Bill Hicks ... you're having a laugh

Cactus Col

Just wondering if many people on here thought, like many other people do, that Bill Hicks is the best comedian ever.

Because to me, he was pretty poor, barely funny at all (which is usually what a comedian is for)

Dr. Loon

Cactus Col wrote:

Just wondering if many people on here thought, like many other people do, that Bill Hicks is the best comedian ever.

Because to me, he was pretty poor, barely funny at all (which is usually what a comedian is for)

He was classic. More than a comedian, kind of a genius as well, or a prophet. I can only imagine the stuff he'd be coming out with these days, what with the state of the world, American Government and everything.

henbane

I guess you better stick to the comedy stylings of Carrot Top and Pauly Shore then.

Go back to sleep, sheep!

DeVore

Bill Hicks wasnt a comedian. Thats your basic problem. He was a preacher, a social commentator and a genius. Some of it is crude, some of it is strictly for laughs but a lot of it is a savage analysis of our stupid fncked up way of life and the crap we believe because we are fed it by our governments.

You're right. Its not funny at all...

DeV.

Stephen

I agree with Bill Hicks' views on boy bands...

suckers of satan's cock, every one of them.

Sleipnir

yeah I mean you wouldn't call Oscar Wilde a comedian would you?

However he was as Bill Hicks was; a wit who saw things differently, spoke his mind and didn't mind offending people.
He just made you think about things in a different way and to laugh at life.

flogen

I'd go with genius myself.
How I wish he was still alive today, it's truely tragic, but I'm sure, with the spiritual side he had, he feels it was for some reason or another.

Easily one of the funniest people to come to the fore in a long time, and his brutal honesty, his political and spiritual preaching, and his general outlook on life made him all the greater.

flogen

Sleipnir

He is alive as long as we remember him in our DVD players.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Sleipnir wrote:

He is alive as long as we remember him in our DVD players.

rofl

Mr E

Hi, my name is Dave and I'm a Hicksoholic.

Hicks is a genius - I have everything ever released by the guy - CDs, DVDs, books, a load of bootlegs, articles about him, songs he did, amateur tv he performed in .....

His observations on life are so acute, and so much of it applies to the 21st century (even 10 years after his death). Most of what he says about Bush and Iraq are applicable to Bush Jr.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

flogen

TmB wrote:

His observations on life are so acute, and so much of it applies to the 21st century (even 10 years after his death). Most of what he says about Bush and Iraq are applicable to Bush Jr.

I find that so amazing myself.
Listening to his 1990 Iraq war stuff, you just have to stick a "W" in there somewhere and he may as well be talking about it right now, which in itself says a lot about the way things are in the world!

flogen

davej

in fairness though, the goatboy routine was pretty fnucked up....

Would love to pick up one or two of his CD's, preferably some stuff that wasn't on the Totally Bill Hicks video.

Any recommendations?

davej

henbane

davej wrote:

Any recommendations?

Rant in E minor is as good as it gets.

bombidol

have all of em on cd, kinda hard to get over here sometimes though. Live in chicago is excellent, Arizona bay rocks too, but rant in e minor is a great introduction to the main Hicks routines

Mr E

I'd argue that Rant is his least accessible CD - it is dark and very angry, recorded months before his death. Try Philosophy (his 'Best of') for a good cross section of his first 4 CDs (Arizona Bay, Dangerous, Relentless and Rant).

moggie

davej wrote:

in fairness though, the goatboy routine was pretty fnucked up....

