MovieChat Forums > American: The Bill Hicks Story (2011) Discussion > Does Bill Hicks iconic status irritate ...

Does Bill Hicks iconic status irritate current comedians?

posted 14 years ago by AStreetwalkingCheetah
15 replies | jump to latest

The most telling example of this for me was with Dara O'Briain,in Hot Press a few months ago,Hicks was mentioned and O'Briain got slightly irate,this is not word for word but along the lines of,"he has you in such thrall,all you young journalists,the great "dead man",there was a bit more after that,which I've completely forgotten,but you do get the sense of someone so tired of hearing about Hicks that it's become quite irksome.Dara is an excellent,and intelligent comic,nothing against him,he's a brilliant comedian that can lower or higher his game depending on his audience.I can see his point,you can read reviews of Russell Brand with comparison to Hicks,(which I don't get,at all),Stewart Lee(cannot see that many similarities anymore,although no denying he is an excellent stand up)Glenn Wool,Steve Hughes and basically anybody that has religious,political and/or drug use in their routine.Being constantly compared to a guy who never lost that fire or passion,never advertised some product,or hit middle age and revalued his principles/cash flow must get really tiring.Do these comparisons happen elsewhere,or just in the UK/Ireland?

[–] freq32 14 years ago

bill is god, any comedian worth his salt should worship him.

Please Don't Bother Me, I'm Watching Something Else Now.

[–] iscream22 14 years ago

I don't know if it's his iconic status that irritates comedians but i think its comedians being compared to Bill Hicks all the time. People always tell "alternative" comedians like Doug Stanhope, David Cross or Joe Rogan "How does it feel to be the next Bill Hicks"?

I believe theres an interview on youtube about Stanhope being compared to Bill Hicks and he basically said hes flattered to be compared to the great Bill Hicks but he doesnt want people to feel like hes a hack or unoriginal/ripping other comedians off (which hes not).

I think the main comparison with these comedians to Hicks is that these people may have been inspired by Hicks because Hicks was unafraid of telling the truth, being brutally honest, and saying whatever was on his mind regardless of what the audience reaction is.

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[–] freq32 14 years ago

right, plus he's dead now and they don't wanna be dead like him.

:)

[–] imwithstupid_35 13 years ago

Boy do I dislike Doug Stanhope.

Hicks is awesome, but Carlin was the greatest.

[–] NoodleLizard 13 years ago

Agreed. Carlin is criminally underrated in the UK (less so in America, probably), but I think he was one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) comedians who ever lived. He literally encompassed everything good about comedy.

These bastards!

[–] NoodleLizard 13 years ago

Funny you mention Stewart Lee. Stewart Lee lists Hicks among his favourite stand-ups, but also included a sketch on his show "Comedy Vehicle" about the idiocy of people worshiping a fictional comedian clearly based on Hicks.

I think, in the UK especially, there's a lot of idol-worship with regards to Hicks, and he's almost become a God to certain comedy fans, and as much of a Hicks fan as I am, a lot of it seems false. I think if Hicks hadn't died so young, none of his work would have been seen in this light. As great as he was, he wasn't particularly innovative, nor was he particularly funny (most of the time you're laughing because he's pointed out a hypocrisy or absurdity).

Ugh. I explained that terribly
I think the point is that his name gets dropped far too many times, and as such kind of trivialises what was actually good about him.

These bastards!

[–] AStreetwalkingCheetah 13 years ago

Dil Meeks,wasn't it?!Mice...fag rats!Seemed like that character was an amalgamation of Bill and Leary.Stewart Lee is the greatest of the British comics of the last few years,in my opinion anyway,but Comedy Vehicle doesn't really do him justice,by a long way.
Bill was and still is really funny,but in a horrible and informative way...would you rather think you're fighting for your country,or would you like to think that some relatively third world nation could realistically infringe upon you're freedom...or would you rather know you're a disposable meat shield collecting the second rate ammunition fired at you by the third world inhabitants of a country,armed and ripped apart,by the weapons you supplied them with.Where's that trillion dollar arms industry money going to go,if there's no-one to shoot!

"Pick Up the Gun"...

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] Promontorium 12 years ago

You are just a hater. And a moron. Don't try to tell people why they laughed. If you don't think he's funny, that's fine, but why the hell are you even here?

Seriously, who the f$ck watches a documentary about a comedian they don't like? What the hell is wrong with you? Every one of you that doesn't like Bill Hicks is a moron and probably partially psychotic, not for not liking him, that's an opinion, but for watching a documentary about him and then coming on here to bitch about how he isn't funny.

[–] NoodleLizard 12 years ago

I can only assume you're replying to the wrong person here, since Bill Hicks is among my favourite comedians of all time.

You, however, are a supreme douche and I'm embarrassed to share an interest in anything with you.

These bastards!

[–] therefdotcom 7 years ago

ah, a typical "enlightened" hicks fan.

[–] metalspirit88 13 years ago

It probably wouldn't irritate current comedians so much if they didn't completely suck. Unfortunately, most comedians these days do.

:-)

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] CopOnTheEdge 12 years ago

I noticed once on TV Sean Hughes seemed to have a similar contempt for him, basically saying he wasn't all that.

[–] strongbad-274-706634 11 years ago

Hey, I didn't not like him UNTIL I watched the documentary. I had no idea he was not funny until I watched it.