Bill Hicks
Bill Hicks | |
---|---|
File:Bill Hicks image.jpg | |
Birth name | William Melvin Hicks |
Born | Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. | December 16, 1961
Died | February 26, 1994 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. | (aged 32)
Medium | Stand-up, music |
Nationality | American |
Years active | 1978-1994 |
Genres | Black comedy, observational comedy, satire/political satire, Philosophy |
Subject(s) | American culture, American politics, current events, pop culture, human sexuality, philosophy, religion, spirituality, recreational drug use, entheogens, conspiracy theories, consumerism |
Website | billhicks.com |
William Melvin "Bill" Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, satirist and musician. His humor challenged mainstream beliefs, aiming to "enlighten people to think for themselves."[1] Hicks used a ribald approach to express his material, describing himself as "Chomsky with dick jokes."[1] His jokes included general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy and personal issues. Hicks' material was often deliberately controversial and steeped in dark comedy. In both his stand-up performances and during interviews, he often criticized consumerism, superficiality, mediocrity and banality within the media and popular culture, describing them as oppressive tools of the ruling class, meant to "keep people stupid and apathetic."[2]
Hicks died of pancreatic cancer in 1994 at the age of 32. In the years after his death, his work and legacy achieved the significant admiration and acclaim of numerous comedians, writers, actors and musicians alike. He was listed as the 19th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central in 2004, the 6th greatest in 2007 and 4th greatest in 2010[citation needed] by Channel 4.[3]
Early life
Born in Valdosta, Georgia, Bill Hicks was the son of Jim and Mary (Reese) Hicks, and had two elder siblings, Steve and Lynn. The family lived in Florida, Alabama and New Jersey, before settling in Houston, Texas, when Hicks was seven. He was raised in the Southern Baptist faith, where he first began performing as a comedian to other children at Sunday School.[4]
He was drawn to comedy at an early age, emulating Woody Allen and Richard Pryor, and writing routines with his friend Dwight Slade. Worried about his behavior, his parents took him to a psychoanalyst at age 17 but, according to Hicks, after one session the psychoanalyst informed him that "...it's them, not you."[4]
In 1978, Hicks, along with friends Slade, Ben Dunn, John S. and Kevin Booth, began performing at the Comedy Workshop in Houston. At first, Hicks was unable to drive to venues independently and was so young that he needed a special work permit to perform. By the autumn of 1978 he had worked his way up to performing once every Tuesday night, while still attending Stratford High School. He was well-received and started developing his improvisational skills, although his act at the time was limited.
Change in comic style
Hicks graduated high school and began touring in the early 1980s. After a few years of performing the same material, he felt that his act wasn't progressing. He wanted to push the boundaries of creativity like his idols Jimi Hendrix and Richard Pryor. At 21 years old, Hicks had never consumed alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or tried drugs. He began to experiment to see if intoxication was indeed the key to crossing the line.[5] Although drinking and drugs helped Hicks to loosen his tongue, he eventually had to quit, realizing that it would interfere with his act, making it too controversial (and occasionally shambolic) for the public to handle.
Once Hicks gained some underground success in night clubs and universities he quit drinking, realizing that it wasn't alcohol that made a comic genius, but his ability to express a truth, even if it was an unpopular one.[6] However, Hicks continued to smoke cigarettes, and the activity became a recurring part of his act.
California and New York
In 1986, Hicks found himself broke, but his career received another upturn as he appeared on Rodney Dangerfield's Young Comedians Special, in 1987. The same year, he moved to New York City, and, for the next five years, performed about 300 times a year. On the album Relentless, he jokes that he quit using drugs because "once you've been taken aboard a UFO, it's kind of hard to top that", although in his performances, he continued to extol the virtues of LSD, marijuana, and psychedelic mushrooms.[7] He fell back to chain-smoking,[8] a theme that would figure heavily in his performances from then on.
In 1988 Hicks signed on with his first professional business manager, Jack Mondrus. Throughout 1989, Mondrus worked to convince many clubs to book Hicks, promising that the wild drug- and alcohol-induced behavior was behind him. Among the club managers hiring the newly sober Hicks was Colleen McGarr, who would become his girlfriend and fiancée in later years.
