Comedian Eugene Mirman was pulled from a burning car after crashing into tolls on New Hampshire’s Tuesday, according to media reports. He has serious but nonfatal injuries, police said.
The rescuer at the scene of the 11:55 a.m. crash in Bedford, New Hampshire, was a state trooper assigned to the security detail of the state’s governor, Kelly Ayotte. He “came upon the crash, saw that the vehicle was actively on fire and observed the driver was still inside,” New Hampshire State Police said on social media.
“Certainly, their actions were heroic,” state police colonel Mark Hall said on social media. “Without hesitation, they put themselves in danger to render aid to someone who was in need of it.” Ayotte used a fire extinguisher from another car to try to fight the flames from Mirman’s car, according to CBS News.
Mirman was driving a 2026 Lucid Gravity. No other car was involved in the crash, police said. No charges have been filed, but police said the case is being investigated. The New York Times quoted Mirman’s agent, Jay Gassner, as saying the comedian was “grateful to be on the mend.”
Mirman, 51, grew up in Lexington and graduated from Hampshire College, where he designed his own major in comedy. Returning to Eastern Massachusetts after school in the 1990s, he lived in Somerville and began making a name in the Cambridge comedy scene, running his own shows at the Green Street Grill in Central Square and helping launch a satirical paper called The Weekly Week. He appeared frequently at The Comedy Studio in Harvard Square and had a breakthrough appearance at the 2004 Montreal Comedy Festival, said Rick Jenkins, former owner of The Comedy Studio.
After moving to New York, he led the alternative comedy scene there, opening for bands and becoming the first comedian signed by Sub Pop – the same label as Nirvana. Around 10 years ago, he left Brooklyn and bought a house in Somerville, Jenkins said. While continuing work in television, such as the animated series “Bob’s Burgers,” movies such as “Confess, Fletch,” and running the Pretty Good Friends comedy label and Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival, Mirman has also made several local appearances, including in Buffalo Tom’s Please Come to Boston Fest held in 2024 at Arts at the Armory.
He was an emcee of sorts at the Jan. 3 inauguration of Somerville’s mayor, City Council and School Committee.
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