Bill Hicks couldn't have been alive today even if he didn't get cancer.

[SmileyBoy]

Because he would be so appalled and disgusted with what's going on, he'd have a heart attack from pure anger and rage.

Just a thought that came into my head.

[MsAnthropy]

1. Boy do we need him now

He was WAY ahead of his time.

[SmileyBoy]

2. But I just don't think he would've been able to handle it.

He either would've committed suicide out of rage and depression, or would've been assassinated by some freeper nut, or something else. Look at how impatient and manic he was with RW crowds who booed him. Imagine going through that with tons more people in this political climate.

[MsAnthropy]

7. You're probably right--

he was just such an anger engine he would spontaneously combust at all the RW stupidity we're subject to now. God I miss his sanity.

[maveric]

37. Hicks and Frank Zappa!

Oh, what could have been!

[chickenscratching]

3. i would love to hear what he'd have to say

"go back to the mall that spawned yoU!"

[Solly Mack]

4. Just finished watching the DVD

and wondered what he would have to say about this Bush and this Iraq war...

[SmileyBoy]

5. He would've used every curse word in the American English Language.

And probably many British English ones too.

[enigmatic]

6. I miss him

I discovered him when "Arizona Bay" came out; we really need him today.

[deutsey]

8. He would die under "mysterious circumstances" if he were

alive today.

I miss you, Bill. Can't you return to us like Obi-Wan did for Luke at crucial moments and guide us?

We got nuthin', man.

[chickenscratching]

9. hey grasshoppah-how are you today?

[deutsey]

15. Hey there, my worthy adversary!

How are you? :hi:

Sorry, I missed your message until this morning.

[chickenscratching]

18. im doing quite well!

looking for a good fight though.
:o

[deutsey]

19. Let me wake up a little

Then, let's git it on!

[chickenscratching]

20. w00T!!

hell yea, i'll be here for the next...say 81/2 hours?
you know where to find me/

[deutsey]

35. Work work work work

I'm getting bogged down with work...But I ain't forgot you. Our match is still on, just postponed while I do my phoney baloney job.

Then, when you least expect it..............expect it.

Moohahahahahaha.

[evlbstrd]

10. I have a friend who thinks that is what happened.

Secret Service cooking him with microwaves in his hotel rooms while on the road.

[redqueen]

11. Eh... I got kinda disenchanted with him.

Didn't he seem to espouse the notion that both parties were equally evil later in life?

[enigmatic]

12. He espoused the notion that evil people were evil..

He didn't care what party they were from..

[redqueen]

13. That seems logical...

It seemed more to me as if he were saying that all politics is useless, so there's no reason to bother.

[enigmatic]

14. He described himself as a broken-hearted idealist

but I think he realized just how corrupt politics as a whole is, and decided to get off the train.

There are a thousand different ways to change the world for the better w/o doing it through politics; I think he decided that telling the truth in his act was more important. But I'm rambling, and I'm not even drunk!:)

[deutsey]

16. One of my favorite insights of his:

But there's no hope in Clinton. It's just a handful of people that run everything, and that's provable.... I have this feeling that whoever's elected president, like Clinton was, no matter what promises you make on the campaign trail - blah, blah, blah - when you win, you go into this smoky room with the twelve industrialist, capitalist scumfucks that got you in there, and this little screen comes down... and it's a shot of the Kennedy assassination from an angle you've never seen before, which looks suspiciously off the grassy knoll.... And then the screen comes up, the lights come on, and they say to the new president, 'Any questions?'

"Just what my agenda is, heh heh."

Bill wanted to slay all the “fevered egos tainting our collective unconscious,” he didn't care what their party affiliation was.

[BlueIris]

17. I'd totally forgotten about that bit.

Yikers.

[redqueen]

24. IMO he wasn't slaying them. Mocking them, yes...

but not slaying them.

It seemed that the people I knew responded to this kind of insight with a shrug of the shoulders and then a complete resignation from giving a damn one way or the other. A "Well if it's all rigged then why bother trying." kind of attitude.

[deutsey]

26. No, his mission was to slay them

He was just beginning to make some ripples in America with the New Yorker piece on him and talk of his own TV discussion show before he died. Whether he would have gone on to become a national personality and have an impact...who knows? But he wasn't going to become a success by selling out his vision and his authenticity to get it.

I find the resignation you describe strange...if people truly listened to what Hicks said (preached?), he was the exact opposite of hopeless and expressing a "why bother?" ethos. He wanted to jolt people out of their narcissism, greed, and apathy.

