ROCK ‘N’ ROLL COMEDIAN – Bill Hicks

“Drugs have done good things for us. If you don’t believe they have do me a favour. Take all your albums, CDs, tapes and burn them. Because you know what? The musicians who made that great music that has enhanced your lives throughout the years… real fucking high!” stated American comic Bill Hicks on numerous occasions as he toured the world, attempting to inject some sanity back into humanity. Hicks’ belief that rock music was authentic and manufactured pop was soulless and irrelevant resulted in an outburst during his acclaimed performance at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal; “When did mediocrity and banality become a good image for your children? I want my children to listen to people who fucking rocked! I don’t care if they died in puddles of their own vomit; I want someone who plays from his fucking heart!”

William Melvin Hicks was born on December 16th 1961 at Pineview General Hospital in Valdosta, Georgia to Jim and Mary Hicks. Their third child, Bill was raised in a loving and religious household, with the family relocating to Houston, Texas, whilst he was still young. Having little interest in the family’s regular visits to the church, Hicks instead immersed himself in The Tonight Show, watching routines from the likes of Freddie Prinze and Robert Klein with his television on quiet so his parents could not hear. But the comedian that would leave a lasting impression on the child was Woody Allen, who would release three albums of stand up material before retiring from comedy (he allegedly hated performing on stage) and turning his attention to filmmaking. Hicks’ passion for comedy was further fueled through his friendship with two children at his school: Kevin Booth and Dwight Slade.

Hicks and Slade first gave serious consideration to performing themselves during the spring of 1976 when they came across an advert in their local paper for the Easter Seals Telethon. Without notifying their parents, they cycled for two hours to the auditions and showcased their talents under the stage name Mel and Hal. Despite modest feedback the two were not picked but soon afterwards they tried once again at the Eighth Grade Talent Show, in which they plagiarised an Allen sketch to create their own skit called Death, about a man who receives a visit from the Grim Reaper. In the late 1970s, a Comedy Workshop opened in Houston and had decided to host amateur stand up nights on Monday and Tuesday, prompting Hicks, Slade and Booth to lie to their parents once again so they could make their way to the club. Hicks and Slade took to the stage as a double act and ran through a routine of one-liners about their failed attempts at scoring with girls. Despite their material being somewhat hit-and-miss, the duo impressed their audience, as well as local comic Steve Epstein, and were invited to return once again.

But by mid-summer, Slade’s family had relocated to Oregon and Hicks found the prospect of performing by himself too daunting. Instead, he became obsessed with his first real girlfriend, Laurie Mango, and the two frequented jazz bars and drive-ins, resulting in Hicks losing interest in comedy although he would regularly jam with Booth and their garage band Stress). Mango soon found Hicks’ intensity and devotion to her overwhelming and, after almost a year, brought their relationship to an end. When his father discovering that he was being transferred to Little Rock, Arkansas, his parents temporarily relocated to a motel in their new town whilst they searched for a new home for the family, leaving Hicks alone in Houston with their car. The Comedy Workshop’s stand up evenings had become such a success that the venue had decided to launch a new club called the Comix Annex, where Hicks would become a regular hit. Finally he was able to earn money for performing, providing his parents were satisfied with his school grades, and soon he began to attract the attention of other fellow comics on the scene, most notably Sam Kinison.

Convincing Hicks that he should relocate to Los Angeles, Kinison decided to host a fundraising night in order to fund their move to the west coast, with the event being dubbed the Outlaw Comics on the Lam. Hicks received further support from Argus Hamilton, who had already made the move to California and had begun dating Mitzi Shore, the owner of the Comedy Store who Hamilton claimed would be willing to give Hicks a shot. Soon after arriving in Los Angeles, Hicks tried to gain interest in The Suburbs, a comedy script that he had developed with Slade. Having developed an interest in sensory deprivation, Hicks became curious about psychedelic drugs due to many of his idols having experimented with different types of trips and decided to try LSD. With the Comic Workshop having opened a new club in Austin, Hicks decided to move back to Texas and be closer to his friends, where he took magic mushrooms with Epstein whilst sat outside the Comix Annex. Having downed several shots of Cuervo Gold tequila, Hicks took to the stage at the Workshop and felt nothing but hatred for his audience, which he felt were brainwashed and began to accuse them of being responsible for trite like Diff’rent Strokes being a success. This would mark a change in Hicks, in which his aggression and frustration would be unleashed on his unsuspecting audience.

