatim quote

613
00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:54.640
of their favorite joke.

614
00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:56.799
It is truly a phenomenon.

615
00:29:57.039 --> 00:29:59.599
This is so rare, and I think people don't necessarily

616
00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:03.079
compreh and how unbelievably special and rare it is for

617
00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:06.880
someone twenty years after their passing who is a comedian

618
00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:10.119
who again generally very tethered to a time and a place.

619
00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:10.440
And a style.

620
00:30:11.319 --> 00:30:15.359
But this guy was totally uniquely his own and timeless.

621
00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:18.720
He will work in any era to anybody because he

622
00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:23.079
is a genuine, authentic person that people connect with on

623
00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:26.640
a very deep emotional level, which is hard for some

624
00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:28.480
people to believe when you just see they're just these

625
00:30:28.519 --> 00:30:31.680
non sequitor, absurdist jokes. He's not bearing his soul on

626
00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:34.440
the surface level the way someone like Mark Marin would.

627
00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:37.640
But yes, I've had this wonderful experience as my children

628
00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:40.960
went from being small to college age, and we would

629
00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:44.079
just about every Christmas head out to Hershey Park where

630
00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:47.680
they sell frozen bananas. And as the years went by,

631
00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:49.640
it went from me just doing a half assed Mitch

632
00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:53.039
impression to now my daughter will ask me, Dad, do

633
00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:55.200
you want a frozen banana? And she's just teeing me

634
00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:56.880
up to give her the line back, and it's just

635
00:30:56.920 --> 00:30:59.440
one of those wonderful moments. Or we'll be at a

636
00:30:59.480 --> 00:31:01.759
subway and I'll just do a normal dad voice. I'll

637
00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:04.559
be like ducks heat for free and subway, and it's

638
00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:07.400
all these little things. The mister pib, the escalator and

639
00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:09.960
all these things just connected with a lot of us.

640
00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:15.240
It's so universal. It's minutia largely right. It's these everyday,

641
00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:18.759
most mundane things, but thought of in such a fascinatingly

642
00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:22.519
different perspective that is also hilarious at the end of

643
00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:24.279
the day too. And I think that's what makes it

644
00:31:24.359 --> 00:31:26.839
so universal and still work to this day. Again, I'm

645
00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:29.880
steeped in this more than most, but ten times throughout

646
00:31:29.880 --> 00:31:32.319
my day going around, you just you see this or

647
00:31:32.359 --> 00:31:33.559
that and you think of Mitch.

648
00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:35.160
A few people have told me too.

649
00:31:35.319 --> 00:31:38.880
They always say that tree is far away, which is

650
00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:43.119
his whole joke about mumbling some insignificant thing that ultimately

651
00:31:43.160 --> 00:31:46.240
someone keeps not hearing and then having to eventually say

652
00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:48.559
it too loud, And they're like, it's just these are

653
00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:52.240
such universal human things that I don't think will ever

654
00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:53.039
become dated.

655
00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:55.720
The one that always pops into my mind is when

656
00:31:55.720 --> 00:31:58.319
I find myself too deep into an explanation and he

657
00:31:58.359 --> 00:32:00.759
has the weather related joke, and I just think to myself,

658
00:32:00.920 --> 00:32:04.640
I should have just said, yeah, that's just right. As

659
00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:06.240
you're going through I don't want to ask the magician

660
00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:07.839
to show me all his tricks, but as you're going

661
00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:10.880
through things, can you tease us? Did somebody have an

662
00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:13.960
old eight millimeter film in the toy box? Are there

663
00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:15.720
things that we're all going to be like, ooh, I

664
00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:16.680
didn't know that existed?