maybe
but it's very funny when you hear how bill had been greeted by the usual **** backstage who gushed ego and obnoxiousness and went on about how only the english would understand him, and how the english were soooo liberal that nothing he said would shock them, and how the english were sooo.........etc etc etc

and bill grinned
and went out and created goatboy

pushing it as far as far could go
joke was on them
who's offended now mr. anti-pc
(not directed at Davej - at the **** who told bill they could never be offended)

suck satans cock ****ers:D

and as for being a comedian
well
think of him more of a preacher
a man with a gospel
a man who wants people to wake up, look around, and do something for themselves that doesn't involve the shopping channel

but thats not just bill
thats a lot of comedians
cos good comics use reality and open our eyes with it
as I once drunken texted:
"Comics use reality. that's what comedy is. But sometimes, just sometimes they punch through our minds. Then something strange happens. We learn. we see 4 de first time. And the shock of that moment hits us. and 4 a moment things make sense like never before".

bill tried to get into our heads
and he didn't care if you didn't like him or not

he also uses alot of references to american idols and culture figureheads - and if yer not familiar with jfk, bush and various congress bills that pass in the night...then nope, I guess his stuff ain't gonna be so funny after all

so its out with the big purple veined dick jokes and a hole to china I guess

Deadwing

For someone who wasnt a comedian, he was f*cking hilarious.

henbane

TmB wrote:

I'd argue that Rant is his least accessible CD - it is dark and very angry, recorded months before his death. Try Philosophy (his 'Best of') for a good cross section of his first 4 CDs (Arizona Bay, Dangerous, Relentless and Rant).

I know it's not his most accessible but it is his best work.

I'd warn anyone away from the general compilations of stuff from each CD if they're just starting to listen. Best to get the flow of his routines in the set it came from.

bombidol

exactly

ixoy

henbane wrote:

Go back to sleep, sheep!

Eh so Cactus Col is a sheep for not liking the comedian everyone else likes? :rolleyes:

I've got a few mp3s of his I think. Must give them a listen....

moggie

btw hicks fans
try a catch the hicks tribute show as performed by Emmet Quinn around dublin sometime

he's very good
knows his stuff
has modernised the names a bit
but seriously
don't go all "I'm an individual and my opinion of cover comics is that they're a rip off and talentless......" on me,
just accept that if you want to see a fan, sharing their love of a man who has been dead 11 years, with other fans
in a non-sex fan orgy type thing
then look out for his next show
its the closest thing we're gonna get

(should be another one in about 6 weeks or so)

and one other thing
he smokes on stage!!

sceptre

DeVore wrote:

Bill Hicks wasnt a comedian. Thats your basic problem. He was a preacher, a social commentator and a genius. Some of it is crude, some of it is strictly for laughs but a lot of it is a savage analysis of our stupid fncked up way of life and the crap we believe because we are fed it by our governments.

You're right. Its not funny at all...

DeV.

Absolutely. A few mates of mine (one is a fellow boardsie) went to see Lewis Black at the Catlaughs last year (could have been the year before now that I think of it). He was as angry as I've ever seen anyone in public. Raging wouldn't be too mild a word for it. We didn't laugh a single time during the performance. He was followed by a guy who made us all laugh like crazy with pretty crude stuff about anal sex, morals and people being uptight (in both ways). We laughed like idiots for a good half hour /after/. And Lewis Black was still the highlight of the weekend - the kind of humour you laugh at after rather than during. Black reminds me of Hicks. They drink from the same rant barrell, they've probably got the same politics and you wouldn't want to read the likes of Michael Moore or Naomi Klein before listening to either because you'll probably burn down a McDonalds if you do. Black was essentially my intro to Hicks. I'm sure there are plenty of you out there who see Black as a poor man's Hicks but I never had the joy of seeing Hicks spit bile in the flesh.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I've quite a bit of Ben Elton stuff (and I enjoy a good knob joke as much as the next guy who really came to hear someone complain about the environment and the government (Ben's completely lost it since he became a daddy and started writing dodgy musicals)), quite a bit of more recent British comedy and I'm waiting for someone to take on surreal slapstick in a big way but with Hicks you don't know whether to laugh at the fools or cry because they're the fools in charge and I rather like that.

