The Pope & Mitch Hedberg

There's a juxtaposition I never thought I'd read, let alone type.

It's not looking good for John Paul II. He has been given last rites, and today might be his last day on Earth. Once he's passed, the mourning and celebration of his life will begin, and all the superlatives may not do justice to what he meant to the Church, and to the entire world, in the 20th century. From his worldwide travels to his role in rolling back the iron curtain, he will be remembered as a political, cultural, and spiritual force. I was 17 when I met him - It never occured to me then - was I meeting a future saint? I wouldn't be surprised if there was a movement to canonize him. What did occur to me on that evening in Denver, was that this was a man who was at peace with his tremendous responsibility, of being the spiritual leader to a billion people. He's done the job about as well as any human could, and now he gets to go home.

Mitch Hedberg is, or should I say was, one of my brother Matt's favorite comics. We saw him live at the DC Improv a few years ago, and it was a great show. He has a...unique style, and some fantastic material (scroll down for quotes). That being said, c'mon people, get it together. Maybe some philanthrophic-minded person in the comedy industry needs to make like the the Gideons and their hotel room Bibles, buy a million copies of Bob Woodward's John Belushi Biography, Wired, and hand it out at the stage door to every up-and-coming comedian. I know these overdoses (I'm speculating in Mitch's case, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't) don't happen as often as they seem to. But these are the people that make us laugh. They're an integral part of a fucked-up world that's easy to laugh at - bitterly, mind you - but hard to laugh in. If you can make people laugh consistently, they will love you. Why throw that away?