Hicks quit drinking in 1988, as stated in his 1990 album Dangerous on the first track, entitled "Modern Bummer".
In 1989 he released his first video, Sane Man.[9] It was reissued in 2006.
Early fame
In 1990, Hicks released his first album, Dangerous, performed on the HBO special One Night Stand, and performed at Montreal's Just for Laughs festival.[10] He was also part of a group of American stand-up comedians performing in London's West End in November. Hicks was a huge hit in the UK and Ireland and continued touring there throughout 1991. That year, he returned to the Just for Laughs festival and recorded his second album, Relentless.
Hicks made a brief detour into musical recording with the Marble Head Johnson album in 1992. In November (or December[11]), he toured the UK, where he recorded the Revelations video for Channel 4. He closed the show with "It's Just a Ride", one of his most famous and life-affirming philosophies. Also in that tour he recorded the stand-up performance released in its entirety on a double CD titled Salvation. Hicks was voted "Hot Standup Comic" by Rolling Stone magazine. He moved to Los Angeles in 1992.
Censorship and aftermath
Hicks constantly faced problems with censorship. In 1984, Hicks was invited to appear on Late Night with David Letterman for the first time. He had a joke that he used frequently in comedy clubs about how he accidentally caused a fellow classmate to begin using a wheelchair. NBC had a policy that no handicapped jokes could be aired on the show, making his stand-up routine difficult to perform without mentioning words such as "wheelchair". Hicks was disappointed that the TV audience didn't get to experience the uncensored Bill Hicks that people saw in clubs.[12]
On October 1, 1993, about five months before his death, Hicks was scheduled to appear on Late Show with David Letterman, his twelfth appearance on a Letterman late night show but his entire performance was removed from the broadcast — then the only occasion where a comedian's entire routine was cut after taping. Hicks' stand-up routine was removed from the show allegedly because Letterman and his producer were nervous about Hicks' anti-religious jokes. Hicks said he believed it was due to a pro-life commercial aired during a commercial break.[13] Both the show's producers and CBS denied responsibility. Hicks expressed his feelings of betrayal in a letter to John Lahr of The New Yorker.[14][15] Although Letterman later expressed regret at the way Hicks had been handled, Hicks did not appear on the show again. The full account of this incident was featured in a New Yorker profile by Lahr,[14] which was later published as a chapter in Lahr's book, Light Fantastic.[16]
Hicks' mother, Mary, appeared on the January 30, 2009, episode of Late Show. Letterman played the routine in its entirety. Letterman took full responsibility for the original censorship and apologized to Mrs. Hicks. Letterman also declared he did not know what he was thinking when he pulled the routine from the original show in 1993. Letterman said, "It says more about me as a guy than it says about Bill because there was absolutely nothing wrong with that."[17][18]
Cancer diagnosis and death
In April 1993, while touring in Australia, Hicks started complaining of pains in his side, and on June 16 of that year, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver.[19] He started receiving weekly chemotherapy, while still touring and also recording his album, Arizona Bay, with Kevin Booth. He was also working with comedian Fallon Woodland on a pilot episode of a new talk show, titled Counts of the Netherworld for Channel 4 at the time of his death. The budget and concept had been approved, and a pilot was filmed. The Counts of the Netherworld pilot was shown at the various Tenth Anniversary Tribute Night events around the world on February 26, 2004.
After being diagnosed with cancer, Hicks would often joke openly at performances exclaiming it would be his last. The public, however, was unaware of Hicks's condition. In reality, only a few close friends and family members knew of his disease. Hicks performed the actual final show of his career at Caroline's in New York on January 6, 1994. He moved back to his parents' house in Little Rock, Arkansas, shortly thereafter. He called his friends to say goodbye, before he stopped speaking on February 14[20], and re-read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.[21] He spent time with his parents, playing them the music he loved and showing them documentaries about his interests. He died of cancer in the presence of his parents at 11:20 p.m. on February 26, 1994. He was 32 years old.[22] Hicks was buried in the family plot in Leakesville, Mississippi.