DeVore

moggie wrote:

btw hicks fans
try a catch the hicks tribute show as performed by Emmet Quinn around dublin sometime

he's very good
knows his stuff
has modernised the names a bit
but seriously
don't go all "I'm an individual and my opinion of cover comics is that they're a rip off and talentless......" on me,
just accept that if you want to see a fan, sharing their love of a man who has been dead 11 years, with other fans
in a non-sex fan orgy type thing
then look out for his next show
its the closest thing we're gonna get

(should be another one in about 6 weeks or so)

and one other thing
he smokes on stage!!

Emmet and I shared a flat together for 5 years, during that time the two of us used to listen to Hicks and quote his stuff at each other. We'd sit around smoking joints and talking about how big our flairs would be and what we'd do in the future. I had this mad idea about starting a discussion website because of the Quake scene I was involved with at the time and he wanted to do standup. Its very very weird to see you post your post about him on this site... :eek:

Oh and if you think noone can do Hicks justice, well I used to argue that with him too but I was wrong, Emmet could have *been* Hicks on stage the other night, he even had the crowd shifting uncomfortably on their seats. See my sig for a short review.

DeV.

moggie

sorry devor
i never meant to imply he was bad in anyway
infact I loved the show
its just that...well....no one can ever do him justice....
y'know?
anyway
here's what I wrote on mikado about his show the other night:
http://mikadosoc.ie/forum/viewtopic.php?p=192965#192965

pork99

This proves there's no God:

Bill Hicks - dead at 32

Bobby Davro - STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE :mad:

pork99

I got into him back in round 1990-91 just before he died.

I can remember crying with laughter at his routines about drugs and porn among other things. I cannot understand anyone not finding him funny, he could be a bit heavy and preachy at times but his humour was always spot-on.

Maybe it's a generational thing. I only find Lenny Bruce mildly amusing but to people 40 years ago he was hilarious. Perhaps Bill Hicks is Lenny Bruce for people in their 30s and 40s? Anyone younger might find his humour a bit odd?

Buck Owens

the DVD 'Totally Bill Hicks' is hilarious, good Documentry on it too.

Imagine what he would make off the world and the way it is,especially America,Bush Junior, 911, Reality TV,boyband still being around etc

SantaHoe

pork99 wrote:

Maybe it's a generational thing. I only find Lenny Bruce mildly amusing but to people 40 years ago he was hilarious. Perhaps Bill Hicks is Lenny Bruce for people in their 30s and 40s? Anyone younger might find his humour a bit odd?

Ok I'm extremely tired and that sentence just isn't sinking in like I think it should, but I'm 24 and can't get enough Hicks.
As people here have said over and over, he was a comedian/preacher... a bit in-your-face maybe, but I suppose you either like it or you don't.

Personally I can't stand hearing Hicks jokes being rehashed, I heard some arsehole "comedian" on the radio a few months ago telling a badly modified and poorly delivered version of the "knocked over dustbins on the front page" bit, and he didn't even credit Bill Hicks, tosser.
Proper tribute acts are fair enough since they credit Hicks, but if it's Bill Hicks material, then I've probably heard it before and won't laugh... so I don't see the point myself.

pork99

SantaHoe wrote:

Ok I'm extremely tired and that sentence just isn't sinking in like I think it should, but I'm 24 and can't get enough Hicks.

Then that's something I'm pleased to be wrong about

DrColossus

Bill hicks was good imo. But most of his stuff was very similar to Dennis Learys.

flogen

pork99 wrote:

Then that's something I'm pleased to be wrong about

19 meself... I'm the same with Lenny Bruce, heard some of his stuff, and it just didnt click... Hicks on the other hand, is a different ballgame.

