We lost him way too soon
This weekend I watched the new BBC documentary about the life of one of the funniest American comedians ever, Bill Hicks. If you haven't seen American: The Bill Hicks Story yet, and you're a fan of this very funny comedian, I highly recommend you watch it. The stories told by his family and friends gives a very detailed image of the kind of person he was.
Bill wasn't the kind of comedian who did silly sight gags on stage to entertain people, he told stories that made you both think and laugh your ass off at the same time. Bill's comedy came from sharing his personal observations of American politics and culture, and was deeply critical of what he saw as the acceptance of mediocrity as a standard to exemplify while it slowly dumbed America down. he was absolutely right of course.
Bill performed in comedy clubs in the United States, and made a few TV appearances that were often heavily censored or cut completely. In local venues he was very popular, but he struggled to break into bigger performance events until 1991 when he performed at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. The taped performance got airtime in the UK and his career changed drastically. Bill instantly became a sensation in the UK. England loved the American comedian who used comedic monologue to rip America a new posterior orifice. In the UK Bill played in the venues he dreamed of performing in the United States - sold out performances in theaters and concert halls.
In 1993 Bill was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. he died on February 26, 1994 at the age of 32. Bill's humor, despite being firmly entrenched in the topical issues of the early 1990's is still very relevant today. The point of his message is timeless because America still struggles with banality. We put mediocrity on a pedestal and consider it a standard of excellence yet continue to spiral down to an ever lower level of stupid. Last night's Republican presidential candidate debate on CNN is easily proof of that.
Below is the first installment of one of his finest (and my favorite) performances, Arizona Bay.
Watch all of it, you won't be sorry.
Then get your hands on the BBC documentary and watch it. I've watched it twice and want to watch it again.
RIP Bill, we miss you.
Bill wasn't the kind of comedian who did silly sight gags on stage to entertain people, he told stories that made you both think and laugh your ass off at the same time. Bill's comedy came from sharing his personal observations of American politics and culture, and was deeply critical of what he saw as the acceptance of mediocrity as a standard to exemplify while it slowly dumbed America down. he was absolutely right of course.
Bill performed in comedy clubs in the United States, and made a few TV appearances that were often heavily censored or cut completely. In local venues he was very popular, but he struggled to break into bigger performance events until 1991 when he performed at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. The taped performance got airtime in the UK and his career changed drastically. Bill instantly became a sensation in the UK. England loved the American comedian who used comedic monologue to rip America a new posterior orifice. In the UK Bill played in the venues he dreamed of performing in the United States - sold out performances in theaters and concert halls.
In 1993 Bill was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. he died on February 26, 1994 at the age of 32. Bill's humor, despite being firmly entrenched in the topical issues of the early 1990's is still very relevant today. The point of his message is timeless because America still struggles with banality. We put mediocrity on a pedestal and consider it a standard of excellence yet continue to spiral down to an ever lower level of stupid. Last night's Republican presidential candidate debate on CNN is easily proof of that.
Below is the first installment of one of his finest (and my favorite) performances, Arizona Bay.
Click to viewWatch all of it, you won't be sorry.
Then get your hands on the BBC documentary and watch it. I've watched it twice and want to watch it again.
RIP Bill, we miss you.