On February 7, 1994, after his diagnosis with cancer, Hicks authored a short prayer on his perspective, wishes and thanks of his life, to be released after his death as his "last word",[19] ending with the words:
I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit.
Comic style
Hicks's style was a play on his audience's emotions. He expressed anger, disgust, and apathy while addressing the audience in a casual and personal manner, which he likened to merely conversing with his friends, often making eye contact with individual audience members in smaller venues.
Hicks's material was less focused on the everyday banalities of life and placed greater emphasis on philosophical themes of existence. He would invite his audiences to challenge authority and the existential nature of "accepted truth." One such message, which he often used in his shows, was delivered in the style of a news report:
Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration — that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death; life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves... Here's Tom with the weather! [23]
Another of Hicks's most famous quotes was delivered during a gig in Chicago in 1989 (later released as the bootleg I'm Sorry, Folks). After a heckler repeatedly shouted "Free Bird", Hicks screamed that "Hitler had the right idea, he was just an underachiever!" Hicks followed this remark with a misanthropic tirade calling for unbiased genocide against the whole of humanity.[24]
Much of Hicks's routine involved direct attacks on mainstream society, religion, politics, and consumerism. Asked in a BBC interview why he cannot do a routine that appeals "to everyone", he said that such an act was impossible. He responded by repeating a comment an audience member once made to him, "We don't come to comedy to think!", to which he replied, "Gee! Where do you go to think? I'll meet you there!" In the same interview, he also said: "My way is half-way between: this is a night-club, and these are adults." [25]
Hicks often discussed conspiracy theories in his performances, most notably the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He mocked the Warren Report and the official version of Lee Harvey Oswald as a "lone nut assassin." He also questioned the guilt of David Koresh and the Branch Davidian compound during the Waco Siege.
Hicks would end some of his shows — and especially those being recorded in front of larger audiences as albums — with a mock "assassination" of himself on stage, making gunshot sound effects into the microphone while falling to the ground.
Hicks and Denis Leary
For many years, Hicks was friends with fellow comedian Denis Leary. However, in 1993, Hicks was angered by Leary's album No Cure for Cancer.[26] While he had laughed off similarities between the two comedians before, the parallels between the album and Hicks' material (including jokes about smoking, Jim Fixx, John Lennon, and Judas Priest) and tone were clear. Reportedly, upon hearing the album, "Bill was furious. All these years, aside from the occasional jibe, he had pretty much shrugged off Leary's lifting. Comedians borrowed, stole stuff, and even bought bits from one another. Milton Berle and Robin Williams were famous for it. This was different. Leary had, practically line for line, taken huge chunks of Bill's act and recorded it."[27]
The friendship ended abruptly as a result.[28] At least three stand-up comedians have gone on the record stating they believe Leary stole Hicks' material as well as his persona and attitude.[29][30][31] In an interview, when Hicks was asked why he had quit smoking, he answered, "I just wanted to see if Denis would, too."[32] In another interview, Hicks famously told an interviewer: "I have a scoop for you. I stole his [Leary's] act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and, to really throw people off, I did it before he did."[33]
The controversy surrounding plagiarism is also mentioned in American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story, by Cynthia True:
- Leary was in Montreal hosting the "Nasty Show" at Club Soda, and Colleen [McGarr?] was coordinating the talent so she stood backstage and overheard Leary doing material incredibly similar to old Hicks riffs, including his perennial Jim Fixx joke: ("Keith Richards outlived Jim Fixx, the runner and health nut. The plot thickens."). When Leary came offstage, Colleen, more stunned than angry, said, "Hey, you know that's Bill Hicks' material! Do you know that's his material?" Leary stood there, stared at her without saying a word, and briskly left the dressing room.[27]
