the legend of a comedy nomad FILMS “Mitch Hedberg just might have been the funniest man most Americans never heard of.” – BILL BROWNSTEIN, THE MONTREAL GAZETTE 2 FILMS THE BEST THERE NEVER WAS Mitch Hedberg is part of comedy folklore. Like an inside joke that only you and a few of your friends understand, but those in the outside world haven’t yet picked up on. The first time you see him perform you might be a little dumbfounded. But within two or three of his razor-sharp, often surrealist jokes, chances are you’ll click into that special Mitch frequency. To know him is to love him, and those who do still cherish his every observation – each one so simple yet so profound, and undeniably hilarious. But so many people missed out. Had he lived another decade, it’s widely believed that he would’ve gone on to play massive arenas around the world and released a number of blockbuster comedy specials on premium channels and top-tier platforms. But he didn’t. He died having plateaued right on the cusp of stardom – relegated to legend status within the comedy world, but merely an item of pop- culture trivia for far too many others. 3 FILMS Mitch lived in front of a brick wall. Those addresses he occasionally had in Seattle, West Hollywood, and at the Chelsea Hotel were just places his mail piled up. He spent half his life on an unending comedy tour, barnstorming clubs, colleges, and theaters across America – like a modern-day vaudevillian. He lived – and died – on the road. Mitch’s life ended just as YouTube and social media were about to upend the traditional paths to superstardom, as Netflix specials these days are commonly going to fresh-faced influencers who are just starting out. He never even got a full-hour TV stand-up special, yet his material still echoes on to those who know him, like a comic from a bygone era, through his three comedy albums. To a large degree, his story is the story of stand-up comedy in America. He was a tried-and-true, purebred, old school road comic. One of the last of the original breed of comedians that are all but extinct today. 4 FILMS “Only the offbeat ones die young: John Belushi, Freddie Prinze, Andy Kaufman, Bill Hicks, Sam Kinison and now Mitch Hedberg, another great one. These people all had very different universes to offer us, and they’ve all been taken away.” – GEORGE CARLIN 5 FILMS MEET MITCH • Mitch was named the 20th best comedian of all time by Rolling Stone. • His first album, Strategic Grill Locations, was named the 16th best comedy album of all time by Spin magazine. • His second album, Mitch All Together, earned gold record certification for selling over 500,000 copies. • Time magazine called Mitch “the next Seinfeld” in 1998. • Mitch made 10 appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman – only three other comics were on more often. • Comedy royalty including George Carlin, David Letterman, Doug Stanhope, Ron White, Jim Gaffigan, Dennis Miller, Colin Quinn, Margaret Cho, Nathan Lane, and Mike Birbiglia are among Mitch’s biggest fans. • Right after his death in 2005, “Mitch Hedberg” topped Google Zeitgeist’s weekly list of the top 10 gaining search queries – beating out Pope John Paul II, who died three days after Hedberg. 6 FILMS “I’ve never cared about the money, the driving force was getting a laugh with my thoughts.” 7 FILMS “Our next guest is a talented comedian, who is one of our favorites, he’s been on the program many, many times before, the very funny, very odd Mitch Hedberg.” – DAVID LETTERMAN 8 FILMS THE FILM In a world overflowing with streamers and endless content, with hundreds of millions of subscribers eager to binge the next great story, a documentary about Mitch Hedberg is inevitable. It’s just a matter of time. And now is the time. When eight hours are given to Tiger King, one of the greatest stand-ups of all- time – with nearly a million album units sold and a cult following of devoted fans – can certainly command ninety minutes. Mitch has been covered in newspapers, blogs, magazines, podcasts, and on satellite radio – but barely at all onscreen. While his material and delivery continue to resonate over MP3s and Spotify streams, Mitch needs to be seen to be fully comprehended and understood. His signature look – that sly, shy grin hiding behind long hair, colored glasses, and closed eyelids – is just as big a part of who he is as his jokes are. The documentary will be a visually-rich, comprehensive, and definitive telling of the rise – and fall – of one of the most legendary comedians ever to have taken the stage. An honest and authentic tribute to the life of a comedy god who hasn’t gotten the attention he deserves. Think Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck meets The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling. 9 FILMS “The creative process is very simple. I would say it’s daydreaming. I go off into my head for a while. It’s kinda like fishing in your head and writing it down. It’s not sitting down to write jokes, it’s sitting down to put your mind in a frame where you can catch jokes easier.” 