EXCLUSIVE: The life of comedian Mitch Hedberg, master of the one-liner and a talent beloved by fellow comics, will be the focus of an upcoming documentary from 222-2222 Films.
The company announced Tuesday it has completed principal photography on the project, a five-year-long undertaking that features interviews with Margaret Cho, B.J. Novak, Lewis Black, Jim Gaffigan, Dave Attell, Doug Stanhope, Gary Gulman, Nick Swardson, among many others. The film is directed by Jeff Siegel; he and Michael Blieden, co-founders of 222-2222 Films, are among the executive producers of the untitled documentary.
Mitch Hedberg
Photo by Chard Hogan
Hedberg appeared 10 times on The Late Show with David Letterman and multiple times on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. He also made appearances on That ‘70s Show, Dr. Katz, and Crank Yankers, co-starred in Almost Famous as The Eagles road manager, and recorded three successful comedy albums, including 2003’s Mitch All Together, which went gold. His observational humor could be compared to Jerry Seinfeld, as crossed with Henny Youngman and Steven Wright. A sample from a 2004 set on Conan’s show: “I got a lamp in my hotel room, and it has a three-way lightbulb in it. If you don’t know a lightbulb’s a three-way lightbulb, it messes with your head. ‘Cause you go to turn it off and it just gets brighter. Like, ‘Dammit, lightbulb, that’s the exact opposite of what I wanted you to do.’”
Hedberg died in 2005 at age 37 from an accidental drug overdose.
“We talked about him as if he was too special for this world,” observes Novak (The Office, Inglourious Basterds). “He had this energy that he was from another planet.”
“A lot of people have had a lot to say for a very long time, but no one to say it to until now,” said Siegel, a 2024 Emmy nominee for Billy Joel: The 100th – Live At Madison Square Garden. “It’s taken many years to connect with nearly everyone who was a part of Mitch’s life and piece together his largely unknown story. All that most people know is that he was hilarious and died young, but he was so much more than that.”
Mitch Hedberg photographed on April 7, 2004 in Orlando, Florida.
Cy Cyr/FilmMagic
Along with interviews with close family members, childhood friends, and comedy colleagues, the untitled film will include previously unseen archival material and home movies, providing “unprecedented access into Hedberg’s life,” according to a release. “The documentary takes viewers into comedy clubs scattered throughout America in the ‘90s. For Hedberg and his peers, ‘the road’ was life and the grind was real. Especially in the days of carving out a career before the internet, and before society learned to better address mental-health needs.”
The project is repped by TFC Management. No anticipated release date has been announced.
Siegel (Billy Joel: New York State of Mind, This Is a Robbery) directs, produces, and executive produces. Also serving as EPs are Michael Blieden (The Comedians of Comedy, Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion) and Jack Vaughn (founder, Comedy Central Records). Producers are Julie Seabaugh (Too Soon: Comedy After 9/11) and Becca Kinskey (John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A.).