During a 2003 roast of Denis Leary, comedian Lenny Clarke, a friend of Leary's, said there was a carton of cigarettes backstage from Bill Hicks with the message, "Wish I had gotten these to you sooner." This joke was cut from the final broadcast.[34]
In a 2008 interview, Leary said "It wouldn’t have been an issue, I think, if Bill had lived. It’s just that people look at a tragedy and they look at that circumstance and they go, oh, this must be how we can explain this."[35]
Hicks and Tool
The progressive metal band Tool invited Hicks to open a number of concerts for them on their 1993 Lollapalooza appearances, where Hicks once famously asked the audience to look for a contact lens he'd lost. Thousands of people complied.[36] Tool singer Maynard James Keenan so enjoyed this joke that he repeated it on a number of occasions. Keenan, who worked as a comedian in Los Angeles prior to Tool, met and befriended Hicks through mutual friends and performing at the same venues.[citation needed]
Tool dedicated their triple-platinum [37] album Ænima (1996) to Bill Hicks. The band intended to raise awareness about Hicks's material and ideas, because they felt that Tool and Hicks "were resonating similar concepts".[38] In particular, Ænima's final track, "Third Eye", is preceded by a clip of Hicks' performances, and both the lenticular casing of the Ænima album packaging as well as the chorus of the title track "Ænema" make reference to a sketch from Hicks' Arizona Bay philosophy, in which he contemplates the idea of Los Angeles falling into the Pacific Ocean. The closing track "Third Eye" contains samples from Hicks' Dangerous and Relentless ,[38][39] An alternate version of the Ænima artwork shows a painting of Bill Hicks and mentions of Hicks are found both in the liner notes and on record.
Legacy
Arizona Bay and Rant in E-Minor were released posthumously in 1997 on the Voices imprint of the Rykodisc label. Dangerous and Relentless were also re-released by Rykodisc on the same date.
In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, fellow comedians and comedy insiders voted Hicks #13 on their list of "The Top 20 Greatest Comedy Acts Ever". Likewise, in "Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time" (2004), Hicks was ranked at #19. In March 2007, Channel 4 ran a poll, "The Top 100 Stand-Up Comedians of All Time", in which Hicks was voted #6. Channel 4 renewed this list in April 2010, which saw Hicks move up 2 places to #4.[40]
Devotees of Hicks have incorporated his words, image, and attitude into their own creations. Because of audio sampling, fragments of Hicks' rants, diatribes, social criticisms, and philosophies have found their way into many musical works, such as the live version of Super Furry Animals' "Man Don't Give A Fuck". His influence on Tool is well documented; he "appears" on the Fila Brazillia album Maim That Tune (1996) and on SPA's self titled album SPA (1997), which are both dedicated to Hicks; the British band Radiohead's second album The Bends (1995) is also dedicated to his memory. Singer/songwriter Tom Waits listed Rant in E Minor as one of his 20 most cherished albums of all time.[41] The UK band Shack released an album in August 2003 quoting a Bill Hicks routine in the title: Here's Tom With the Weather. The album also included other Bill Hicks quotes in the liner notes. English breakbeat artist Adam Freeland sampled Revelations for his track "We Want Your Soul". Welsh punk rock band Mclusky reference a Hicks routine in the lyrics to their song "To Hell With Good Intentions". Punk cabaret musician Amanda Palmer says, "I have my new Bill Hicks CD" in the song "Another Year" on her 2008 album Who Killed Amanda Palmer. The Swedish indie pop singer/songwriter Jens Lekman has written a song called "People who Hate People Come Together" after the same Hicks quote. The last track of The Kleptones album Yoshimi Battles the Hip-Hop Robots, Last Words (A Tribute), includes his "It's just a ride" in its entirety. [citation needed]
Hamell on Trial's 1999 album Choochtown includes the song "Bill Hicks", featuring the lyric "I wish Bill Hicks was alive/I wish Bill Hicks had survived", as well as the instrumental tribute "Bill Hicks (Ascension)".
Rappers Adil Omar and Vinnie Paz have also cited Hicks as an influence to their work; contemporary comedians David Cross and Russell Brand have stated that they were inspired by Hicks.[42][43] Irish Independent columnist Ian O'Doherty is also a great admirer of Hicks.
