― dog latin, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― fritz, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
This wasn't even in his last and most bitter period but it was a staggeringly savage performance, it wasn't particularly funny but it was one of the most amazing things I've seen.
On CD he sounds like he is taking a few shots at some easy and well deserved targets, exposing the lies and deceit of 'THEM', but the feeling when you are in the audience was that he was including YOU in that category too, your petty hypocracies and narrowmindedness were exposed.
I'm not sure why he sounds so tame on CD now, its a shame he's dated so badly and that his followers seem to have lasted longer. I am not even sure how to defend the high praise with just the evidence of the CDs, and it seems so lame to retort that you wouldn't understand unless you saw him live. However the high praise IS deserved.
― Alexander Blair, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
I can see how he'd be made into a hero figure because anyone who the "legalise the weed man" crew can get their hands on gets this treatment. Fuck that, that's really the tip of the iceberg. Even if the actual points he's making are a little tired now, or even if they were then, it's the way he makes them, the genuine anger, concern, you can see he really is affected by alot of the issues he discusses.
― Ronan, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Lord Custos 2.0 beta, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Nick Southall, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― mark s, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― RickyT, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― nathalie, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
I've just finished reading his hagiography, sorry I mean biography, by Cynthia True and was actually in tears at the end when he died. How sad am I? Apparently he had the pain in his stomach for ages, but was just so busy that he didn't bother goinf to get it checked out.
Anyway, some of his stuff may sound a little dated, but it's only because so many people have stolen his ideas since. His delivery though is always incredible.
About the goatboy thing, not funny. But apparently he invented the character to piss off the Guardian reading audiences in the UK who he felt loved him too much!
I love Rant-In-E-Minor, apart from, maybe, the Marblehead Johnson tracks interwoven amongst the comedy (put in because no-one would sign them).
― Chewshabadoo, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
I agree about the goatboy thing, but it was kind of fascinating on the video I saw (a U.K. performance) to see him knowingly take it out for way longer than seemed necessary.
― Jordan, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Lynskey, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
The first two albums are funny but seem a little unfocused. Haven't heard Arizona Bay. Rant In E-Minor is a masterpiece of bile and catharsis that manages to be uplifting at the same time.
Hicks' best moment didn't make it onto the albums (unless it's on AB) - "If anyone here is in marketing...kill yourselves."
― Justyn Dillingham, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Jordan, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― stevie, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― monstatruk, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― bob snoom, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Lord Custos 2.0 beta, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― mark s, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― dog latin, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― bnw, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ronan, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sterling Clover, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers, Friday, 10 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Justyn Dillingham, Saturday, 11 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― stevie, Saturday, 11 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― AaronHz (AaronHz), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 06:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― stew s, Tuesday, 5 October 2004 07:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 5 October 2004 10:59 (nineteen years ago) link
Dud:1) Goatboy2) Marblehead Johnson3) Tool fans claiming him for their own.4) Dennis Leary gaining a shitload of fame and money for doing a diluted version of the exact same schtick.
― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 15:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:02 (nineteen years ago) link
CBS is advertising that Friday night's Letterman show will have the never-seen Hicks footage that was cut. Dunno if it's all of it or what.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 30 January 2009 09:07 (fifteen years ago) link
Apparently it's the whole routine.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 30 January 2009 09:43 (fifteen years ago) link
there wasn't really that much to it- just the pro-lifers routine?
i always thought his routines were better written than delivered- his habit of talking down to an audience didn't appeal to me at all in the DVD i managed to catch.
― Redknapp out (darraghmac), Friday, 30 January 2009 09:49 (fifteen years ago) link
DO YOU SEE
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 30 January 2009 10:27 (fifteen years ago) link
i always thought his routines were better written than delivered-
Yes. He was clearly a smart guy, but I have a problem with any comedian who thinks they're enlightening us with the truth. That whole "I'm going to wake you sheep up to the way things really are" attitude is not my cup of tea. I'd prefer a good fart joke any day.
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 30 January 2009 14:42 (fifteen years ago) link
i miss fritz
― and what, Friday, 30 January 2009 15:37 (fifteen years ago) link
I wonder if mark s would like Rescue Me
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 30 January 2009 15:39 (fifteen years ago) link
I've always been fascinated by the whole "Denis Leary stole Bill Hicks' act" meme. I personally think that for someone as legendary as Hicks, he hasn't dated well at all.
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 30 January 2009 17:31 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, I'm not sure who stole from who. But I never had any use for what Hicks I've heard/seen; just seemed like dumb stoner humor to me. And Rescue Me is one of my favorite TV shows of the decade. (Liked Leary's Lock N Load album from 1997 okay, too.)
