Born in Valdosta, Georgia, Bill Hicks was the son of Jim and Mary (Reese) Hicks and had two older siblings: sister Lynn and brother Steve. The family lived in Florida, Alabama, and New Jersey, before settling in Houston, Texas when Hicks was seven. He was raised in the Southern Baptist faith, where he first began performing as a comedian for other children at Sunday School.
Hicks was 16 years old when he started performing stand-up comedy at the Comedy Workshop in Houston, Texas, in 1978. During the 1980s he toured the United States extensively and performed a number of high-profile television appearances. It was in the UK, however, where Hicks first amassed a significant fan base, packing large venues with his 1991 tour. Hicks died of pancreatic cancer in 1994 at the age of 32. In the years after his death, his work and legacy achieved the significant admiration and acclaim of numerous comedians, writers, actors and musicians alike. In 2007 he was voted the 6th greatest stand-up comic on the UK's Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and again in the updated 2010 list as the 4th greatest stand-up comic.
Hicks was associated with the Texas Outlaw Comics group developed at the Comedy Workshop in Houston in the 1980s. Once Hicks gained some underground success in night clubs and universities, he quit drinking. However, Hicks continued to smoke cigarettes. His nicotine addiction, love of smoking, and occasional attempts to quit became a recurring theme in his act throughout his later years.
In January 1986, Hicks found himself broke, having spent all his money on a variety of substances. His career soon received another upturn, though, as he appeared on Rodney Dangerfield's Young Comedians Special, in 1987. The same year, he moved to New York City, and, for the next 5 years, performed about 300 times a year. On the album Relentless, he jokes that he quit using drugs because "once you've been taken aboard a UFO, it's kind of hard to top that", although in his performances, he continued to extol the virtues of LSD, marijuana, and psychedelic mushrooms. He fell back to chain-smoking, a theme that would figure heavily in his performances from then on.
In 1988, Hicks signed on with his first professional business manager, Jack Mondrus.[citation needed] Throughout 1989, Mondrus worked to convince many clubs to book Hicks, promising that the wild drug- and alcohol-induced behavior was behind him. Among the club managers hiring the newly sober Hicks was Colleen McGarr, who would become his girlfriend and fiancée in later years.[citation needed]
Hicks quit drinking in 1988, as stated in his 1990 album Dangerous on the first track, entitled "Modern Bummer".
In 1989 he released his first video, Sane Man.
In 1990, Hicks released his first album, Dangerous, performed on the HBO special One Night Stand, and performed at Montreal's Just for Laughs festival. He was also part of a group of American stand-up comedians performing in London's West End in November. Hicks was a huge hit in the UK and Ireland and continued touring there throughout 1991. That year, he returned to Just for Laughs and filmed his second video, Relentless.
Hicks made a brief detour into musical recording with the Marble Head Johnson album in 1992. During the same year he toured the UK, where he recorded the Revelations video for Channel 4. He closed the show with his soon-to become-famous philosophy regarding life, "It's Just a Ride". Also in that tour he recorded the stand-up performance released in its entirety on a double CD titled Salvation. Hicks was voted "Hot Standup Comic" by Rolling Stone magazine in 1993. He moved to Los Angeles in 1992.
The progressive metal band Tool invited Hicks to open a number of concerts in its 1992 Lollapalooza appearances, where Hicks once asked the audience to look for a contact lens he had lost. Thousands of people complied. Members of Tool felt that they and Hicks "were resonating similar concepts".
Intending to raise awareness about Hicks's material and ideas, Tool dedicated their triple-platinum album Ænima (1996) to Hicks. Both the lenticular casing of the Ænima album packaging as well as the chorus of the title track "Ænema" make reference to a sketch from Hicks's Arizona Bay album, in which he contemplates the idea of Los Angeles falling into the Pacific Ocean. Ænima's final track, "Third Eye" contains samples from Hicks's Sane Man and Relentless albums. An alternate version of the Ænima artwork shows a painting of Bill Hicks, calling him "Another Dead Hero," and mentions of Hicks are found both in the liner notes and on the record.
