Bill Hicks ... you're having a laugh

moggie · 02-09-2004 09:28AM

DrColossus wrote:

Bill hicks was good imo. But most of his stuff was very similar to Dennis Learys.

ok
now
listen
before
I
try
to reach
through
this screen
and trottle you

Leary lifted Hick's material
Leary is a thief
Leary copied
Hicks

Dr. Loon · 02-09-2004 09:41AM

moggie wrote:

ok
now
listen
before
I
try
to reach
through
this screen
and trottle you

Leary lifted Hick's material
Leary is a thief
Leary copied
Hicks

You beat me to it. Although some of Leary's stuff was good, he mostly copied Bill Hicks as far as I recall.

RuggieBear · 02-09-2004 09:52AM

Dr. Loon wrote:

You beat me to it. Although some of Leary's stuff was good, he mostly copied Bill Hicks as far as I recall.

Ditto. Hicks was doing his thang before Leary. I liked no cure for cancer (actually is that name a tribute to Hicks?) but i saw his second show live in the olympia a few years back and it was apalling. Not funny....obvious jokes and talking about his kids!!!! Didn't help that the warm up was the hilarious tommy tiernen (well he was funny back then) who stole the show...

Mate gave me a bill Hicks poster with some of his quotes and i've been a huge fan since.

p

henbane · 02-09-2004 09:55AM

ixoy wrote:

Eh so Cactus Col is a sheep for not liking the comedian everyone else likes? :rolleyes:

Any chance you could say what you mean without using a fúcking smilie? Tis a modified Hicks line. Y'know humour and such.

Kone · 02-09-2004 10:01AM

Bill was a genius, no one comes near him....

Corben Dallas · 02-09-2004 10:09AM

Bill Hicks is Legend :cool:

bombidol · 02-09-2004 10:10AM

its a known fact that 80% of learys stuff was lifted from hicks. Hicks manager confronted him about it for and he had nothing to say. Theres a lot of leary stuff that was taken from hicks that was simply recited word for word and a lot of themes and stuff too that was just reworded slightly.
Leary was like the dumbed down hicks for the masses to me

Stephen · 02-09-2004 11:14AM

Clam lappers and sonic hedgehog, tbh.

Cactus Col · 02-09-2004 11:19AM

I reckon Preacher is probably a better description of Bill Hicks .... and he preached at people rather then to people

... I don't see what's so great about him .... he wasn't particularily funny and he just told people what they should have already known

Article on bill hicks .... for the fans

moggie · 02-09-2004 11:24AM

there's a bit in the book American Scream which tells of Hicks hearing one of Leary's tapes while in the car with a mate

Hicks exploded
he went mental
couldn't believe that Leary nicked his stuff

thing that gets me tho' is this: how stupid did Leary think the public were?
didn't he realise we'd cop what he was trying to pull?

Redleslie2 · 02-09-2004 11:38AM

I saw Hicks and Leary being interviewed on tv at the Montreal comedy festival (talking about Gerry Sadowitz being attacked onstage before he'd finished a joke about Tina Turner) and they looked quite matey. It was not long before Hicks died. Which bits did Leary nick?

Personally, I'd rather go see unknown comedians in the international than go see some bloke copy Hicks's routine.

ixoy · 02-09-2004 11:54AM

henbane wrote:

Any chance you could say what you mean without using a fúcking smilie? Tis a modified Hicks line. Y'know humour and such.

Umm I'd have thought it was obvious, y'know. Sheep doing/thinking the same as everyone else. Cactus col not doing/thinking the same as everyone else. Everyone else here liked Hicks, Cactus col didn't follow the same pattern as everyone else thus Cactus Col not really a good example of a sheep...

henbane · 02-09-2004 12:21PM

ixoy wrote:

Umm I'd have thought it was obvious, y'know. Sheep doing/thinking the same as everyone else. Cactus col not doing/thinking the same as everyone else. Everyone else here liked Hicks, Cactus col didn't follow the same pattern as everyone else thus Cactus Col not really a good example of a sheep...

Stepping away from potential flamewar. It was obvious - hence the lack of need for the goddamn rolleyes.

Much as me stating that he should watch carrot top and pauly shore made it fairly obvious I was not entirely serious. My point which I chose not to explain quite as clearly as other posters have since done was that Hicks was about more than the audience getting a giggle at the funny man. If you have listened to some of those mp3s you may have heard the phrase "go back to sleep, america" or something similar with further references to sheep-like masses happy with american gladiators and purple vein dick jokes, etc.

ixoy · 02-09-2004 12:31PM

henbane wrote:

Stepping away from potential flamewar. It was obvious - hence the lack of need for the goddamn rolleyes.

Someone doesn't like smilies

(sorry couldn't resist, point taken)

If you have listened to some of those mp3s you may have heard the phrase "go back to sleep, america" or something similar with further references to sheep-like masses happy with american gladiators and purple vein dick jokes, etc.

I've heard clips from him here and there, just never the full rant. I seem to recall a speech about the Gulf War (1991 version) and it was eerily applicable to today's situation so I'm assuming most of his material has a certain timeless quality (frighteningly enough).

RuggieBear · 02-09-2004 03:27PM

moggie wrote:

thing that gets me tho' is this: how stupid did Leary think the public were?
didn't he realise we'd cop what he was trying to pull?

But he has done very well out off it hasn't he?

He has more money than me that's for sure.....But i wonder is he really happy?!?

p

amp · 02-09-2004 03:32PM

I like to think that Leary was continuing to spread the message that Hicks started. Plus Hicks never did the asshole song or the Traditional Irish song, both of which make Leary worthy of note in his own right.

