ever since the guy died, I’ve heard nothing but high praise for his comedy, and his legions of lionizing fans are everywhere. They tend to praise him for his “honesty” and “passion” and the fact that he said, y’know, mean things about people and stuff.
I contend that he’s famous because his career was cut short, and he’s being relentlessly memorialized by a bunch of fanboys who want him to be remembered as being greater than he actually was. I’ve watched quite a bit of his stand-up at this point, thinking that I must have missed some truly brilliant stuff.
From what I’ve gathered, not so much.
He kinda rocked the “beatnik-outcast” vibe, obviously (SO obviously) aping Lenny Bruce. His style was carefully modeled after Lenny Bruce as well. He usually started off with some light patter, then worked his way into one of his screeds, until he was apparently fully enraged and screaming violent fantasies about whatever his anger was directed toward.
Which is fine. That can be an entertaining approach. Even at his most offensively disillusioned, I loved George Carlin for his willingness to say anything.
But here’s the thing: for all his simulated rage, Bill Hicks, as far as I can tell, never took any chances. It was all carefully set up for mass appeal, to make him appear to be a rebel, when in fact he was riding the coattails of those he purported to despise. I mean, Jesus, it was the early 90’s, and his idea of ground-breaking, dark, stick-it-to-the-man performance art was to make fun of New Kids on the Block and Billy Ray Cyrus.
What the fuck? Low-hanging fruit, anyone? Being “out there”, without actually saying anything risky? None of his stuff, for all the sweaty, outraged delivery, was controversial. Hating Billy Ray Cyrus was practically a national movement for a while there.
From what I can tell, Bill Hicks was the “dark” guy at the frat party. He always protested that he despised everyone at the party, and everything they stood for, but you knew he’d be there every Friday night, no matter what.
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