# Explain the appeal of Bill Hicks (a bit of a frustrated rant) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-bill-hicks-a-bit-of-a-frustrated-rant/548046 "2010-07-26T14:35:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Acantha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@Acantha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acantha)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-bill-hicks-a-bit-of-a-frustrated-rant/548046/81 "2010-07-29T00:43:33Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > > > Okay, anyone care to tell me who you think is a great stand-up comedian and I’ll put their work under the microscope? > > Here’s another dead one: Mitch Hedberg. Read his [wikiquotes](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mitch_Hedberg). Bill Hicks occasionally had a funny line in the middle of his rants, but Hedberg’s stuff is just one solid joke after another. This guy was one of the most underrated joke writers around. I miss him. But I also loved Bill Hicks. Different comedians make me laugh for different reasons, so it’s difficult for me to compare someone like Hicks to someone like Hedberg when their humor is completely different. Hicks was often angry and sarcastic, while Hedberg was more ironic and silly. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-bill-hicks-a-bit-of-a-frustrated-rant/548046/82 "2010-07-29T01:36:23Z")
Without Hicks, would Lewis Black be possible? If no, then let’s canonize the son of a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![theoldman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@theoldman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theoldman)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-bill-hicks-a-bit-of-a-frustrated-rant/548046/83 "2010-07-29T02:34:53Z")
his dark poetry about the show Cops is hilarious: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qdluglmE2Cs/hqdefault.jpg "Bill Hicks - Confession Time") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdluglmE2Cs) Cuff him Banano! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-bill-hicks-a-bit-of-a-frustrated-rant/548046/84 "2010-07-29T20:17:20Z")
I saw Bill Hicks twice at Austin’s old club “The Laff Stop.” My take on him both times was the same: he was pretty funny as long as he was telling pee-pee and poo-poo jokes. He got tedious in a hurry when he thought he was being profound or iconoclastic. He frequently came across as an arrogant bully who thought (wrongly) he was much, much smarter than his audience. I never got to speak to him, but if I had, I’d have told him, “You’re not Noam Chomsky, you’re Andrew Dice Clay with delusions of grandeur. Wake me up when you start telling dick jokes again." - That said, fairness and honesty require that I add this postscript: while I never knew Bill Hicks, I do know people here in Austin who DID know him, and all of them swear that he was a surprisingly sweet , kind guy offstage. Despite his angry-young-man posing, I’m told he adored his family and vice versa. I’ve also heard some touching stories of his personal generosity. So, even though I thought the public Bill Hicks was frequently a real sphincter, I have good reason to think the real person was an uncommonly decent man. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-bill-hicks-a-bit-of-a-frustrated-rant/548046.md?page=4)