On their 2009 album There Is No Enemy, Built To Spill released the song "Planting Seeds" with the lyrics "I've heard that they'll sell anything and I think they might...I think Bill Hicks was right...about what they should do." referring to his stand up routine which asks marketers to kill themselves. The song title refers to a bit in the same routine when Bill explains, "Just planting seeds here, folks."
The British film Human Traffic referred to him as the "late prophet Bill Hicks" and portrays the main character, Jip, watching Hicks' stand-up before going out to "remind me not to take life too seriously". Hicks even appears in the comic book Preacher, in which he is an important influence on the protagonist, Rev. Jesse Custer. His opening voice-over to the 1991 Revelations live show is also quoted in Preacher's last issue. [citation needed]
The British actor Chas Early portrayed Hicks in the one-man stage show Bill Hicks: Slight Return, which premiered in 2005.
The Ross Noble DVD Fizzy Logic references Bill Hicks' famous Goat Boy routine with a stuffed wolf named "Randy Pan" (The name of the fictional "Goat Boy"), and is commented in inside the show.
On February 25, 2004, British MP Stephen Pound tabled an early day motion titled "Anniversary of the Death of Bill Hicks" (EDM 678 of the 2003-04 session), the text of which was as follows:
That this House notes with sadness the 10th anniversary of the death of Bill Hicks, on 26th February 1994, at the age of 32; recalls his assertion that his words would be a bullet in the heart of consumerism, capitalism and the American Dream; and mourns the passing of one of the few people who may be mentioned as being worth [sic] of inclusion with Lenny Bruce in any list of unflinching and painfully honest political philosophers.[44]
Film and documentary
A film about Hicks' life and career, rumored to be directed by Ron Howard, is said to be in pre-production. Russell Crowe has been mentioned as one of the producers and may portray Hicks as well.[45]
A documentary entitled American: The Bill Hicks Story, based on interviews with his family and friends, premiered on March 12, 2010, at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.[46] The film has gone on to screen at multiple festivals including SxSW, London Film Festival and Sheffield Doc/Fest.
Discography
References
Notes
- ^ a b Shugart, Karen. "Bill Hicks: 'Chomsky with Dick Jokes". Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ^ See Vide.Google.com, Bill Hicks on David Letterman Censorship
- ^ "100 Greatest Comedy Stand-ups vote from channel4.com". Channel 4. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
- ^ a b Bill Hicks: Love all the people(Constable, 2004)
- ^ Bill Hicks Outlaw Comic Documentary
- ^ Bill Hicks Outlaw Comic Documentary
- ^ See Sane Man and Rant in E Minor.
- ^ Allmusic.com
- ^ Bill Hicks: Sane Man (1989) at IMDb
- ^ Outhwaite, Paul. Bill Hicks biography.
- ^ My diary.
- ^ Bill Hicks Outlaw Comic Documentary
- ^ "CapZeyeZ". 1993-10-24. Austin Public Access.
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b John Lahr. "The Goat Boy Rises". The New Yorker.
- ^ "Bill Hicks Biography".
- ^ Lahr, John. Light Fantastic. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. ISBN 978-0747530794. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
- ^
steve hpc (February 3, 2009), David Letterman Airs the 'Lost' Bill Hick's Routine, Entertainment Weekly, retrieved January 15, 2009
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- ^ Crosbie, Lynn (February 3, 2009). "The Globe Review Column; Pop Rocks; A Pop-Culture Epiphany; David Letterman's Apology to Mary Hicks". The Globe and Mail. p. R1.
- ^ a b Bill Hicks. "Last Word". BillHicks.com. Bill Hicks. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
- ^ Bill Hicks Bio
- ^ "Liner notes for "Philosophy: The Best of Bill Hicks"". Rykodisc. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
- ^ O'Neill, Brendan (2004-02-23). "Bill Hicks: Why the fuss, exactly?". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on 2004-02-25. Retrieved 2006-03-03.
- ^ Extract from Revelations, London, 1993. The extract is part of the concluding track to the album, called "It's Just a Ride", in which he essentially outlines his world view.