It could be argued that Leary sold out to become an "actor" but tbh after seeing him in the Olympia a couple of years ago I could forgive him pretty much anything. I was thirsty from crying with laughter. (thankfully there was beer)

RuggieBear · 02-09-2004 04:14PM

amp wrote:

It could be argued that Leary sold out to become an "actor" but tbh after seeing him in the Olympia a couple of years ago I could forgive him pretty much anything. I was thirsty from crying with laughter. (thankfully there was beer)

I saw him at the Olympia a few years back on his lock & load tour.....neither myself nor my father laughed once. I came to see an angry man instead i got jokes about his kid's irritating toys, how the hanson's would crash and burn and some rubbish about coffee. I left an angry man.

I still think no cure for cancer is very entertaining tho....

remoteboy · 02-09-2004 04:40PM

Bill used to refer to Leary as Donovan. Draw your own conclusions...

Having said that, 'No Cure For Cancer' is pretty funny, unlike the new stuff.

Interesting fact about 'No Cure..' (that I'm about 80% sure of) is that it was written in London where Denis Leary lived for about 9 months because his newborn baby was too sick to travel. At the time he shared a flat with David Baddiel, who contributed some ideas and jokes. Indeed the first time I heard the 'Whiskey Face' joke was in a David Baddiel routine...

Finally, to get this thread back on to Bill, I think it's unfair to say he wasn't a comedian because he was more of a preacher character. Bill played an unbelievable number of gigs in his short life and never lost sight of the fact that he was a stand-up comic. If you look beyond the material, you have to respect the craft. Hicks' comic timing and ability to hold an audience in the palm of his hand was remarkable. I saw him in the Tivoli back in the day and couldn't catch a breath. When he found out that he had inoperable cancer, he kept on touring for as long as he could, making sure that he always had access to a medical facility wherever he played.

evilbubbs · 02-09-2004 04:56PM

the thing about hicks material is we havent heard most of it from the previous years (anything from the late eighties).
bill recorded alot of material just as a point that he wanted to leave behind something for all.

leary did lift material from hick as well as other comedians, at the time and still to this day, a little teifin from here and there is acceptable, but what leary did was lift entire skits, for info i think leary was going on about the partrige family, hicks did something bout the brady's.

its just one of those things.

as for the gentleman doing the stand up routine in the sugar club,
to be honest, its about the comedy equal of a drag act or covers band.

i understand people will say its a fans night, its a night to share in the big joke that the world miss. but still it does sound like somebody who needs to carve a bit for himself first rather then doing other peoples stuff. maybe have a hick's night, a big screen and play some footage accompanied by annecdotes bout a situation or two. that would have been better.

Spenguin · 02-09-2004 07:47PM

Yeah he was pretty feckin funny. He made you laugh at the horrible and stupid aspects of life. Which is the most fun way to look with them.

DeVore · 03-09-2004 03:04PM

as for the gentleman doing the stand up routine in the sugar club,
to be honest, its about the comedy equal of a drag act or covers band.

If you havent seen him (as I suspect you havent) I can understand you thinking that. I thought that too. Until I went to see him perform. yes its a cover but seeing him perform live is the closest we'll get to seeing Hicks perform it live.
Go see it and tell me you arent impressed because he got a standing ovation at the end of it from the Sugar Club audience.

DeV.

Sarky · 03-09-2004 03:19PM

He's like Jesus with gags. Damn good gags, too.

evilbubbs · 03-09-2004 04:47PM

DeVore wrote:

If you havent seen him (as I suspect you havent) I can understand you thinking that. I thought that too. Until I went to see him perform. yes its a cover but seeing him perform live is the closest we'll get to seeing Hicks perform it live.
Go see it and tell me you arent impressed because he got a standing ovation at the end of it from the Sugar Club audience.

DeV.

is this a regular gig for him, or when is the next appearance in the guise of bill hicks?

also does this guy do his own material (at other gigs of course)?

but this also brings me back to another question.
has anyone access to material older then the 91/93.
i think its better to see this aswell as a progression of his talent.

evilbubbs · 03-09-2004 05:04PM

a few clips......
just to remind us

bill stuff1
billchat2
billchat3
billchat4
billchat5
billchat6
bill chat7
billsong

De Jay Vu · 24-09-2004 06:17PM

Hey guys, glad some of you liked the show,
I came up with the idea and put the show together with Emser (Jay here btw). We have been listening to the man for years and thought it was a shame that more people didnt know about him, he was more than a comedian he was prophet, philosopher etc. You all know where this is going but most of all he was a human and to think that his messages should be stifled by small minds is more than we were willing to let slow us down.
We knew there would be begrudgers but I can promise you that most of them who came to the show left glad that they had bothered to flesh out their opinions. The next one is on Sat Oct 23rd and anybody who wants to mail me will receive a discount.
Thanks to all of you who showed us your support. We need a little more love in all of our lives I think...
WaaaaGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
De Jay Vu.

milltown · 25-09-2004 06:30AM

I don't see what the big deal is about the tribute show. Seems to me that a significant number of comedians in the past 10 - 15 years owe a lot to Bill, if not for the material then for the themes and the style. This guy is paying homage to the man and giving him the credit he deserves. I'm gonna try get to the next show.

Like Remoteboy I also had the privilege of seeing Bill in the Tivoli. How long ago was that now? A lot of people these days talk the same way about Bill Hicks as my teen peers talked about The Doors, as if they discovered someone from a previous generation that they could connect with. Apart from about 15 minutes of Goatboy which he seemed to lapse into when he lost track of where he was in the set I never laughed so long for so hard before or since. My face was sore for hours afterwards.

So, yes, I would call him a comic, but I also fully agree that he was a prophet, a preacher and a philosopher.

Bill Hicks ... you're having a laugh

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