With everyone having Google in their pocket at all times, we’d finally have reached a point where we could put this whole urban legend thing behind us. But lo and behold, here we are in 2025 with people still thinking that Steve from Blue’s Clues died from a heroin overdose decades ago. Don’t even get us started with Little Mikey from the Life cereal commercials dying from a fatal mixture of Pop Rocks and Coke. Both of them are alive and well, by the way—the last we checked, at least. While we’re in this area, we thought we’d take a look at some of the more persistent myths out there, particularly the ones that have affected the world of comedy. Such as…
4. Bill Hicks is Alex Jones
Texas stand-up hero Bill Hicks died in 1994 at just 32 years old after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. That’s how the “official” story goes anyway; “official” in this case meaning “true.” What’s the unofficial story, you ask? Well, some would have you believe that Hicks didn’t actually die all those years ago, and that he went on to become infamous conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. How do the people who proposed this theory account for Hicks and Jones having wildly different ideologies? To put it as briefly as it should be: He’s under the control of the CIA.
3. Marilyn Manson played Paul on The Wonder Years
Perhaps one of the earliest rumors ever spread on the internet was that Paul Pfeiffer, best friend of Kevin Arnold on the late ’80s/early ’90s sitcom The Wonder Years, grew up to be controversial rock star Marilyn Manson. Josh Saviano, the actual actor who played Paul, first heard the rumor from his The Wonder Years co-star Danica McKellar when he was in college, and they’ve both been asked about it ad nauseam ever since. Saviano didn’t even know who Manson (whose real name is Brian Warner) was at the time, but hoped to one day get onstage at one of his concerts and put the rumor to bed for good. He’s also been told that he was really Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, but he’s pretty sure that’s not true either.
2. Alfonso Ribeiro broke his neck and died
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro was the subject of a persistent rumor following his appearance in a Pepsi commercial with Michael Jackson back in 1984. Shortly thereafter, word had gotten around that the young Ribeiro had broken his neck while breakdancing on the set of the commercial. And although newspapers tried to dispel the rumors, people would still come up to him on the street and ask how he was alive. Apparently, they think he’s supposed to be dead, which, of course, can’t be true because he’s still on TV to this day; and don’t you dare try to convince us that Bill Hicks has been hosting America’s Funniest Home Videos this whole time.
1. Andy Kaufman faked his death
Well-known prankster Andy Kaufman, like Bill Hicks, passed away from cancer in his 30s. However, his penchant for practical jokes has led many to believe that he faked his death in 1984. Several people who knew him have said in the years since that he talked about doing just that in private conversations, and a documentary exploring the possibility was released in 2023. Kaufman’s brother, Michael, even helped keep the idea of the hoax alive when he brought a woman on stage in 2013 who said that she was Andy’s daughter and that her comedian father really had faked his death. Michael Kaufman later backtracked, saying he had, in fact, been the victim of a hoax perpetrated by the woman.
The post 4 Comedy Urban Legends and Conspiracy Theories That Won’t Go Away appeared first on VICE.
