# I saw Bill Hicks before he made it big, then never again. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396 "2003-06-08T03:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/1 "2003-06-08T03:26:46Z")
It was back in 82. He was 20 or 21 years old. It was at the late Comedy Workshop. Actually the Comic Annex. Both housed in a tiny house in Houston. One side was improv, the other was stand-up. His schtick was primarily about smoking, and his high school experience. I remember him joking about him being a “punk” Beaver Cleaver getting in trouble with Eddie Haskell. He wasn’t even the main act. About 7 months later, I saw him again at the same place. This time he was the headliner. 5 years later, I hear he became big time. With his monologue being much more political, and still talking about smoking. I did not have cable, so I never saw him after he became famous. Then he died way too young. Even here, I read plenty about him. But alas, I only saw him as a punk Beaver Cleaver. Clue me in. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/2 "2003-06-08T04:35:15Z")
Heh. It’s kind of funny to me that this thread popped up right now. I posted a Bill Hicks quote in the Pit just two hours ago and had been listening to one of his performances tonight. Bill is my favorite stand-up comedian of all time. I’ve never been a big fan of dick jokes (although I still can’t hear the phrase “Dick Joke Island” without giggling), but everything else he talked about was pure gold. I’d recommend checking out billhicks.com, where you can [listen to some of his routines](http://www.sacredcow.com/allnew/index_content.php?n=multimedia_audio_bill) for free, buy his CDs, and donate to [The Bill Hicks Foundation for Wildlife Rehabilitation](http://www.billhicks.com/wildlife/). Perhaps this thread could be ripe for some great Hicks quotes: > [@](#): > > A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. Nice sentiment, **but** do you think when Jesus comes back, he’s going to want to see a f\*cking cross? Ow! Kind of like going up to Jackie Onassis with a rifle pendant on, you know? > > “Just thinkin’ of John, Jackie. We love ‘im. Tryin’ to keep that memory alive, sweetie.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/3 "2003-06-08T14:05:46Z")
Apparently Denis Leary saw him, too. ---
**Author:** ![Hully\_Gully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7cd45c/32.png) [@Hully\_Gully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hully_Gully)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/4 "2003-06-08T16:49:37Z")
Bill Hicks never made to the big time, and to be quite honest, his comedy was neither original, nor that funny. Like James Dean, he’s been lionized simply because he died at a very early age. I’d hardly call him a _cutting edge_ comedian when many of his main targets were American Gladiators and New Kids On The Block. ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/5 "2003-06-08T17:10:13Z")
Someone read the New York Times “Arts” section this morning… ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/6 "2003-06-08T20:37:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hully Gully \* > \*\*Bill Hicks never made to the big time, and to be quite honest, his comedy was neither original, nor that funny. Like James Dean, he’s been lionized simply because he died at a very early age. I’d hardly call him a _cutting edge_ comedian when many of his main targets were American Gladiators and New Kids On The Block. \*\* Bill Hicks was popular in Europe, but he never achieved real fame in the U.S., perhaps due to the fact that he refused to tame his material to get spots on broadcast TV shows. He did do two HBO specials, though. Is that not “making the big time” for a comedian? If you think the targets of ire in his comedy were all fluff, then obviously you’ve never even listened to the man. He did great routines on the Gulf War, ultra-right-wingers, fundies, the death penalty, JFK, the War on Drugs, the Rodney King verdict riots, gays in the military, Creationism being taught in schools, etc, etc, etc. ---
**Author:** ![raisinbread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/7 "2003-06-08T20:51:52Z")
So he basically did the same material that an angry fourteen year old would do because he just read a copy of Newsweek and man this is going to tick off Dad!!! Brilliant, just brilliant. I am thankful his career was short. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/8 "2003-06-08T21:10:03Z")
Um, no. Instead of reading that horrible NY Times article, maybe you should actually listen to the man’s comedy before rushing to judgement. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/9 "2003-06-08T21:22:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by raisinbread \* > \*\*I am thankful his career was short. \*\* Yeah, obviously you never heard him, but you know you’d hate him, so you’re qualified to comment and he deserved to die. Another gem from the keyboard of raisinbread. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/10 "2003-06-08T21:34:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by raisinbread \* > \*\*So he basically did the same material that an angry fourteen year old would do because he just read a copy of Newsweek and man this is going to tick off Dad!!! > Brilliant, just brilliant. I am thankful his career was short. \*\* Dude, you don’t like his comedy, fine. That’s your business. But being glad he died of cancer at a young age because you didn’t think he was funny is just fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/11 "2003-06-08T21:52:43Z")