10 FILMS “I think Mitch Hedberg, had he lived and been able to continue on, most likely you could put in that short list with some of the all-time great comics. He had that potential in him.” – GREG CHARLES, CAROLINE’S ON BROADWAY 11 FILMS BACKGROUN D Mitch Hedberg spent the first half of his life enjoying a staggeringly normal childhood in a salt of the Earth family in St. Paul, Minnesota. He spent the second half on the road, living life as a comedy nomad. He went on stage for the first time in Boca Raton, Florida and never looked back. He cut his teeth in the Pacific Northwest, playing motels, bars, and lounges in Idaho and Montana, to less than ideal audiences, often stupefied by his bizarre material and persona. But he quickly drew attention and adulation at the Comedy Underground in Seattle. He strategically parlayed his limited exposure into a few brief TV appearances and got invited to Just For Laughs in 1996 – where he started to really get noticed. He made his network television debut in 1997 on The Late Show with David Letterman and won the Seattle Comedy Competition that year, too. 1998 was the year that changed everything. Backed by powerful management, his appearance at Just For Laughs was the toast of the festival and Fox gave him a $500,000 development deal. A few months later, Los Enchiladas, the feature film he wrote, directed, and starred in, premiered at Sundance – the same month that his Comedy Central Presents half-hour special went into regular rotation on cable. But what goes up must come down. The Fox deal expired without a show, the film was poorly received at Sundance and never released. Mitch’s unique brand wasn’t as easy to translate to other formats as he’d hoped. So he doubled down on stand-up and decided that his true calling was on the road – a stool, a microphone, a glass (or three) of vodka, and that ubiquitous notebook of jokes was all he would need in life. Well, almost all he would need. 12 FILMS 13 FILMS Over the next six years, Mitch became more and more beloved by comedy fans and critics – quickly becoming one of the rare comics without a successful TV show to consistently sell out comedy clubs coast to coast. But something else was growing, too: his propensity for an increasingly alarming lifestyle fueled by booze, pills, and eventually (and sadly) heroin. It was no secret that Mitch enjoyed the creative effects of drugs, but the extent of his drug use was either unrecognized or swept under the rug in light of his meteoric stand-up success. Rumors of his drug habit started spreading as he began bringing in substantial amounts of money headlining colleges and theaters. His perpetual tour took an abrupt hiatus when he was arrested in Austin, Texas in June 2003 for drug possession and had to undergo a complicated surgery to save his leg from a gangrenous, drug-related sore. Mitch bounced back and went on tour with Lewis Black and Dave Attell to rave reviews. But his next tour, co-headlined by Stephen Lynch, was riddled by frequently erratic performances. Many began to see the writing on the wall. After a weekend of sold-out shows at Caroline’s, Mitch and his wife, Lynn, went off the grid, missing a stint at The Funny Bone in Richmond, Virginia. Everyone’s worst fears were realized when first responders were unable to revive Mitch after a drug overdose in his New Jersey hotel room on March 29, 2005. One of comedy’s most promising talents was gone at age 37 – like so many in the industry, far too soon. 14 FILMS “On the page, his humor might seem simple, even a little silly, but when delivered in his beat-poet voice it was like listening to a creature that had fallen to Earth.” – DANIEL FIERMAN, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY 15 FILMS “It’s impossible to capture his unique delivery in print. He stretched words out to three times their normal length, conspicuously omitted contractions, stressed syllables with the randomness of someone just learning the language. Stand-up was his native language; anything else would have been a clumsy adaptation.