Maybe you just have to be interested in current affairs while looking for a good laugh. Some people (and I'm not trying to be condesending here) just want funny comedians who tell jokes about sex and so on, but don't get heavy. I guess you have to be willing to hear the views and so on of Hicks if you want to appreciate the comedy.

flogen

moggie

DrColossus wrote:

Bill hicks was good imo. But most of his stuff was very similar to Dennis Learys.

ok
now
listen
before
I
try
to reach
through
this screen
and trottle you

Leary lifted Hick's material
Leary is a thief
Leary copied
Hicks

Dr. Loon

moggie wrote:

ok
now
listen
before
I
try
to reach
through
this screen
and trottle you

Leary lifted Hick's material
Leary is a thief
Leary copied
Hicks

You beat me to it. Although some of Leary's stuff was good, he mostly copied Bill Hicks as far as I recall.

RuggieBear

Dr. Loon wrote:

You beat me to it. Although some of Leary's stuff was good, he mostly copied Bill Hicks as far as I recall.

Ditto. Hicks was doing his thang before Leary. I liked no cure for cancer (actually is that name a tribute to Hicks?) but i saw his second show live in the olympia a few years back and it was apalling. Not funny....obvious jokes and talking about his kids!!!! Didn't help that the warm up was the hilarious tommy tiernen (well he was funny back then) who stole the show...

Mate gave me a bill Hicks poster with some of his quotes and i've been a huge fan since.

p

henbane

ixoy wrote:

Eh so Cactus Col is a sheep for not liking the comedian everyone else likes? :rolleyes:

Any chance you could say what you mean without using a fúcking smilie? Tis a modified Hicks line. Y'know humour and such.

Kone

Bill was a genius, no one comes near him....

Corben Dallas

Bill Hicks is Legend :cool:

bombidol

its a known fact that 80% of learys stuff was lifted from hicks. Hicks manager confronted him about it for and he had nothing to say. Theres a lot of leary stuff that was taken from hicks that was simply recited word for word and a lot of themes and stuff too that was just reworded slightly.
Leary was like the dumbed down hicks for the masses to me

Stephen

Clam lappers and sonic hedgehog, tbh.

Cactus Col

I reckon Preacher is probably a better description of Bill Hicks .... and he preached at people rather then to people

... I don't see what's so great about him .... he wasn't particularily funny and he just told people what they should have already known

Article on bill hicks .... for the fans

moggie

there's a bit in the book American Scream which tells of Hicks hearing one of Leary's tapes while in the car with a mate

Hicks exploded
he went mental
couldn't believe that Leary nicked his stuff

thing that gets me tho' is this: how stupid did Leary think the public were?
didn't he realise we'd cop what he was trying to pull?

Redleslie2

I saw Hicks and Leary being interviewed on tv at the Montreal comedy festival (talking about Gerry Sadowitz being attacked onstage before he'd finished a joke about Tina Turner) and they looked quite matey. It was not long before Hicks died. Which bits did Leary nick?

Personally, I'd rather go see unknown comedians in the international than go see some bloke copy Hicks's routine.

ixoy

henbane wrote:

Any chance you could say what you mean without using a fúcking smilie? Tis a modified Hicks line. Y'know humour and such.

Umm I'd have thought it was obvious, y'know. Sheep doing/thinking the same as everyone else. Cactus col not doing/thinking the same as everyone else. Everyone else here liked Hicks, Cactus col didn't follow the same pattern as everyone else thus Cactus Col not really a good example of a sheep...

henbane

ixoy wrote:

Umm I'd have thought it was obvious, y'know. Sheep doing/thinking the same as everyone else. Cactus col not doing/thinking the same as everyone else. Everyone else here liked Hicks, Cactus col didn't follow the same pattern as everyone else thus Cactus Col not really a good example of a sheep...

Stepping away from potential flamewar. It was obvious - hence the lack of need for the goddamn rolleyes.