― xhuxk, Friday, 30 January 2009 18:22 (fifteen years ago) link
i really wish The Job had stuck around for a few seasons, tho i hear Rescue Me is pretty similar
― velko, Friday, 30 January 2009 18:24 (fifteen years ago) link
I like Bill Hicks well enough tho I wish he didn't blow into the microphone. His fawningest fans seem to be very hateful and misanthropic people. I do quote him, tho: "Whatchoo READIN for?" Which I say to my dog a lot.
― Abbott of the Trapezoid Monks (Abbott), Friday, 30 January 2009 18:40 (fifteen years ago) link
I wish I had not known so many hateful and misanthropic stoners in my life.
― Abbott of the Trapezoid Monks (Abbott), Friday, 30 January 2009 18:41 (fifteen years ago) link
I can't imagine listening to Hicks again, but there was something cathartic about hearing his old political routines in the post-9/11-Iraq invasion era.
As utterly cheesy as it is, I can't imagine Kinison/Clay or even a Burr/Stanhope doing anything remotely as humane as his "it's just a ride" bit.
― Greta Van Show Feets BB (milo z), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 18:41 (five years ago) link
I'm amazed anyone can even attempt comedy in this clenched-butthole cultural moment
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius)
"nancy" is pretty funny
― the scientology of mountains (rushomancy), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 18:51 (five years ago) link
There's a lot of great comedy out there right now. The whole "snowflakes" argument, re: stand-up at least, is generally the domain of the Bill Maher/Adam Carolla types who are bitter that they're not what's in anymore.
― Timothée Charalambides (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 19:05 (five years ago) link
Keep culture wars out of comedy, say fans of bill hicks
― A funny tinge happened on the way to the forum (wins), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 19:09 (five years ago) link
read that guardian article the other day and thought the responses were predictable (not bad, just predictable). i relistened to all of hicks's stuff last year and thought the music stuff had aged badly, but i dunno, there was still a lot of funny material, and his timing was always sharp. to a certain extent you're going to run into offensive, dated material if you listen to any classic comedy -- i mean, there's sexist stuff in bob newhart's routines, or the marx brothers' movies. of course no one has to seek out any of that stuff if they don't want to, but not everyone is content to "get their funny fix from instagram." (and yes that's an actual quote from the article, lol.)
tbh, this part stuck with me more than the more obvious criticisms:
It’s not just the rock’n’roll stylings that seem quaint. It’s the things that got Hicks wound up: advertising, marketing, capitalism, and how they captured and sullied all things good. A generation later, advertising is the air we breathe, our selves are our product. It’s harder – for comedians and everyone else – to imagine how life could ever be otherwise. Bob seems to be understating things when she says: “Selling out has evolved in meaning.”
the hicks stuff that resonates with me most is probably also his most dated material: the anti-marketing/branding stuff. the amount of branding/self-promo that goes on basically everywhere now makes me queasy, and it's already hard to imagine life without it. i mean, someone who does a hicks-esque rant on a twitter thread now is probably trying to sell you their book.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 19:32 (five years ago) link
well but we all know that's why modern life is rubbish
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 19:34 (five years ago) link
That very deliberate conflation of hating capitalist reality with calling out the mentality of privilege is the total MO of shitty defensive bigotry in 2019
― See me in mi heels an' tinge (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 19:41 (five years ago) link
The best bits of Hicks (anti-advertising, anti-nationist, pro-psychedelics) are out of tune with the zeitgeist of 2019, the worst bits (reactionary prejudice, violence, contempt, conspiracy theories) sound like standard kit for the iconoclastic libertarian assholes who seem to be all over the internet. Conclusion: 2019 not that great after all.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 20:14 (five years ago) link
Solid material but his delivery was not as strong as it could have been. It is my firm opinion that this is why Denis Leary took his shtick (quite literally in a few cases) and parlayed it into much more success than Hicks ever had. It pains me to admit this because Leary is a Masshole tool, but there it is.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 20:22 (five years ago) link
D Leary's most trenchant observation was that peak-beauty DiCaprio looked like a hot 14-yo girl
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 20:39 (five years ago) link
anyway, i was barely aware of Hicks while he was alive, and most of what i know of him came from when i reviewed the documentary 8 years ago:
https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/american-the-bill-hicks-story-2/
(ie don't ask me to defend my opinions, bcz i'd forgotten them)
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 20:46 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuQC6gvWEf8
― ☮ (peace, man), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 21:12 (five years ago) link
That's the only Bill Hicks thing I know other than Chicks Dig Jerks and no one has been talking about it on this thread, so.