"I think it's interesting the two drugs that are legal - alcohol and cigarettes, two drugs that do absolutely nothing for you at all - are legal, and the drugs that might open your mind up to realise how you're being fucked every day of your life? Those drugs are against the law. Coincidence? See, I'm glad mushrooms are against the law, cos I took 'em one time, you know what happened to me? I laid in a field of green grass for four hours, going, 'My God, I love everything.' Yeah, now if that isn't a hazard to our countries...How are we gonna justify arms dealing if we know we're all one?"

"The world is like a ride at an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think that it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly coloured, and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question - is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us. They say 'Hey! Don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride.' And we...kill those people. Ha ha ha. 'Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride. SHUT HIM UP! Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and family. This just has to be real.' It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter because: it's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings, and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourselves off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here's what you can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defence each year, and instead spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, for ever, in peace."


You should ask these people what's their choice: Fear or Love?

[redqueen]

27. That second part...

that's exactly the kind of thing that got them to basically refuse to speak to me about politics. They will tell me that we'll never get the government to stop spending money on wars, and because the system is rigged, we should all just be happy and love each other because after all, "Hey! Don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride." Just a ride... *sigh*

It really makes me sad, but what can I do? I just resign myself to doing all I can with them... beg them to vote. Trust me, that makes them mad enough... tell me, "I like talking to you but don't start with the politics."

So... voting. That's all they'll do. The absolute least they can do is all they'll do. It kinda breaks my heart.

[deutsey]

28. He always said he was Noam Chomsky with dick jokes

Any real revolution starts from within, in my opinion. Liberating your heart and your mind. Catharsis, as he put it in one of his shows. Whether you agreed with him or not. That's what Hicks was about. But each to his or her own.

And regarding voting: what's that saying about voting being the final outcome of a way of life? In other words, you don't change anything by simply going to the voting booth on Election Day and pulling a lever (or pushing a screen that may or may not register your ballot). It isn't even about working for a campaign or a party. It's about changing the power dynamic, first by changing how you see the world and your role in it, and then banding together with others who have experienced similar changes of awareness.

In my opinion that's what happened prior to the New Deal...the grassroots labor and socialist movements in this country were co-opted by the Democrats, not the other way around. These movements were going strong since the late 1800s into the 1920s and both establishment parties had little to do with them until the Crash in '29. Same could be said about the Civil Rights movement from Reconstruction on down to the '50s and '60s, or other movements.

The people who dedicated themselves to these movements were dedicated to them even when their votes meant nothing or they were even denied the right to vote. They envisioned a new reality that came out of a deeper awareness of themselves and the world regardless of whether the political establishment could see it or not.

I think people like Hicks are important because they attack the petrified thinking in any system, any ideology, any orthodoxy that deadens our conscience, negates our own experience, or simply reduces us to cogs in an electoral machine.

That said, I can certainly see where Hicks is not everyone's cup of proverbial tea. But I think it's wrong to characterize him as apolitical or apathetic. One comedienne and friend (Brett Butler?) said that Bill saw himself like Jesus at his angriest, where he was tossing the money changers from the temple.

Hicks saw himself as part of a movement, however loosely affiliated, that contributed to toppling the first Bush administration by expressing a sensibility that undermined the Bush regime's foundation of fear and deceit. He likened the movement to a tribe of pygmies repeatedly hitting and bringing down a rampaging elephant behomoth with their little poison darts.

In my opinion, we could use a similar movement today, as we saw how in the last election just voting ain't always enough.

[redqueen]

29. Hmm maybe I haven't given him a chance, then.

To be honest I've never heard much of his stuff. I've heard some clips and seen documentaries about him.

Seeing how those that I know reacted to his stuff, and some of his more repugnant material kind of put me off him.

[deutsey]

31. Yeah, as I say, his humor is not for everyone

and I certainly don't fault you at all if it doesn't appeal to you. I hope that's not how I'm coming across. :-) Hicks is sometimes too abrasive for me as well. But there really was "something" more to his humor than saying, "Eh, who cares?".

:hi:

[tigereye]

32. I have

laughed so hard at his stuff that I thought I would choke. He's worth a listen just for the sheer wit and brassiness of his ranting. Even his disgusting ranting is really funny.

[ghostsofgiants]

22. So you got disenchanted with him because he wasn't a Democrat?

He was beyond partisanship. He called the bullshit where he saw it.

[redqueen]

23. Nooooooo

I got disenchanted with him because he seemed to be encouraging people to ignore politics and let whatever happened happen, while just laughing about it... as if that would make any difference at all.

[frictionlessO]

21. I know what he'd say!!!

"Suck Satans Cahhhhhhhhhhck!!" Which is what they are all doing.

[Twillig]

25. I'm still waiting for Patrick Duffy and Joey Lawrence

to be on the same Tonight Show with Leno.

Somebody want my old avatar?

Have at it.

[RandomKoolzip]

30. "He's fucking blood SPRINKLER!!!"

