The 25th was my daughter's first birthday, which means the 27th is the one-year anniversary of my interview with Mitch Hedberg. I called him at around two in the afternoon, and woke him up from what must've been a pretty deep sleep (or something), because his speech was slurred and he didn't sound like himself. Of course I wasn't exactly bright-eyed myself, having been awake for almost 48 hours since the birth (which happened a week early). I also hadn't had the chance to complete my pre-interview research because of the circumstances, so I didn't know enough about his drug problems or botched network sitcom deals to ask questions about them. And given that Hedberg didn't get enough media attention when he was alive, I consider the interview to be a missed opportunity. I wish the piece had been more definitive, because once Hedberg woke up he was funny and open, and willing to talk.
Anyway, because of space limitations, not everything we talked about made it into the final edition. My wife posted a couple of cut Q&As; on her blog—including some interesting stuff about his Comedy Central special and his Letterman ties—and it can be found here.
R.I.P. Mitch.
Join the discussion...