In 1984, Hicks was invited to appear on Late Night with David Letterman for the first time. He had a joke that he used frequently in comedy clubs about how he caused a serious accident that left a classmate using a wheelchair. NBC had a policy that no handicapped jokes could be aired on the show, making his stand-up routine difficult to perform without mentioning words such as "wheelchair".
On October 1, 1993, Hicks was scheduled to appear on Late Show with David Letterman, his 12th appearance on a Letterman late-night show, but his entire performance was removed from the broadcast—then the only occasion where a comedian's entire routine was cut after taping.
Hicks's stand-up routine was removed from the show allegedly because Letterman and his producer were nervous about a religious joke ("If Jesus came back he might not want to see so many crosses"). Hicks said he believed it was due to a pro-life commercial aired during a commercial break. Both the show's producers and CBS denied responsibility. Hicks expressed his feelings of betrayal in a letter to John Lahr of The New Yorker. Although Letterman later expressed regret at the way Hicks had been handled, Hicks did not appear on the show again.
Hicks's mother, Mary, appeared on the January 30, 2009 episode of Late Show. Letterman played the routine in its entirety. Letterman took full responsibility for the original censorship and apologized to Mrs. Hicks. Letterman also declared he did not know what he was thinking when he pulled the routine from the original show in 1993, saying, "It says more about me as a guy than it says about Bill because there was absolutely nothing wrong with that."
For many years, Hicks was friends with fellow comedian Denis Leary. But in 1993 Hicks was angered by Leary's album No Cure for Cancer, which featured lines and subject matter similar to Hicks's routine. According to American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story by Cynthia True, upon hearing the album "Bill was furious. All these years, aside from the occasional jibe, he had pretty much shrugged off Leary's lifting. Comedians borrowed, stole stuff, and even bought bits from one another. Milton Berle and Robin Williams were famous for it. This was different. Leary had practically taken line for line huge chunks of Bill's act and recorded it."
The friendship ended abruptly as a result.
At least three stand-up comedians have gone on the record stating they believe Leary stole Hicks's material as well as his persona and attitude. In an interview, when Hicks was asked why he had quit smoking, he answered, "I just wanted to see if Denis would, too."
In another interview, Hicks said, "I have a scoop for you. I stole his [Leary's] act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and, to really throw people off, I did it before he did." During a 2003 Comedy Central roast of Denis Leary, comedian Lenny Clarke, a friend of Leary's, said there was a carton of cigarettes backstage from Bill Hicks with the message, "Wish I had gotten these to you sooner." This joke was cut from the final broadcast.
The controversy surrounding plagiarism is also mentioned in American Scream: Leary was in Montreal hosting the "Nasty Show" at Club Soda, and Colleen [McGarr?] was coordinating the talent so she stood backstage and overheard Leary doing material incredibly similar to old Hicks riffs, including his perennial Jim Fixx joke: "Keith Richards outlived Jim Fixx, the runner and health nut. The plot thickens." When Leary came offstage, Colleen, more stunned than angry, said, "Hey, you know that's Bill Hicks's material! Do you know that's his material?" Leary stood there, stared at her without saying a word, and briskly left the dressing room.
The Perfect Gig
Bill Hicks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Full of drunks, but not just any drunks, you understand:
Philosopher drunks, and poet drunks--drunks trained by hand--
And beautiful women, they'd be perfectly drunk, too,
Reclining against an upholstered rail with absolutely nothing else to do.
(chorus)All these folks would be there, all the live-long day,
And when I'd get good and warmed up, I'd come in and play.
The sad ones and the happy ones, the songs without a name,
And joy would fill the air like fizz, in a good champagne.
The poets would all come up to me, when I was done,
They'd shake my hand and clap my back, we'd have some fun.
The philosopher drunks'd smile knowingly, and tilt their glasses at me too--
Too shy to clap, at least they wouldn't run.
They'd tidy up their tables, and calculate the coming of the sun.
