Bill Hicks

Bill Hicks died twenty years ago today. I remember vividly the first time I heard about Hicks. It was late 1996; he had died two years earlier. I had just realized literally during that week that I was agnostic (which I am to this day). An older man with whom I discussed this realization said to me, "there was a comic named Bill Hicks who had a joke about christians who harassed him after his show. They said, 'we're christians, and we don't like what you said.' Bill said, 'well, then, forgive me.'"
Granted, it's not one of Bill's strongest jokes, but it was a fairly good introduction to his work. He kind of fell off my radar until 2003 when I saw this documentary



about him on TV. I wrote previously on this blog that the film "Capote" was so compelling to me during 2005 partly because of the hellish time that we were living in. Well, this documentary was even more powerful to me because I was so desperate to find intelligent people who knew the truth behind the bullshit that the government was doling out to us.
Hicks wasn't even afraid to attack the most worshiped of American institutions, the military:


This clip was so awesome to me - "there ain't no one out there that is a threat to us. They don't exist" so clearly applies to this country and that pathetic decade.

Hicks died of cancer, which was undoubtedly caused by his chain smoking ("You smoke two packs a day? I go through TWO LIGHTERS per day. Pussy.") But his work and legacy live on in other comics. I personally wouldn't be nearly as brave onstage if he had not blazed that trail for me. I would never attempt to steal the man's essence as so many comics have tried to do since his death, but I have a half-laugh that I do when I'm being sarcastic in my act that I've done since I was a child but was reinforced by Hicks' own sarcastic laugh.

R.I.P., brother.