raisinbread-- I only wish Bill was here, right now, to make you eat your words, digest then, shit them out, and eat that shit again and again. Hicks, a genius at dealing with heckling morons such as yourself, would probably make you laugh your ass off (in spite of your uninformed, cretinous opinions of him) and then procede to wipe that smile off your face, then make you cry, then make you run away in embarrassment and rage. Feel that rage, dude. And maybe you begin to understand some of Hicks. Oh… but you’d need to be ultra-sharp and perceptive too… and I think you’ve already shown that you are lacking in those areas. I’ve got some more news for you… Bill Hicks was lionized BEFORE he died young. A least he was lionized by those of us who appreciate something beyond the typical comedy-club yuk-yuk shit (and I’d guess you’re NOT one of us). Don’t worry though, punk. Bill wasn’t actually the anti-Christ… that’s two sixes and a nine… he was just bluffing. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/12 "2003-06-08T22:07:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by raisinbread \* > \*\*So he basically did the same material that an angry fourteen year old would do because he just read a copy of Newsweek and man this is going to tick off Dad!!! > Brilliant, just brilliant. I am thankful his career was short. \*\* No, an angry 14-year-old spews ignorant venom, like you. ## **raisinbread,** I’ve defended you in the past, and I was feeling a little sorry for you lately, but no more. You’ve lost a friend here. I saw Bill Hicks in Houston circa 1980. I still have a “Hicks” button from that night. He was an amazing talent. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/13 "2003-06-09T00:56:04Z")
Hmm. It appears I was mistaken about some of the stuff I posted earlier. Hicks actually did three HBO specials. Also, he did water down his stuff occasionally and appeared on Letterman 12 times. Dave and the audience apparently loved his stuff, even diluted. The _Times_ article says that Hicks was the first comedy act to be cut from the Letterman show. It doesn’t mention that the cause of this was sponsor pressure due to Hicks’s edgy material. The article makes him sound like a loser. Its only redeeming quality is that it provided me with the information that Trio will be airing a documentary called “Outlaw Comic: The Censoring of Bill Hicks” next Sunday at 9PM. Now, if only my digital cable carried Trio. ☹ Oh, and **raisinbread**? There’s now [a Pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=189475) with your name on it. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/14 "2003-06-09T02:54:40Z")
1 - I never lionized Bill Hicks because he died young. In fact I only learned he died a few months after it actually happened and I was shocked as I was a huge fan. I did my best to never miss an appearance of his … especially his last HBO special … genius. It’s not just his material that was great … it was his delivery. 2 - I’m a big Denis Leary fan too, and to say Leary ripped off Hicks is retarded. Their views aren’t even that similar. Other than a healthy disrespect for authority, Leary is waaaay more conservative than Hicks ever was. And as far as delivery … day and night. Hicks was the thinking man’s contrarian and Leary was all about the Southie White Boy Don’t Get In My Face Anger. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/15 "2003-06-09T03:08:39Z")
Raisinbread? Here’s your sign. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/16 "2003-06-09T03:24:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jack Batty \* > \*\*I’m a big Denis Leary fan too, and to say Leary ripped off Hicks is retarded. \*\* Is it? I found [an interesting interview](http://www.fadetoblack.com/interviews/billhicks/1.html) with Kevin Booth, a longtime close friend of Hicks. From [page 2](http://www.fadetoblack.com/interviews/billhicks/2.html): > [@](#): > > Well, I know he (Hicks) was annoyed by Denis Leary. > \<_snip_\> > I personally do not have the patience to sift through any of his material to even try and pinpoint. I hear about Leary all the time. I just know that when Bill and I were driving to go see the branch Davidian siege, he had just bought the Leary album and put it on and was just playing it and just seething, seething in a way of like, ‘…great, this guy is selling a zillion copies on Warner Brothers, doing all of my ideas and material…’, This is what was annoying to him. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-bill-hicks-before-he-made-it-big-then-never-again/180396/17 "2003-06-09T03:52:57Z")
Oh I know Hicks himself had issues with Leary, but when I put them side by side, I honestly see a diffence of several degrees. Like I say, I like them both. While they are similar in their ideology, I think they went about it quite differently. Hicks was far more radical and after your thoughts. Leary was more like your drunk uncle who cracks you up when he gets pissed off.