- ^ Freebird! on YouTube. Retrieved 2009-12-23. Quote: "Hitler had the right idea, he was just an underachiever."
- ^ Bill Hicks Interview BBC2 1992 on YouTube from the episode A Question of Taste, part the BBC's "Funny Business" series. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
- ^ Outhwaite, Paul (November 2003). One Consciousness: An Analysis of Bill Hicks's Comedy, 3rd edition, D.M. Productions. ISBN 0-9537461-3-5.
- ^ a b Cynthia True (2002). American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story. Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 0-380-80377-1.
- ^ Kevin Booth and Michael Bertin (2005). Bill Hicks: Agent of Evolution. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-719829-9.
- ^ Joe Rogan (2005). "Carlos Mencia is a weak minded joke thief". JoeRogan.net. Archived from the original on 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
- ^ Rogan, Joe (2003). (Interview).
{{cite interview}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Tim McIntire (1998). "Dark Times: Bill Hicks: Frequently Asked Questions". BillHicks.com. Archived from the original on 2006-10-11. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; 2006-03-20 suggested (help) - ^ Sabrina Jalees (2006-10-17). "Nothing funny about joke thieves". Toronto: The Star. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
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ignored (help) - ^ Doug Stern (1993). "Profile: Bill Hicks". Austin Comedy News. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ "Roasting a Comic They Turn Up the Flames Gently". Boston Globe. 2003-08-10. Archived from the original on 2003-08-11. [dead link] (Dead link as of at least March 26, 2009.)
- ^ Bullz-Eye.com
- ^ "It's Only a Ride: Bill Hicks". interview with Kevin Booth. Fade To Black. Retrieved 2006-03-03.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ Theiner, Manny (2006-09-28). "Concert Review: Tool's prog pleases populace". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
...from its triple-platinum 1996 release, "Ænima."
- ^ a b Langer, Andy (May 1997). "Another Dead Hero". The Austin Chronicle.
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ignored (help) - ^ Zwick, John (February 25, 2004). "Dead 10 years, Hicks still makes us laugh". University of Colorado Denver Advocate. Archived from the original on October 7, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
- ^ "100 Greatest Comedy Stand-ups vote from channel4.com". Channel 4. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
- ^ Tom Waits (2005-03-20). "What the stars are listening to: 'It's perfect madness'". The Observer. London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
Bill Hicks, blowtorch, excavator, truthsayer and brain specialist, like a reverend waving a gun around.
- ^ SimonGuilford.com
- ^ VanityFair.com
- ^ "Anniversary of the death of Bill Hicks". Parliamentary Information Management Services. Retrieved 2006-03-03.
- ^ "Rusty relaxes as film takes leaf of absence". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2008-08-17.
- ^ American: The Bill Hicks Story
Further reading
- Booth, Kevin (2005). Bill Hicks: Agent of Evolution. New York, New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-719829-9.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (help) - Hicks, Bill (2004). Love All the People: Letters, Lyrics, Routines. ISBN 1-84119-878-1 (UK edition), ISBN 1-932360-65-4 (US edition).
{{cite book}}
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value: invalid character (help) - Kaufman, Will (1997). Comedian As Confidence Man: Studies in Irony Fatigue. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-2657-9.
- Mack, Ben (2005). What Would Bill Hicks Say?. ISBN 1-933368-01-2.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (help) - Newfield, Jack (2003). American Rebels. New York, NY: Nation books. ISBN 1-56025-543-9.
- Outhwaite, Paul (2003). One Consciousness: An Analysis of Bill Hicks' Comedy (3rd edition ed.). D.M. Productions. ISBN 0-9537461-3-5.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (help) - True, Cynthia (2002). American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-380-80377-1.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Bill Hicks' Official Site
- Dark Poet Unofficial Fan site
- Sacred Cow Productions
- Bill Hicks Quotes
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Bill Hicks' releases on Rykodisc
- Bill Hicks is Dead: Tribute and Biography, with related videos.
- Chris Hall. "Bill Hicks : Bad Moon Rising – a tribute of sorts". Spike Magazine.