 |
 |
| » |
Prefuse
73, Knitting Factory |
| » |
U2,
United Center |
| » |
New
York Dolls, Irving Plaza - New York,
NY |
| » |
Eels,
The Roxy - West Hollywood, CA |
| » |
The
Go! Team, The Liquid Room, Edinburgh,
UK |
| » |
Paul
Westerberg, The Supper Club, New
York |
more
reviews »
| | | |
|
|
|
Mitch Hedberg,
Anti-Comic
You don’t forget
Mitch Hedberg. That casual wit, that innocent giggle, that
complete lack of on-stage..
by Jack
McGrue | 03.31.2005
 You don’t forget Mitch
Hedberg. That casual wit, that innocent giggle, that complete
lack of on-stage professionalism. Whether you remember him as the
best worst standup comedian you’ve ever seen, or build monuments in
his likeness to honor He Who is the Highest Arc of Subtle Comedic
Genius to Date (we suggest the latter), you just don’t forget
Mitch—there is no one else like him around. And if Bob Sagat
is, like some weird watered-down, wit-deficient Christ figure
spreading lameness throughout the land, then Hedberg is the
anti-comic: all long hair in his face, eyes on his shuffling shoes,
sunglasses over his eyes, laughing at his own observational humor
and messing up the delivery half the time. But that’s why you know
him. Like know him, know him. He’s the shy kid in the back of the
class who really wants to be social. Except Mitch is on stage. And
he’s fucking hilarious. Filter Mini sat down for some words with
Mitch the day after his headlining show at Los Angeles’
Wiltern theater.
I’d never heard people shout
requests at a comedy show. Is that normal?
It happens if I
let it happen. Not all the time, but last night it happened pretty
early. It’s very flattering that people like certain jokes and ask
for them, but it’s kind of a buzzkill. Usually it happens in the
last 15 minutes, which is okay with me, because then I can do my old
material without looking like I need to. I can make it seem like the
audience requested it [laughs].
You know the really loud
meathead that kept finishing all of your jokes and yelling at you to
smoke a bowl? Yeah he was sitting right next to me and my
girlfriend.
Yeah. I get a lot of pot stuff during my shows.
Smoke a bowl…that’s kind of a ridiculous request—nothing like being
arrested on stage! Hey that might’ve been alright though. I don’t
know if you remember the Van Halen video for “Jump,” but they
show David Lee Roth being arrested and it’s the coolest thing
ever, man. But no, I’m not going to be smoking no bowls live on
stage. That was just pipe tobacco. Besides, if you’re going to ask
someone to do something you kinda have to be the provider, don’t you
think?
Good point. And I’ve never seen so many young
people in a comedy crowd either.
A lot of people watch
Comedy Central and I’m on there from time to time. It’s great
as long as it doesn’t get too young. I remember when I got started,
a guy that I knew did a show in a library in front of second
graders. He asked me if I wanted to do a set, but I passed. The
second graders—they don’t tend to get the subtleties, but man they
like dick jokes.
You sold 85,000 copies of Mitch All
Together (live CD put out by Comedy Central]. That’s impressive.
Yeah, I’m very happy about it. If I was in, let’s say, uh, um,
Blink 182, I would be depressed at that figure. But I tell
you, putting a CD in a store really makes a big difference. My mom
used to package my CDs—I’d love to see her trying to do 85,000
orders. That would be fucking ridiculous.
Are you a fan
of standup comedy? Because you’re sorta like the anti-comic.
Yeah, well, I mean I used to love it so much before I did it.
But once you realize there are so many bad acts out there…My wife
always says people who aren’t good at architecture don’t get into
architecture—it’s only the people who have a knack for it. But for
some reason with comedy, lots of people who don’t have a knack for
it get into it. So it ruins it. But I think right now there’s a
great group of comics. The art form is by no means in danger.
Do you get a lot of fans coming up to you with their own
“Hedbergian” jokes?
Oh yeah, yeah. A lot of people come up
to me and they kinda talk like they think I talk, and they’ll tell
me a joke. They’ll say, “Hey, I thought of a joke for you today.”
It’s like, “What do you mean for me, man?” All it is is the way
you’re talking. Just stop talking like that, and that joke is for
you.
|
 |
|
|
 |
Never Miss a
Beat!
Sign up for Filter Magazine's FREE
Newsletter for the latest news, tour dates, and
more. |
|
| |
|