665
00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:21.880
Absolutely, man, there's so much stuff out there when you

666
00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:25.359
connect the dots that people have in their attics or

667
00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:29.440
their basements, or someone I just emailed today told me

668
00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:33.200
they just found a bunch of old, disposable, unprocessed film

669
00:32:33.400 --> 00:32:37.680
cameras from twenty five years ago, and it says Mitch

670
00:32:38.200 --> 00:32:40.759
on them and they're about to get them processed. So

671
00:32:40.920 --> 00:32:44.839
it's going around, obviously from his family and from so

672
00:32:44.920 --> 00:32:47.680
many friends. But yes, there's a lot out there, and

673
00:32:47.720 --> 00:32:51.039
part of the process here has been trying to connect

674
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:54.400
all those dots and find all this stuff, dig up

675
00:32:54.440 --> 00:32:58.200
this material that he left behind, and there's so much stuff,

676
00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:00.759
and so much of it is so fascinating, especially when

677
00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:03.400
you put together the timeline of his life and one

678
00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:06.240
thing linking to the next thing, and then everything starts

679
00:33:06.279 --> 00:33:08.680
to come into focus a little bit more with Mitch

680
00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:12.039
and Yeah and the other as wonderful of all that

681
00:33:12.119 --> 00:33:16.599
old archival material is and will be to share. One

682
00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:20.279
of the most powerful things has been the interviews, especially

683
00:33:20.279 --> 00:33:20.799
with people.

684
00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:23.519
Who are really close with Mitch, who.

685
00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:27.079
When they start speaking, you feel Mitch come alive, you

686
00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:31.359
feel his presence. A lot of people who aren't famous. Again,

687
00:33:31.480 --> 00:33:34.400
there's big voices in this film, and they're wonderful, but

688
00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:37.480
some of the real breakout, stand out people are people

689
00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:40.400
you've never heard of, who have been waiting for twenty

690
00:33:40.440 --> 00:33:43.279
five thirty years to talk about this guy that they

691
00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:46.680
knew very closely and made such an impact to their world,

692
00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:49.160
and when they do, you can feel it.

693
00:33:50.119 --> 00:33:52.240
Are you and again, if you don't want to give

694
00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:54.599
away the secrets, I totally get it. Are you telling

695
00:33:54.599 --> 00:33:57.799
a chronological story as their narrator saying when nineteen seventy

696
00:33:57.799 --> 00:34:00.680
four Mitch did this? Is it just talk heads? Is

697
00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:03.599
it Mitch telling his own story where you can.

698
00:34:03.880 --> 00:34:06.480
All I'd say for now is a combination of all

699
00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:10.719
of those things will drive forward the narrative. We are

700
00:34:10.760 --> 00:34:12.960
trying to, like I said, sort of a three hundred

701
00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:15.559
and sixty degree view as much of Mitch as possible.

702
00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:18.920
But also I think it's really important to contextualize him

703
00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:23.159
through people in the comedy world as he's passing through

704
00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:28.360
all these different benchmarks of those last kind of decade

705
00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:31.480
or so of the analog years before the whole business

706
00:34:31.559 --> 00:34:33.920
was up ended, and working his way through the business

707
00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:37.400
trying to make it, and then also obviously the personal

708
00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:43.239
stories of everyone, and it comes forth so powerfully the impact.

709
00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:45.559
That he made on everyone and what he meant to people.

710
00:34:46.559 --> 00:34:49.119
How far along are you in the process and when

711
00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:50.119
might we see this?

712
00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:52.719
We've been working on it for a long time.

713
00:34:52.920 --> 00:34:55.519
I don't want to put an exact timeline on it,

714
00:34:55.639 --> 00:34:58.440
but we're hoping at some point next year to be

715
00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:00.480
sharing this with the world.

716
00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:02.440
Let me take one more break and come back and

717
00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:04.559
ask you a couple more questions looking forward to this

718
00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:09.199
one as you've put this together, what has surprised you

719
00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:12.159
about learning about Mitch Hedberg, Like, we didn't know that

720
00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:15.679
he played ice hockey, or he had nine cats, or

721
00:35:15.719 --> 00:35:17.519
what kind of stuff is coming out that we just

722
00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:18.480
don't know about the guy.

723
00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:20.920
Again, there's a lot that most people don't know about.