I love that bit.

Bill's best album, "Rant In E-Minor," deserves a hallowed place on any CD shelf. The man was the last great comedian, the last real rule-breaker.

We won't see the likes of him again anytime soon. He was truly the final model of a brutal prototype.

[tigereye]

33. huh

y'know what, though, RKZ I bet there is somewhere out there who could be like Hicks. Not exactly, but with some of that same great snarky ranting witty, no holds barred analysis. I'm hopeful.

[RandomKoolzip]

34. It's strange, tigereye:

I remember my first exposure to the guy back in the late 80's and thinking he was just a Sam Kinison clone. I didn't understand that Kinison had stolen his act and drained the politics out of it until after Hicks died.

I did appreciate the bit of politics that Hicks included in his act, but for me, at the time, having had parents who raised me on a steady diet of Carlin, Bruce, and Dick Gregory (oh, and Mort Sahl), his analysis of the political scene seemed watewred-down at first, as if he were dumbing down their acts.

It wasn't until I bought a few of his CDs that I understood that this guy stood alone, that his politics and his approach to humor ran a lot deeper than just "Kinison with conspiracy theories."

I think I really "got it" around the time he died, unfortunately. Seems like a pattern, dunnit? Just when a trailblazer dies do we become grateful for the crumbs he/she has left.

But I'm not hopeful for the future as far as comedy goes. There's too many ensemble acts pushing "irony-above-all" and no insight, no pushing of boundaries (and by "pushing boundaries" I don't mean "grossing out the audience, ala the Farrelly Brothers, etc.)

The Onion has come close many a time, and I hear David Cross can get political on occasion....but no one burns like Hicks did.

[enigmatic]

36. Excellent post.

Hicks was flawed, no question. And he freely admitted it; if you had the rage of knowing just how fucked up this country really is in it's soul, you'd understand. He knew it could be saved, but only if people woke up long enough to realize they were being sedated by the media. Just replace "American Gladiators" and "Cops" for "American Idol" and "Survivor" in Hick's classic bit about this and it's just as vital today, if not more so. Same thing w/ his rants against Bush I's war; it's eerie how it fits perfectly today.


Whenever I see Denis Leary or in a (literally) lesser lite like Dennis Miller who outright stole either Hicks' material or persona, it makes me physically ill. Miller especially; ugh.

Anyway, I'm rambling again; gotta get more caffeine:)

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

38. It's so great to see this thread!

I just downloaded Rant In E-Minor about an hour ago! Look forward to diggin' into some Hicks this afternoon...

[RandomKoolzip]

39. Awesome.

Pay close attention to the bit about Jay Leno. It's the funniest, most brutal rant ever committed to disc.

Oh, and the thing about Rush Limbaugh being like "one of those guys who likes to lie in a bathtub and have guys pee on him" is also insanely brilliant.

[enigmatic]

40. You know what; me too..

I haven't had a Bill Hicks marathon on my station in a few months; I think I might do that next weekend..

[Twillig]

42. Sad thing is,

Here we are with "Car Bomb Derby" only Bill was wrong. It's not on TV, and we're losing.

[DrZeeLit]

41. I sooo miss him. Could use an infusion.. visualize Hicks on Stewart's

show.

Gosh...how cool would that be?

Anyway, my imagination conjures him and that holds a lot of weight.

[Bombtrack]

43. He's really overrated

Atleast in terms of being funny. I think people like David Cross and Bill Maher have been greatly influenced by him and improved apon his style.

[deutsey]

44. I think he needs to be assessed in the context of his own time

He was dancing on a raw nerve in the hangover of the Reagan-Bush years. And he did it without selling out. It's hard for me to think of people like him today (although I'm aware there are such oddities out there).

I don't know much about David Cross (what I've heard of him I like), but to compare Bill Maher to Bill Hicks...well, there simply is no comparison. To paraphrase Twain, it's like comparing the lightning bug with lightning.

[enigmatic]

46. I think the irony of Maher...

was that when he was being crucified for his statements about Iraq, he pretty much lifted his riff from a couple of Bill Hicks routines, but without the insight or wit. Classic case of getting yours for stealing another's ideas and calling them your own..

[deutsey]

48. Agreed

:thumbsup:

[rebel_yell]

45. Relentless is the funniest cd I own

Bill Hicks is the funniest comedian ever. Hell, just look at my sig line. He was better than Pryor, Carlin, and Bruce.

I miss you Bill. and I'll see you down in Arizona Bay

[enigmatic]

47. I still break out in hysterics over his "I had a great time on drugs"..

routine on Relentless; the Yul Brenner one, too..

[FlyByNight]

49. Bill would have a ton...

of material to work with these days. Bill left us way too soon.

:(