Bill Hicks, one of the lesser known “famous” comedians, has been an inspiration to me and just a truly brilliant man. He’s dead now, like all the great ones, although he didn’t die from a drug overdose or from suicide. Sure, he did drugs, and he had a great time doing them, but he was more than clean and sober when he died. He was called The Dark Poet, and some of his observations and imaginative works about different people on the news and in the media were dark and funny as hell. He was considered an outlaw comic, and even had his entire set censored out of Letterman’s Late Night show. It had been approved and pre-approved before, but Letterman didn’t know if his audience could take what Bill was saying. He was saying things that people weren’t ready to hear, and he offended tons of people, but he did it in such a way that he became the voice of reason in an increasingly insane world. He reminds me a lot of myself, but I’m nowhere near as angry or bitter, but I have some of the same thoughts he does about the government and entertainment media. People say he died way too young, but I think he got his message out in time.
If you don’t know who this man is, I would suggest looking him up on Youtube. I don’t want to embed any videos on here because I want to keep- my website simple. He had such a great bit about negative drug stories in the news. He may have been a bit scathing at times, but he had to be. To steal a quote from the movie Se7en, “When you have something important to tell someone, you can’t just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to smash their face in with a sledgehammer, and then you’ll see you have their full attention.” I think that’s why Bill was so offensive, because if he didn’t talk in that way, he wouldn’t be able to get the ideas he was trying to spread into people’s thick skulls. I love the joke he does in the above link, “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.” It’s not just a joke, but it opens your mind to a different experience of looking at the world.
Also in that clip, thankfully, there is his most life-affirming piece of material called, “It’s just a ride.” Wonderful, enlightening piece of material that totally blows your mind. That is what all these enlightened teachers have been trying to teach, that life is a dream, or a ride, or something similar, and that to take it seriously, or as if it were real is only going to lead to suffering. The choice between fear and love. This guy got it, and he was also funny about it, which sure helps convey the message better. He made you laugh, and he made you think, and ponder. One audience member once yelled out, “I don’t go to comedy clubs to think.” Bill responded by saying, “Where do you go to think? I’ll meet you there.” He reminds me a lot of George Carlin, although I feel like Bill went further. Bill wasn’t afraid to bomb, he wasn’t afraid to express his unpopular opinions. The guy was Relentless, which coincidentally enough, was the title of one of his DVDs.
The sad part was, however, that he never gained a mainstream audience in America, because he was not allowed to express his ideas on television the way he wanted to and, frankly, most people were not ready to hear what he had to say. So he went to the UK to perform and his comedy was uncensored on Channel 4, and the people there loved him. He was allowed to be himself, not some censored, edited version of himself. He gained a huge following there, and he now has a sizable following in America, but not nearly as big as the Carlin fans or the other really popular comedians. His ideas were radical and controversial, and they made sense. He was no sellout, and would call out those who were. He was one of a kind, and had integrity and was honest. He told people how he saw the world and he was dead on. But like all the other people who say, “We should all just get along, stop fighting, become one with the world,” he died young, but not too young, because he at least got his messages out.
He would mock religion, mock these popular, mediocre pop artists, like the New Kids On the Block and Rick Astley. This was in the late 80s and early 90s, as Bill; tragically died in 1994. It’s amazing how many people have never heard of him. I hadn’t heard of him until late 2005. And it took me awhile to really warm up to him, just like it did with Carlin. But he has been a part of my life ever since, because listening to him is like getting an upgrade in integrity and consciousness. He sure had a lot to say. He used to joke that he was “Noam Chomsky with dick jokes.” He used to say something like, “I know what you guys are waiting for, and don’t worry, dick jokes are coming. I editorialize for about one hour, then we go down dick joke highway, because I know that’s why y’all are here. Don’t worry, they’re coming.” I’m sure he rubbed a lot of audience members the wrong way and some people probably think he is an asshole, but he was just trying to wake people up. That’s all. He truly wanted humanity to evolve to a higher state of consciousness, and isn’t that what we all want? I’d say so.
In closing, this guy is one of my heroes. He had morals, he had rebellion, he had such conviction in what he was saying that it just made him either more or less likable, depending on how much you agreed with him. I have more respect for him than any other comedian, because he was real, he was uncensored, and he would take risks that other comedians wouldn’t even dream of. I’m pretty sure he was a reclusive type of person, somebody who didn’t quite fit in, but he sure used that to his advantage to call out those who were completely full of shit. I just wish his work hadn’t fallen on mostly deaf ears during his lifetime. But today, I think the word is getting out more, and although not as sizable as others, his comedy can still entertain and enlighten us for decades more. Bill, you are a fucking hero and I hope more people get the word out about you like I’m doing right now.
Here’s some links that may be offensive, but I’m going to add them anyway:
- Bill Hicks on Rush Limbaugh
- Bill Hicks gets angry
- Bill Hicks-Play from your fucking heart
- Bill Hicks-Drugs and Music
- Bill Hicks on JFK Assassination
- Bill Hicks on Creationists
- Bill Hicks on Smoking
This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are so many more clips on Youtube of this man and his thoughts, so feel free to browse because I have a feeling you might learn something. The Rush Limbaugh one is a bit offensive, just to warn you.
