Mitch Hedberg Albums (3)
'Do You Believe in Gosh?'
Release Date 9/9/2008
Tracks 13
Label Comedy Central
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What The Critics Say
Gone far too soon, Do You Believe in Gosh? is the first posthumous Mitch Hedberg release, one recorded live in Ontario, Canada in early 2005 when the surreal comic was working on an album that would never be. Anyone familiar with the Live in Chicago bootleg will recognize quite a bit of the material here and might also notice how it's being refined and worked into a routine worthy of official release. Unfortunately, it's not quite there yet and not up to the standards of Hedberg's two official albums -- Mitch All Together and Strategic Grill Locations -- which somehow did the impossible and linked a slew of Steven Wright-styled one liners into a cohesive end-to-end listen. This is Mitch warts and all, desperately trying to regain a rhythm when jokes start to fail and only sometimes getting in that Hedberg groove where "wow man" meets relaxed focus. The good news is that the drugs that ended his life don't seem to be affecting this set at all and the lines that do work are numerous and work splendidly. After wondering how clean the inside of cleaning fluid bottle must be, he offers "If I had a dollar for every time I said that I'd be making money in a very weird way." "Now is a hippopotamus a hippopotamus or a really cool opotamus?" is typical Mitch and the riffing on how tough kids in Venice must have "canal smarts" is hilarious. The liner notes feature scribbles from Mitch's notebooks plus a short, sweet, and heartwarming note from his widow Lynn Shawcroft. Not the Hedberg CD to start with, but for his rabid cult following this is a necessary purchase. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Mitch All Together'
Release Date 11/30/2004
Tracks 17
Label Comedy Central
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'Strategic Grill Locations'
Release Date 12/9/2003
Tracks 21
Label Comedy Central Rec.
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What The Critics Say
Strategic Grill Locations is a traditional comedy record with Mitch Hedberg telling a string of one-liners and brief stories for the length of the CD. His subject matter and observations fall far from the traditional, but in form Strategic Grill Locations is a straightforward comedy record that matches Hedberg's devotion to pure standup. His wild thoughts and well-crafted delivery transcend the joke-after-joke format and make this one of the best comedy albums you are likely to hear. He was an excellent joke-teller with one of the most unique voices in standup comedy. What makes Hedberg's performance so endearing is his intense self-consciousness and the way he incorporates the crowd into the recording of the CD. He draws the audience in and really explains the process he is going through by telling one-liners and throwing out offhand comments. "I wrote a list of jokes to go on the CD," he explains with his recognizable delivery. "These are the CD jokes. I may add jokes to the set in a moment of spontaneity which you will be unable to detect." Hedberg openly mocks his own jokes and apologizes for telling the same joke with different ingredients, which adds to his cool but confused stage presence. Like a simplified and meditative George Carlin, he examines the language, saying, "I didn't sleep for ten days because that would be too long" and "My friend said, 'I hear music' as if there was any other way you could take it in." Strategic Grill Locations captures Hedberg as a kind of Reverend Jim Ignatowski/Rodney Dangerfield hybrid. The contrabass that plays throughout the set adds to the beatnik coffeehouse vibe that suits his comedy so well. Hedberg delivers line after line of strange and funny comments and observations, never taking any story too far away from a punch line. More than any other comedian of his generation, Mitch Hedberg was endlessly quotable. Every few seconds of Strategic Grill Locations brings another classic "Mitch." ~ Matt Whalley, All Music Guide