By the time that Hicks was twenty-one he had become something of a star around the comedy scene in Austin. By this point, he had begun to poke holes at his childhood and discuss his personal experiences on stage, far removed from the mediocre material he had attempted to perform during his earlier shows. Hicks had also begun to dress all in black and smoke and drink frequently but, having felt disappointed that he had not attended college straight out of high school, attempted to better himself by enrolling at the University of Houston, where he studied philosophy and drama. Hicks’ career would receive a much-needed boost when comic and future chat show host Jay Leno performed in Austin and was asked by the owner of the club to talk to some of the young performers about stand up comedy. Sensing potential in the young comedian, Leno promised Hicks that he would try and get him a guest slot on Late Night with David Letterman. Hicks finally made his debut on December 5th 1984 and would mark the first of twelve appearances on the show, although the last would be shrouded in controversy when Hicks’ routine was cut prior to broadcast.

Both his reputation and humour caught the attention of Virginian club manager Sandy DiPerna, who had contacts around the country and offered to assist Hicks in landing gigs in other cities around America. But the offensive aspects of his routine was a concern for DiPerna, who felt that some audiences would not respond well to his explicit sexual references and strong political beliefs. Hicks’ drug use had also escalated, coupled with his tendency to drink heavily before performing, which had resulted in many of his shows becoming unpredictable. Other bizarre aspects would include Hicks appearing onstage as Elvis Presley (in a white jumpsuit with paper sideburns), whilst he would also talk like the legendary singer when not in front of an audience. By this point, Dwight was married but was still a performing comic, but Hicks’ rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle did not mix well with Slade’s clean living and the two hardly spoke.

Hicks relocated to New York in 1988, whilst also attending sessions for Alcoholics Anonymous to help curb his heavy drinking. But during a visit to L.A. that winter, he was introduced to Jack Mondrus, who at that time was managing various comedians. Mondrus promised Hicks regular television appearances, as well as higher paid gigs in comedy clubs, but first he had to reassure owners that the comic was not as fierce as his reputation had suggested. Having already appeared on Late Night with David Letterman several times, Hicks was a respected comic and managed to land a six-week support slot for Rodney Dangerfield, a popular comedian and actor, who had appeared in the hit Caddyshack and had already given Kinison his big break. Throughout 1989, Hicks regularly toured the country and had been the subject of countless newspaper and magazine articles, as well as further appearances on television. In Chicago, he landed several gigs at the newly-opened Comedy Firm, although one would result in Hicks becoming aggressive to his hecklers, eventually stating to one; “Hitler had the right idea, he was just an underachiever!”

In 1990, Hicks would perform two nights at a venue in Times Square, New York called Carolines on Broadway, where the material was recorded that would be released by independent label Invasion Records as his first album, Dangerous. Following heavy promotion, the album sold moderately well, although the material included was unsuitable for radio airplay (particularly the skit Please Do Not Disturb, which focused on the adult film industry). But Hicks was beginning to feel the pressure of the constant touring, which he had been doing for the better (or worse) part of a decade. Dangerous opened many doors for Hicks, allowing him to record a half-hour special for HBO entitled One Night Stand, whilst he also gained popularity in Britain, where his dark and sarcastic humour was well received. By this point, Hicks had become obsessed with the conspiracy surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy almost three decades earlier, as well as the current Gulf War and America’s then president, George Bush. He had also began to attack popular music artists, such as New Kids on the Block, Tiffany and Michael Bolton, as well as declaring his love for The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. He would also comment on the scandal surrounding two Judas Priest fans who had committed suicide, prompting the parents to sue the band.

In November 1992, Hicks performed at the Dominion Theatre in London, where he recorded the video concert Revelations (later released as part of Totally Bill Hicks on VHS and DVD), whilst also appearing at the Oxford Playhouse. The latter was released in edited form on CD in 2003 as Shock and Awe, although an uncut version followed two years later called Salvation. On June 15th 1993, following a severe pain he had been feeling in his side, Hicks was examined by a doctor and a mass was detected. Soon afterwards, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and understood that his condition was fatal. Hicks continued to perform for as long as possible, although as the demands for television appearances began to flood in he was unable to accept, despite keeping his illness a secret to anyone outside of his family. In early January 1994, Hicks made his final appearance at Caroline’s in New York but stopped his set midway through and called out to Colleen McGarr, co-owner of management firm Strauss-Mcgarr and Hicks’ fiancée, who promptly took him from the building and hailed a taxi. After writing his will on February 1st, he said goodbye to his friends and finally lost the power of speach two weeks later. Bill Hicks passed away on February 26th 1994 at the age of thirty-two. His older brother, Steve Hicks, read out a short poem at his memorial service that Bill had written and had requested as his last words. The passage read; “I left in love, in laughter, and in truth, and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit.”