724
00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:25.199
What's been so amazing to learn about is that there's

725
00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:27.880
just so little is known on the surface level about him.

726
00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:31.400
It's he's so funny, he's from Minnesota, he did lettermans.

727
00:35:31.519 --> 00:35:34.840
We know he passed away young, and he had addiction issues,

728
00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:39.559
but people really don't know almost anything about him and

729
00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:43.039
his story, the origin story of this sort of superhero

730
00:35:43.079 --> 00:35:45.119
of Mitch Hedberg, because that's what he is in the

731
00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:48.039
comedy world. He is beloved, so many people put him

732
00:35:48.039 --> 00:35:50.800
on that Mount rushmore with some of these way more

733
00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:52.320
prolific comedians.

734
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:53.679
And maybe he does not.

735
00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:57.239
Quite Carlin or Prior, but I think he's absolutely as

736
00:35:57.320 --> 00:36:01.119
influential and beloved that the people that know him absolutely

737
00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:04.599
love him. So there is this whole story of this guy,

738
00:36:04.639 --> 00:36:06.559
and I didn't know what we would find. Like I said,

739
00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:08.239
I knew it was from Minnesota. I didn't know what

740
00:36:08.320 --> 00:36:09.519
happened before he blew up.

741
00:36:09.480 --> 00:36:13.480
As a comedian. But his story is unbelievable.

742
00:36:13.639 --> 00:36:16.239
It is It is a guy who wanted to live

743
00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:19.320
that Jack Kerouac on the road kind of life, be

744
00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:24.400
out there, experience everything, found his love for comedy, figured

745
00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:27.639
out his calling, and then again stuck to his guns

746
00:36:27.960 --> 00:36:31.280
and never ever for a second of his life lived

747
00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:33.840
on anyone else's terms other than his own.

748
00:36:34.159 --> 00:36:34.840
And he was.

749
00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:36.760
Willing to put in the time and the struggle and

750
00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:40.679
barnstorming America constantly on tour. I won't go into details

751
00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:45.960
of everything, but he has a absolutely captivating, fascinating story

752
00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:49.800
of his journey of getting to where he ultimately went.

753
00:36:50.360 --> 00:36:52.280
And one thing I'll say is in later years, I

754
00:36:52.280 --> 00:36:52.840
don't know if a lot.

755
00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:55.960
Of people know, but Mitch did a couple of ad

756
00:36:56.039 --> 00:37:00.559
campaigns voiceover work. One in particular was for this hockey

757
00:37:00.599 --> 00:37:06.639
team in Atlanta, formerly the hockey the Atlanta Thrashers, and

758
00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:10.480
there's a great story that we talk about in there

759
00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:14.599
where Mitch is discovered and this team is not very

760
00:37:14.599 --> 00:37:16.599
good and it's a new expansion team and no one's

761
00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:19.039
showing up. The whole marketing message of trying to give

762
00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:21.400
to the hockey team and all the fans is even

763
00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:22.920
if the team's not good, we got to show our

764
00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:25.119
love for we're all in this together. It's very much

765
00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:28.119
in line with Mitch's sense of humor, persona on stage

766
00:37:28.239 --> 00:37:31.280
and that sort of vibe gives. So he ultimately did

767
00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:34.920
this ad campaign in Atlanta for the Thrashers called Hockey Love,

768
00:37:35.239 --> 00:37:38.920
and you can find it online. It's amazing and it's

769
00:37:39.079 --> 00:37:42.480
just like this beautiful thing in Mitch's voice and his

770
00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:45.239
sense of humor, and it's all about showing the love.

771
00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:48.480
And the crazy thing was that the campaign.

772
00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:50.679
I talked to a bunch of people who were connected

773
00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:52.960
with it and they talked about how it was an

774
00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:57.320
radio campaign and when they played it, people would call

775
00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:00.480
in the radio station in Atlanta and request them to

776
00:38:00.519 --> 00:38:04.159
play the commercial again, which is these things don't happen.

