Bill Hicks (born in 1961)
☼ Born on16 January 1961, in Valdosta, Georgia, USA
† Died on26 January 1994, in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, cause pancreatic cancer
Biography:
Born in Georgia but raised in Houston since the age of 7, this self-described "Prince of Darkness" was compelled to use the comedy stage as his philosophic soapbox. At 13, he would sneak out of his suburban house to hustle his way onto open-mike night rosters. In two brief decades, Hicks worked his way up the sweat-stained comedy ladder to national exposure on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman and an HBO cable special. Rolling Stone named him the "hot stand-up" of 1993. He was the hit of the 1990 and 1991 Just for Laughs comedy festivals in Montreal. Dead at 32, the enigmatic Hicks was admired, reviled and misunderstood. - The Montreal Gazette, March 28, 1994
Quotes:
[#1] At his final show: "This is the material, by the way, that has kept me virtually anonymous in America for the past 15 years. Gee, I wonder why we're hated the world over? Look at these fat Americans in the front row - 'Why doesn't he just hit fruit with a hammer?' Folks, I could have done that, walked around being a millionaire and franchising myself but no, I had to have this weird thing about trying to illuminate the collective unconscious and help humanity. Fucking moron."
[#2] When two or more people agree on an issue, I form on the other side.
[#3] I ascribe to Mark Twain's theory that the last person who should be President is the one who wants it the most. The one who should be picked is the one who should be dragged kicking and screaming into the White House.
[#4] On the theft of his material by Denis Leary: "I have a scoop for you. I stole his act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and to really throw people off, I did it before he did."
[#5] It's great to be here. I thank you. Ah, I've been on the road doing comedy for ten years now, so bear with me while I plaster on a fake smile and plough through this shit one more time.
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[#6] I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are.
[#7] I'm sorry if any of you are catholic. I'm not sorry if you're offended, I'm actually just sorry by the fact that you're catholic.
[#8] I love going to the movies. So I'm watching Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and I'm thinking 'you know what? There is no way that you will ever be able to top these special effects in a movie again, you cannot top this shit.' Unless we started using terminally ill stunt people in the motion picture industry.
[#9] I hate patriotism...I can't stand it. It's a round world last time I checked.
[#10] [asked where a comedian should draw the line] There are no lines. There are no lines. I say, erase all the lines.
[#11] The day they find a cure for HIV there will be fucking in the streets. It's over!
[#12] I never got along with my dad. Kids used to come up to me and say, 'My dad can beat up your dad.' I'd say 'Yeah? When?'
[#13] I was reading in a Waffle House and this waitress comes up to me and says "What you reading for?" Gee, no-one's ever asked me that. What am I reading FOR? Did I just come out of an AA closet with reading? I read, there, I said it, I feel better. I read for many reasons, one of which is so that I don't end up as a ******* waffle waitress! Then this hillybilly comes up and says "Weeeell lookee here, looks like we got ourselves a reader!"
[#14] A lot of christians wear crosses. ya think if jesus comes back, he ever wants to see a ******* cross?
[#15] Anyone here work in Advertising? [Cheers] Kill yourselves! You're Satan's Little Helpers right there!
[#16] This redneck comes up to me and says "You were real funny, I was about to spit!" "Well, I'm glad I reached you." "Come here", he says "I want you to meet my wife and sister!" And there's one woman standing there...
Trivias:
[#1] To make ends meet, Bill would drive the son of the owners of the night club he was working at in California to school after working all night. The club was the Comedy Store owned by Sammy and Mitzi Shore. Their son was Pauly Shore.
[#2] Though he generally disliked television, he was a huge fan of "The Simpsons," once remarking to a friend that he would like to live in Springfield, and Krusty The Klown's persona as a counter-cultural stand-up comedian in the ninth season episode "Last Temptation of Krust" is a tribute to him.
[#3] Radiohead dedicated their album "The Bends" to him.
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[#4] He appeared eleven times on David Letterman, but always in a very "neutered" way. His final appearance (which he had hoped would be his final message to America before he died, as his cancer diagnosis was known only to friends and family) was recorded but cut out of the final broadcast at the last minute. Ironically, afterwards he was called back and asked to do another performance; his response was: "I don't think I could learn to juggle in that short a time." Bill strongly criticized the show for its "ludicrous" censorship policies (not being able to say the word "Jesus" being one of them). David Letterman later appeared in a documentary about Bill (the UK-produced "Totally Bill Hicks") in which he expressed his regret about how the situation had ended. The only known video footage was a VHS tape given to Hicks's parents which remained unseen until January 31, 2009, when Letterman had Mary Hicks, Bill's mother, as a guest to introduce it. Prior to airing the footage, Letterman took full responsibility for its being edited out, apologized and said "It says more about me as a guy than it says about Bill because there was absolutely nothing wrong with it".
[#5] Was raised a Southern Baptist. He rejected his families beliefs at a young age and adopted his own philosophy. He often joked about The Bible Belt in his acts.
[#6] Among Hicks's biggest fans were the members of the band Tool. Tool's 1996 album "Aenema" includes many Hicks references, including a picture in the liner notes, a sound clip of a Hicks routine before the final track "Third Eye", and references to Hicks's "Arizona Bay" routine in the title track.
[#7] Less than a week after his burial, he lost the American Comedy Award for Favorite Male Comedian to Carrot Top, whom he ridiculed during his final performances.
[#8] Was engaged to manager Colleen McGarr before his death.
[#9] Was friends with controversial comedian Sam Kinison, who also died prematurely.
[#10] Lived in New York City. Moved to his parents' house in Little Rock, Arkansas, weeks before his death.
[#11] His infamous banned David Letterman set was aired after remaining unseen for more than fifteen years on January 30, 2009. Letterman had his mother on to introduce it and afterward said "it says more about me as a guy than it says about Bill because there was absolutely nothing wrong with it".
[#12] Is #19 on Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time
[#13] Born in Georgia, he grew up in Florida, Alabama, and New Jersey before settling in Houston, Texas.
[#14] Welsh band Super Furry Animals dedicated their album Fuzzy Logic to him.
[#15] Jokes of his were sampled onto the song "We want your soul".
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Bill Hicks: San Francisco, California March 20, 1991. Full show posted here for the first time.
Bill Hicks 22 January 2021 15:17