Much as me stating that he should watch carrot top and pauly shore made it fairly obvious I was not entirely serious. My point which I chose not to explain quite as clearly as other posters have since done was that Hicks was about more than the audience getting a giggle at the funny man. If you have listened to some of those mp3s you may have heard the phrase "go back to sleep, america" or something similar with further references to sheep-like masses happy with american gladiators and purple vein dick jokes, etc.

ixoy

henbane wrote:

Stepping away from potential flamewar. It was obvious - hence the lack of need for the goddamn rolleyes.

Someone doesn't like smilies (sorry couldn't resist, point taken)

If you have listened to some of those mp3s you may have heard the phrase "go back to sleep, america" or something similar with further references to sheep-like masses happy with american gladiators and purple vein dick jokes, etc.

I've heard clips from him here and there, just never the full rant. I seem to recall a speech about the Gulf War (1991 version) and it was eerily applicable to today's situation so I'm assuming most of his material has a certain timeless quality (frighteningly enough).

RuggieBear

moggie wrote:

thing that gets me tho' is this: how stupid did Leary think the public were?
didn't he realise we'd cop what he was trying to pull?

But he has done very well out off it hasn't he? He has more money than me that's for sure.....But i wonder is he really happy?!?

p

amp

I like to think that Leary was continuing to spread the message that Hicks started. Plus Hicks never did the asshole song or the Traditional Irish song, both of which make Leary worthy of note in his own right.

It could be argued that Leary sold out to become an "actor" but tbh after seeing him in the Olympia a couple of years ago I could forgive him pretty much anything. I was thirsty from crying with laughter. (thankfully there was beer)

RuggieBear

amp wrote:

It could be argued that Leary sold out to become an "actor" but tbh after seeing him in the Olympia a couple of years ago I could forgive him pretty much anything. I was thirsty from crying with laughter. (thankfully there was beer)

I saw him at the Olympia a few years back on his lock & load tour.....neither myself nor my father laughed once. I came to see an angry man instead i got jokes about his kid's irritating toys, how the hanson's would crash and burn and some rubbish about coffee. I left an angry man.

I still think no cure for cancer is very entertaining tho....

remoteboy

Bill used to refer to Leary as Donovan. Draw your own conclusions...

Having said that, 'No Cure For Cancer' is pretty funny, unlike the new stuff.

Interesting fact about 'No Cure..' (that I'm about 80% sure of) is that it was written in London where Denis Leary lived for about 9 months because his newborn baby was too sick to travel. At the time he shared a flat with David Baddiel, who contributed some ideas and jokes. Indeed the first time I heard the 'Whiskey Face' joke was in a David Baddiel routine...

Finally, to get this thread back on to Bill, I think it's unfair to say he wasn't a comedian because he was more of a preacher character. Bill played an unbelievable number of gigs in his short life and never lost sight of the fact that he was a stand-up comic. If you look beyond the material, you have to respect the craft. Hicks' comic timing and ability to hold an audience in the palm of his hand was remarkable. I saw him in the Tivoli back in the day and couldn't catch a breath. When he found out that he had inoperable cancer, he kept on touring for as long as he could, making sure that he always had access to a medical facility wherever he played.

evilbubbs

the thing about hicks material is we havent heard most of it from the previous years (anything from the late eighties).
bill recorded alot of material just as a point that he wanted to leave behind something for all.

leary did lift material from hick as well as other comedians, at the time and still to this day, a little teifin from here and there is acceptable, but what leary did was lift entire skits, for info i think leary was going on about the partrige family, hicks did something bout the brady's.

its just one of those things.


as for the gentleman doing the stand up routine in the sugar club,
to be honest, its about the comedy equal of a drag act or covers band.

i understand people will say its a fans night, its a night to share in the big joke that the world miss. but still it does sound like somebody who needs to carve a bit for himself first rather then doing other peoples stuff. maybe have a hick's night, a big screen and play some footage accompanied by annecdotes bout a situation or two. that would have been better.

Spenguin

Yeah he was pretty feckin funny. He made you laugh at the horrible and stupid aspects of life. Which is the most fun way to look with them.