777
00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:07.440
No one calls up a radio station requesting a commercial,

778
00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:10.360
but they did with Mitch. That's how irresistible he was

779
00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:13.880
and still is to this day. And there's a million

780
00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:16.599
other stories like that. There is a most interesting man

781
00:38:16.639 --> 00:38:19.320
in the world. Quality to Mitch where there's just all

782
00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:23.400
these fascinating little things, and he was again constantly going

783
00:38:23.480 --> 00:38:26.119
all across the country. One week he's in Atlanta, another

784
00:38:26.119 --> 00:38:29.440
week he's in Houston, then he's in Boise, Idaho. And

785
00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:32.840
everyone who's meeting along the way all have fascinating stories.

786
00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:35.039
I will say this as an ending note. A lot

787
00:38:35.079 --> 00:38:38.440
of people's most interesting night of their life or wild

788
00:38:38.519 --> 00:38:42.000
story is like Tuesday night for Mitch. So he packed

789
00:38:42.039 --> 00:38:45.000
a lot into his thirty seven years, and I hope

790
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:47.960
people can at least take solace in that a little

791
00:38:47.960 --> 00:38:50.960
bit that he lived every day and every second how

792
00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:53.960
he wanted to, and the vast majority of us don't.

793
00:38:54.159 --> 00:38:55.599
I think you just nailed it, and we'll put the

794
00:38:55.639 --> 00:38:57.880
bow on it right there. I'm really looking forward to

795
00:38:57.880 --> 00:39:01.519
this thing coming out, just trad excited. Thank you for

796
00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:03.480
taking your time here today. I could probably talk to

797
00:39:03.519 --> 00:39:06.199
you about match for another two hours. There's just something

798
00:39:06.280 --> 00:39:08.400
You've put it up my brain now and all the

799
00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:09.559
one liners are coming back.

800
00:39:09.760 --> 00:39:12.920
Appreciate it absolutely. Thanks so much, John, I really appreciate

801
00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:14.599
getting a chance to come talk about Mitch.

802
00:39:15.199 --> 00:39:18.400
He's Jeff Siegel. He's working on a Mitch Hebburg documentary.

803
00:39:18.519 --> 00:39:20.480
I'm sure we'll talk about it a lot as that

804
00:39:20.559 --> 00:39:23.559
comes up tomorrow on this program. Friend of the show

805
00:39:23.760 --> 00:39:25.760
Jason Zinneman from the New York Times, and I will

806
00:39:25.760 --> 00:39:28.360
discuss Mitch Hedburg a little bit more. I will see

807
00:39:28.360 --> 00:39:32.639
you tomorrow. Until then, follow this podcast under p podcast.

808
00:39:32.760 --> 00:39:36.800
All right, you know what the NHL stands for, NaSTA

809
00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:40.320
hockey love. Like when the Thrasher score a goal and

810
00:39:40.360 --> 00:39:43.440
those giant fur Hills shoot flames twenty feet out of

811
00:39:43.440 --> 00:39:46.840
their mouths, you can feel the walk fall over. You

812
00:39:46.880 --> 00:39:50.840
can be best hockey though, holar or when a player

813
00:39:50.880 --> 00:39:53.039
is sent to the penalty box to think about the

814
00:39:53.079 --> 00:39:55.679
wrongs he has done. That is the lead version of

815
00:39:55.719 --> 00:39:58.440
sending a kid to a time out, done with tough

816
00:39:58.719 --> 00:40:04.559
hockey love in town to marry out. Sometimes in between

817
00:40:04.599 --> 00:40:07.960
periods they have little tights hockey, little kids playing hockey

818
00:40:07.960 --> 00:40:11.159
in their little Thrashes uniform. They tried so hard and

819
00:40:11.199 --> 00:40:14.000
their parents are so proud, so full of hockey love,

820
00:40:14.639 --> 00:40:17.639
talking hockey. I wish I could go out there and

821
00:40:17.639 --> 00:40:20.599
play against them. I bet I could kick some at.

822
00:40:22.239 --> 00:40:22.360
All.

823
00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:22.559
Right,