― ☮ (peace, man), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 21:15 (five years ago) link
I had never heard of him but he had an appearance on a local cable show broadcast in New Jersey called Live From Rascals, which was a nearby comedy club. It was absolutely hysterical in 1988, but he sort of believed his own hype and became a dress in leather truth teller, which is never funny.
Anyway here is the clip from the Rascals show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGl88pvfX9c
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 27 February 2019 22:35 (five years ago) link
why are the "feminine" Debbie Gibson and George Michael bad and "real men" like Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones good?
a routine i hated even when i loooooved hicks
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 22:43 (five years ago) link
Sorry, I guess I was a 16 year old rockist
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 27 February 2019 22:48 (five years ago) link
i was too! but iirc the "joke" is that jimi hendrix is raping debbie gibson with his guitar dick, it's a bad joke
i mean i know it has been established that hicks did not trade in jokes but he was capable of being funny
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 23:34 (five years ago) link
i should prob revisit him before really assessing the quality of his jokes. i'm guessing i would prob still enjoy the incredibly vivid jay leno suicide by uzi bit
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 23:42 (five years ago) link
I have a low threshold for the tellin'-it-like-it-is comics of the 80s/90s. Except for Carlin, of course, but that's not really fair because he was the best stand-up ever and could do about 10 other things (other than the truth-teller guise) better than anyone else. And his "Americans suck" bits at least had a bit of charm about them.
― Sam Weller, Thursday, 28 February 2019 14:05 (five years ago) link
I recall that Lenny Bruce's stuff when i was a kid was considered dated as all hell and in the UK at least he was rarely if ever referenced by the new comedians, you really could not get hold of his stuff anywhere either, it just seemed to have vanished. This is just 'a thing' that happens to comedy? It's interesting how Louie is being called out for his 'jokes' about school shootings which were obviously not funny at all but old fans have said it's no different to his early stuff, yet there's a million things in say Eminem lyrics that could be similarly criticised which.. aren't being. Yet. Or not in Guardian articles or whatever.
― piscesx, Thursday, 28 February 2019 14:40 (five years ago) link
Tbf nobody gives a shit about Eminem in 2019
― See me in mi heels an' tinge (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 28 February 2019 14:44 (five years ago) link
There are certain ILXors who care very, very deeply about Eminem and have in fact gone so far as to write up detailed rankings of his entire catalog in the past week.
― grawlix (unperson), Thursday, 28 February 2019 14:47 (five years ago) link
Whiney cares about Eminem in 2019 iirc
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 28 February 2019 14:53 (five years ago) link
Chart stats for Eminem's last album from 2018 FYI:
Australian Albums 1Austrian Albums 1Belgian Albums 1Canadian Albums 1Czech Albums 1Danish Albums 1Dutch Albums 1Finnish Albums 1French Albums 3German Albums 2Greek Albums 3Irish Albums 1Italian Albums 1 New Zealand Albums 1Norwegian Albums 1Scottish Albums 1Swedish Albums 1Swiss Albums 1UK Albums 1US Billboard 200 1US Top R&B/Hip-Hop 1
― piscesx, Thursday, 28 February 2019 15:03 (five years ago) link
May god go with him and his loyal fans
― See me in mi heels an' tinge (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 28 February 2019 15:28 (five years ago) link
99% of occasions where "dated" is used require the hard application of a sock o' manure to the offender
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 28 February 2019 15:36 (five years ago) link
― piscesx, Thursday, February 28, 2019 6:40 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
louis' material is attracting greater scrutiny because he's now an outed sex criminal. he used to be able to get away with edge-lord comedy because people's idea of him was that he was a nice, liberal (plenty of material paying lip-service to the existence of misogyny, inequality in his oeuvre) guy, most no longer think that, so the, very similar, material he now comes out with is demonized.
when eminem did that terrible trump rap there were articles online about how problematic eminem is and how that doesn't sit well with a makeover as a "resistance" guy
― ( ͡☉ ͜ʖ ͡☉) (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:20 (five years ago) link
been thinking a lot about this guy lately. what was his fucking problem
― frogbs, Wednesday, 14 September 2022 02:25 (one year ago) link
pancreas problems iirc
― ミ💙🅟 🅛 🅤 🅡 🅜 🅑💙彡 (Austin), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 02:42 (one year ago) link
dry squeegeed his third eye too hard
― look like Farley smoke like Marley (Sufjan Grafton), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:35 (one year ago) link
This is completely a recycled Bill Hicks bit.
