In a podcast appearance, comedian Eugene Mirman talked about the dramatic, burning car crash and amazing rescue that hospitalized him in March – and how little he remembered of any of it.
“I was either distracted or blacked out or something happened with the car. I don’t know, and I don’t know that I’ll ever,” Mirman told “Comedy Bang! Bang!” host Scott Aukerman in an episode released Monday. Officially, the alt-comedian was guesting to do publicity for an hour special called “Here Comes the Whimsy” that is watchable on YouTube.
Mirman was on his way to Vermont on March 31 for a meeting about the special with his partners in the Pretty Good Friends production company. On the way, “I made a stop – I decided to stop at hospital for several days,” Mirman said.
Whatever the cause, Mirman drove into an automated, unstaffed toll at 11:55 a.m. on the Frederick E. Everett Turnpike in Bedford, New Hampshire. (He’s since found out he’s not alone: “A lot of people do ram into that toll booth, but not as many as don’t,” Mirman said. The elimination of the structure was planned in 2024 and is expected to be complete in 2027, according to WMUR radio and other media.) The car burst into flames, and Mirman was pulled to safety by a state trooper assigned to the security detail of New Hampshire governor Kelly Ayotte, who happened to be in the area. The governor used a fire extinguisher from another car to try to fight the flames from Mirman’s car, according to CBS News.
“I remember being in the ambulance and seeing fire and being like, ‘Oh, I’m glad I’m not there.’ And then I remember thinking this is definitely not a dream,” Mirman told Aukerman. “The next thing I remember was the hospital.”
In addition to a concussion, Mirman broke a wrist and fractured or broke two ribs and his sternum. He had surgery for the wrist and recovered in the hospital for three days.
There’s video of the crash, which Mirman said he has not watched. “It’s probably quite disturbing,” Mirman said.
But reaction to the incident has been heartwarming. “There was a very sweet outpouring,” Mirman said. “It is slightly interesting experiencing almost your own funeral, because lots of people reached out. It’s like, ‘Oh, this is what it would have been like if I had had died.’”
While Mirman said he is grateful to survive the crash, the experience has not substantially changed his life – aside from making his driving more self-conscious. “We were driving recently and I let probably like five cars in front of me, and my wife’s like, ‘What are you doing?’” he told Aukerman.
“As you know, my first wife died from cancer. So I had already prioritized my life in a way of what was important and meaningful to me. I truly didn’t need another life lesson of how valuable life is,” Mirman said. “Now I’m like, oh, life is super duper precious.”
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 years in New York, he moved recently back to Somerville and, in addition to his alternative stand-up comedy, continues to do voice acting for Fox Broadcasting’s animated “Bob’s Burgers” series, now in its 17th season.
The full episode of “Comedy Bang! Bang!” is here and available on various podcasting platforms.
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