One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
CD Review: Mitch Hedberg's 'Do You Believe In Gosh?'
Earlier this fall we got a copy of the posthumous release of Mitch Hedberg's "Do You Believe in Gosh?" It's difficult to think about and listen to Hedberg without thinking about his premature death in 2005, silencing a unique comedic voice that had been getting national attention for far too short a time.
Hedberg's very original speaking style and surrealist non-sequiturs set him very much apart from other comedians in his generation, and even from some of the weirdest entertainers of all time. Despite ten appearances on Letterman, Hedburg maintained an unassailable outsider persona that made it impossible to classify him. If there was one way to classify him, it would be a hard-working comedian who constantly had new material to be introduced and finessed.
That's exactly the experience that "Do You Believe in Gosh?" offers - recorded live at the Improv in Ontario, California, just a few months before his death, this 40 minute set captures the very real experience of watching Hedberg, up close, and in a real comedy club, not on TV, not in some ginormous theater.
The CD has some great improv interactions with audience members but best of all you can hear Hedberg working his craft as a comedian, introducing new material, sometimes flubbing it, sometimes saving it, but being honest and admitting it - these are true gems that very rarely ever make it onto any recordings released to the public and it's a privilege to hear them. Included with the CD are sketches and notes from Hedberg's notebook he was carrying around the time he did the show.
For a comedy fan, this is a great CD to have and for any Mitch Hedberg fan it's a requirement.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