World is 4000 years old. Dinosaurs were planted by god to confuse us— 𝔊𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 (@Grimezsz) September 13, 2022
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:38 (one year ago) link
Except for Carlin, of course, but that's not really fair because he was the best stand-up ever and could do about 10 other things (other than the truth-teller guise) better than anyone else.Hicks >>> CarlinHicks never made “jokes” justifying wiping out endangered species.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:39 (one year ago) link
I will poll my list of 50 worst Bill Hicks bits one day, don't think he made a joke about wiping out an endangered species but pretty sure most of them are worse than that.
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:45 (one year ago) link
Yeah but he was brave enough to speak up about how contemptible a woman is for working in a restaurant
― Wiggum Dorma (wins), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:49 (one year ago) link
Hicks never made “jokes” justifying wiping out endangered species. dude just whined a lot
― brimstead, Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:51 (one year ago) link
Carlin asked where the blue food was while coked up and it's on tape
― look like Farley smoke like Marley (Sufjan Grafton), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:51 (one year ago) link
?
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:53 (one year ago) link
Admittedly Hicks deliver was usually strident but what I’ve seen of Carlin is even more overbearing. I don’t remember the “reader” bit being misogynist, it was mostly just pointing out the anti-intellectual strain of the American heartland, especially the South, and the butt of the joke happened to be female. I’m sure he did have some truly awful bits but again nothing I recall equivalent to “extinction lol”. Carlin is also the leading proponent of “rape is funny” iirc.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:56 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l04dn8Msm-Y
― look like Farley smoke like Marley (Sufjan Grafton), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:57 (one year ago) link
His funniest bits are trying to channel Richard Pryor. I know I know, Kinnison > Hicks too, given.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 17:59 (one year ago) link
Kinnison is the least funny human to ever live
― look like Farley smoke like Marley (Sufjan Grafton), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 18:01 (one year ago) link
he’s definitely funnier than me
― brimstead, Wednesday, 14 September 2022 18:02 (one year ago) link
ymmv wrt misogyny (helps if you ignore a shitload of evidence from his other routines) but the classism of “lol imagine working as a waitress what scum” is I think p indisputable
― Wiggum Dorma (wins), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 18:06 (one year ago) link
I was just parroting the lore on that one tbh. I usually get Kinnison and the Screaming Bob guy mixed up.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 18:06 (one year ago) link
(Xpost sorry)
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Wednesday, 14 September 2022 18:07 (one year ago) link
also I cannot forgive the kind of prick who would describe Thatcher's Britain or even post-Thatcher Britain as a "socialist nightmare".
― calzino, Wednesday, 14 September 2022 18:11 (one year ago) link
ILX folks really take incidental asides from an extended riff personally. That was somewhere near this rant wasn’t it?
I was in Australia, and the Australians had a big contingency at the Branch Davidian compound, and I’m from Texas so they were very curious. They were asking me all about it, you know. ‘Oh, this guy’s so weird, in’t he? This guy Koresh is so weird.’ And I was thinking, well, wait a minute. Frustrated rock musician with a messianic complex, armed to the teeth, and trying to fuck everything that moves. I don’t know how to tell you this: sounds like every one of my friends in Austin. I don’t know if this is gonna be an isolated incident.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Thursday, 15 September 2022 17:23 (one year ago) link
(I just read the script, didn’t listen, but I’m guessing his take on an Aussie accent is atrocious. Y’all can go ahead and chalk another demerit on the list for that one too.)
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Thursday, 15 September 2022 17:25 (one year ago) link
Ok I guess “demerit” is specifically American lingo too. Fuck me.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Thursday, 15 September 2022 17:26 (one year ago) link
― frogbs
i don't know but whatever it is a lot of cis white dudes seem to have similar problems
carlin holds up surprisingly well imo, one of these days i might do a proper rewatch of "you are all diseased". he's doing a bit... this is something released in 2000 where he's complaining about airport security. and i'm thinking, "oh no...", but he turns it into, hey, you know what the real shitty thing about airport security is? it's systemically racist. (except he's funny when he says it because he's a comedian.) he starts out saying some kind of cringey white guy edgelord shit but he keeps twisting it _against_ white guy edgelords.
even when he says stupid shit, like complaining about vaccines (which is also something he does in that special), you're never quite _sure_ if he means it because it's like... wait, he's not _actually_ suggesting that kids should swim in raw sewage because it will "toughen them up", is he? if hicks did that routine i wouldn't question for a second that he genuinely meant it.
― Kate (rushomancy), Thursday, 15 September 2022 23:53 (one year ago) link