(chorus)
And all the beautiful women--they'd line up at the door,
And carry my guitars out to my car, one by one by one,
And kiss my lips goodnight, Just like my mother did away back then,
When I was very young.
I just couldn't end it there--I'd have to take them home,
And one would quote Spinoza, and the other Des-car-tes,
And from the back a soft sweet voice would whisper Sophocles,
And in the morning there'd be coffee, on the patio, for four--
And I'd never ever go a gigging anymore!
In Bill Hicks's song, "The Perfect Gig," he paints a vivid picture of his ideal venue, filled with philosopher drunks, poet drunks and beautiful women, all perfectly drunk. These individuals would be lounging, enjoying the atmosphere and waiting for Hicks to begin playing his music, singing all of his songs for them. The joy that fills the air would be compared to the effervescence of good champagne.
At the end of his set, the philosopher drunks would shake his hand and clap his back, while the poets would offer their congratulations. The beautiful women would line up at the door to carry his guitars out to his car, kissing him goodnight just like his mother did when he was a child. Hicks would even take some of them home, where they would discuss philosophical concepts and sip coffee on the patio in the morning.
Overall, the song is a utopian vision of what the perfect gig would be like for Bill Hicks. It reflects his desire to connect with people on a deeper level, to share his music and engage in meaningful conversations with others who appreciate philosophy and the art of poetry.
Line by Line Meaning
I was lookin' for a bar, just like Diogenes,
I was searching for a bar filled with intellectuals and interesting people
Full of drunks, but not just any drunks, you understand:
The people at this bar are heavy drinkers, but not stereotypical ones
Philosopher drunks, and poet drunks--drunks trained by hand--
The patrons of this bar are not only heavy drinkers, but ones with distinct interests and talents
And beautiful women, they'd be perfectly drunk, too,
Even the women at this bar are interesting and adorned with a certain mystique
Reclining against an upholstered rail with absolutely nothing else to do.
These women are relaxed and have nothing on their minds besides enjoying the atmosphere
(chorus)All these folks would be there, all the live-long day,
The bar would be a constant hub of activity and the diverse characters would always be present
And when I'd get good and warmed up, I'd come in and play.
When I'm ready, I'll perform for these people who understand and appreciate me
I'd sing all of my songs for them, each and every one,
I'd share my entire repertoire with this audience
The sad ones and the happy ones, the songs without a name,
I'll perform all types of songs, including ones that are emotional and those that don't have a title
And joy would fill the air like fizz, in a good champagne.
The energy in the bar would be positive and uplifting
The poets would all come up to me, when I was done,
The other artists in attendance would show their appreciation for my performance
They'd shake my hand and clap my back, we'd have some fun.
They would congratulate me on a great show and have a good time with me after
The philosopher drunks'd smile knowingly, and tilt their glasses at me too--
The intellectuals in attendance would show their approval in their own way
Too shy to clap, at least they wouldn't run.
They may not be as outwardly enthusiastic as others, but they aren't going anywhere
They'd tidy up their tables, and calculate the coming of the sun.
After my performance, they would go about their routines and ruminate on life's big questions
(chorus)
Reiterating the presence and acceptance of the diverse crowd
And all the beautiful women--they'd line up at the door,
The women in attendance were beautiful and intrigued by me
And carry my guitars out to my car, one by one by one,
The women would help me with my equipment and show their kindness towards me
And kiss my lips goodnight, Just like my mother did away back then,
The women would show their affection towards me in a motherly way
When I was very young.
Recalling a time when affection was pure and innocent
I just couldn't end it there--I'd have to take them home,
I would feel compelled to take these women home with me
And one would quote Spinoza, and the other Des-car-tes,
This experience would be intellectually stimulating as well as sensual
And from the back a soft sweet voice would whisper Sophocles,
Even the quiet moments were filled with literary references and romantic undertones
And in the morning there'd be coffee, on the patio, for four--
The next morning would be peaceful and sociable, with four people enjoying each other's company
And I'd never ever go a gigging anymore!
I would be content to just stay in this perfect bar with its perfect patrons forever
Contributed by Levi W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.