Bill Hicks was the finest comedian of my generation. He was fearless and constantly challenged the lies and hypocrisy of governments, religion, the media and marketing. In the book Love All the People, containing Hicks’s letters, lyrics and routines, John Cleese describes him as “Savage, brilliant, funny and tremendously intelligent.” The wonderful Bill Bailey says, “All he did, really, was to tell the truth about the way he saw the world – and this is the hardest thing to do on stage and still be funny with it. Hicks’s life was spent in this quest and he succeeded brilliantly, and to me and countless others he remains nothing short of an inspiration.”
Bill passed away on 26th February 1994 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 32. Myself and a couple of friends saw Bill do a 10 minute bit at the 1993 Moosehead Awards, the annual fundraiser at the end of the Melbourne Comedy Festival. It was nothing short of an epiphany. 25 years on, his observations are as fresh as ever and I can still see him on stage at the Atheneum Theatre delivering this:
“You know, Christianity is such a weird religion. A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. Do you think when Jesus comes back he’s gonna wanna see a f….g cross man? Oww. That may be why he hasn’t shown up yet.” ‘Shit, they’re still wearing crosses. F…k it, I’m not going back Dad. They totally missed the point. When they start wearing fishes I might show up again.’ “It’s like going up to Jackie Onassis with a rifle pendant on, you know.” ‘Just thinking of John, Jackie. We love him. Just trying to keep that memory alive, baby.’
One of Bill’s most provocative but totally “tongue firmly in cheek” bits was about the film Terminator 2. Me and my friends too at the time thought the special effects were incredible and would never be surpassed. Bill had another idea…
“You guys like going to the movies? You,you, you do? Three of you do? I love the f….g movies. Love ‘em. Now I’m watching Terminator 2 – d’you ever see that movie? Well, I’m watching, and I’m thinking to myself, you know what? There’s no way they’re ever going to be able to top these stunts in a movie again. You cannot top this shit….unless…they start using terminally ill people as stuntmen in pictures. Well, hear me out. Cos I know to some of ya this may sound a little cruel. ‘Awww, Bill, terminally ill stunt people? That’s cruel.’ You know what I think cruel is? Leaving your loved ones to die in some sterile hospital room, surrounded by strangers. F…k that! Put ‘em in the movies! What? You want your grandmother dying like a little bird in some hospital room? Her translucent skin so thin you can see her last heartbeat work its way down to her blue veins? Or do you want her to meet Chuck Norris?”
“Hey, how come you’ve dressed my grandmother up as a mugger?”
“Shut up and get off the set. Action! Push her towards Chuck.”
(fight noises)
“Wow, he kicked her head right off her body. Did you see that? Did you see my Grandma?”
“She’s out her misery, you’ve seen the greatest film of all time….. I’m still feeling some resistance here!”
Dear Bill,
It’s now 2019 and we miss you dearly…however…your insane suggestion to introduce the infirm to the action movie industry fortunately hasn’t come to fruition. Having said that, the CGI you saw in Terminator 2 has developed exponentially to the point where just about anything visual is achievable.
Terminator Dark Fate is the 5th and final Terminator film in the franchise, and is a logical conclusion to the aforementioned Terminator 2. The plot is very similar, 2 x Terminators, one good, one evil and instead of John Connor being targeted for assassination, it’s a young Mexican woman. The film is set in the present day and since Terminator 2, Sarah Connor has been on a personal mission to destroy any interloping Terminators who have popped in looking for John. How has she been able to locate these interlopers over the years? She has been receiving text messages from a mystery phone. Yes you guessed it. Not only is Arnie the random texter, but he is the emergency safe house for the good Terminator. Thus we have The good Terminator, Arnie, Sarah and the young Mexican target, on an extraordinary and ludicrous chase from the bad Terminator.
The CGI is amazing but at times so overwhelming that it just looks like a video game(Sonic Hedge Hog has been superseded now Bill). Arnie provides some humour but overall this is nothing other than a popcorn flick to leave your brain at the door and enjoy the action. 7/10. I hope it’s made it to you up there Bill and I trust you got that jam with Hendrix.
Love Always
Ian
If you listen to Bill’s comedy today his subject matter and intent transcends the years seamlessly. His targets in the 80s and 90s haven’t changed philosophically in 2019. If he were around now I could imagine him bringing down Trump single-handedly! He would be a major pest to the conservatives and he often ended his later shows with the following, suggesting his thinking would be so dangerous as to attract a Kennedy-like fate:
“The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here’s what you can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defence each year, and instead spend it on feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, for ever, in peace. Thank you very much, you’ve been great. I hoped you enjoyed it, thank you, thank you very much”…. (three gunshots)
If you are interested in discovering more of Bill, there are plenty of YouTube videos, dvd’s and brilliant cd’s. The following is an interesting video apology from David Letterman to Bill’s Mum Mary for removing a skit that Bill had performed not long before his death. He gives the apology after nearly 20 years after Bill’s passing and he plays the so called offensive bit recorded all those years ago.
For a thorough look at Bill’s life the award winning 2010 documentary, The American is a ripper and there are two definitive books, “Love all the People” and “Agent of Evolution”.
Bill posthumously set up a not for profit foundation the Bill Hicks Wildlife Foundation where volunteers help to protect injured and orphaned animals in his home state of Texas. http://www.billhicks.org/p/about-us.html
