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This Friday on Letterman: Bill Hicks?!

by Bob Sassone, posted Jan 28th 2009 1:11PM

Bill HicksBill Hicks was only 32 years old when he died of cancer in 1994. If you've never heard of him, or heard of him but didn't get a chance to see any of his work, tune into The Late Show with David Letterman this Friday night.

One of Letterman's guests will be Hicks' mom (the show was taped earlier this week). She'll be there to mark the 15th anniversary of Hicks' death. Now, this may seem like an odd thing for a talk show to do, have the mom of a deceased comic on, but there's special meaning behind this appearance. Just five months before his death, Hicks appeared on The Late Show and did a scathing stand-up routine (the kind he usually did) which attacked everything from religion to politics. Unfortunately, it was too hot for the show and the performance was never shown, and this really hurt Hicks. On Friday, Letterman is finally going to show the performance.

Hicks wasn't for everyone, but you have to admire how much he threw himself into his role as a stand-up comic. A lot of people say that Denis Leary borrowed a lot of his act from Hicks, and I don't know if that's true or fair, but I think it is fair to say that a lot of comics were heavily influenced by him. Russell Crowe might play Hicks in a movie.

[via Pop Candy]

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J.

Leary borrowed? Are you kidding? Leary stole his material. This has been proven over and over.

February 02 2009 at 3:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
G Gold

Yes Hicks!

I had the pleasure of working will Bill every night at Catch a Rising Star in NY. Leary as well.

Just for the record... Leary borrowed nothing from Hicks. There was a healthy mutual respect I'm sure... but Dennis totally had his own thing.

On the best nights there was competition... The Babe Ruth/Marylin Monroe in Heaven vs. the Quality Dies routines.

Bless you Hicks!

January 30 2009 at 9:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ryan

Someone other than Russell Crowe please. He's nearing 45 and Hicks died when he was 32.

January 29 2009 at 4:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Laura

i will be watching letterman for the first time - this sounds like it could be quite interesting...thanks!

January 28 2009 at 4:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

Love Bill Hicks. Thanks for the heads up on this.

January 28 2009 at 3:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joey Geraci

Well, I am going to watch Letterman Friday for the first time in a long time. That is very cool that he is showing that.

January 28 2009 at 2:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Homestar

Like it says above, Bill Hicks isn't for everyone. He had a macabre, profane, vulgar way to his comedy that made him one of a kind for taking a different look at the world. For those unaware of who he is, this brief clip from one of his shows can summarize Bill Hicks pretty quickly.

NSFW (lotsa curse words, among other things)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo

January 28 2009 at 2:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
DarthPaul

Bill Hicks was awesome. Very aware of the world.

The odd thing is that a lot of his rants in the early 1990s could quite as easily have been transplanted to the early 2000s, what with the Bush administration, Gulf war, crazy christians, war on drugs, etc, etc. I was too young to have been into him when he was alive but his live recordings seem to be pretty resonant to the dissolusioned youth of the western world

January 28 2009 at 1:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
FlagPatrick

I've seen Bill Hicks's HBO One Night Stand. Laughed out loud at every minute of it. And yeah it does get a bit ranty but for some reason it works even now.

January 28 2009 at 1:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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