Which is to say it’s not enough to tell us you mean it, maaaan, you have to validate those claims. And if the Good Man Bill did mean it, The Scoundrel Hicks oft-times sounded like the people he claimed to be railing on behalf of were actually the sorts of people he wouldn’t grace with the fumes off a month-old shite he’d shat with somebody else’s arse.
Considerations re: these inconsistencies and discrepancies, none of which make that stuff about the war or about getting pulled over by the cops whilst trippin’ or about smoking (you might’ve heard the Dennis Leary cover version…) or about the Kennedy assassination (which one? oh, that one) any the less exhilarating or inspiring or, y’know, funny, but which nonetheless might make for an interesting documentary on this man Bill Hicks if’n they were to be given any sort of what you might call a ‘seeing to’ by the filmmakers. These considerations, yes, clad in shoddy, ill-fitting, knock-off Thought-garb, these were the things to be found hunched about the waters of the brain-pool of the evening past, gurning at their own reflections, as myself and my beloved Ms Madisson took ourselves along Shaftsbury Avenue in London Town (“I’d hate to be a dustbin in Shaftsbury tonight…”) pursuing a picture house wherein one might spend a time in the company of American: The Bill Hicks Story.
Excited, the pair of us, yes, for it’s been a long time coming, a worthwhile Bill Hicks documentary (the Just A Ride number put together by Channel 4 a few years ago, whatever its virtues, fell someway short of being especially “comprehensive” or, indeed, “good”), and this excitement seemed to be shared by the majority of the folks wandering around the foyer, folks who would later get to hooting and applauding at the screen like as if they were sat a few streets away in the Dominion theatre near two-decades past, listening to the sound of 2000 arseholes puckering as one as this man Hicks tells a roomful of Right-On’s all about how much Goatboy loves them little girls...
Those ten excruciating, and brilliant, minutes aside (see Revelations for the visual and aural record), he was fairly mightily adored in England, and indeed Ireland, was Mr Hicks. Footage appearing near the close of American has him lamenting (in a jocular fashion, mind) the fact that a few nights prior he’d been stood before hundreds of adoring fans in a Belfast theatre -- a theatre that once hosted Oscar Wilde -- and here he is back in his own country, squinting at the damp-bowed rafters of a comedy club that probably heard its last laugh sometime around the fall of the Ottoman Empire, performing to a couple dozen folks who wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between “Bill Hicks” and a splintered doorframe.
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Article comments
1 - El Bicho
Shark and Barger recently show up in comments and now an article by the Duke, who no longer identifies himself as such to the masses, so they may not know to what I refer, although that's not an isolated occurrence. A wonderful trip down memory lane while also existing in the now this is.
Welcome back and thanks for drawing attention to this film. I was one of the few Americans who enjoyed him when he was around on TV and even opening for Kinison once or twice. He was in the George Carlin mode but rarely let people just laugh without thinking and the mirror was too much for some, especially in America, especially in certain parts, especially at that time.
I am so looking forward to taking a gander at it because the film by Ron Howard sounds like a terrible idea since it's going to be by Ron Howard.
2 - Flex
The documentary is somewhat superficial, nonetheless, very important, because it shows how everything started for Bill Hicks, and there is great archive footage of his early stand-ups. It also makes one feel very interested particularly in his great come back moment, after he gave up drugs and alcohol, and as far as what made him become the Bill Hicks that conquered the UK unfortunately little was said about this period in the movie.
The final scenes are Hicks' best moments. And after the late George Carlin there was nobody else who could have filled his shoes and enlightened audiences with greater political insights such as Bill.
3 - Eric Olsen
Blessed again we are with Dukification!
4 - Mat Brewster
I'll add my huzzahs to the return of the Duke, er, Aaron McMullan whoever the hell that is.
Also, love Bill Hicks. Must see this documentary.
5 - Aaron McMullan
Ach God love you, the lot of you, the terrible welcome you make a fella feel.
Sir Bicho - thank you very much, sire, and I do hope this number makes its way to the US fairly soon. It does sort of make sense, regardless of the title, that we get it first, since not only is it made by a couple brit cats, but also, as you say, a scant few there were who gave him much of the time of day in his own country. In that respect, I suppose, the Howard flick might do more good than harm. Still, it'd be better if this were to attain some sort of Capturing The Friedmans/Devil and Daniel Johnston break-out momentum instead, that we might be spared Parenthicks, or, God forbid, A Beautiful Bill. The Bill Hicks Code, mind you, I would support with each of the me's that are mine.
Flexcin, thank you for the comment, Bill's standing in the UK is touched upon a fair bit towards the end of the picture, I thought. Certainly there are a few avenues - in addition to those flagged in the article doohickey - that could've done with a bit more inspecting. But then, there's only so much you can do with an hour and a half.
Sir Olsen - glad I am, sire, to be back!
Sir Brewster - A grand time of it, you're in for. As I say, one of the main delights of the thing is the ammount of "fresh" material it has hanging about itself. A DVD stuffed to the backs of the balls with much more of the same would be an absolute wonder, and hopefully that's what we're in for.
6 - Scott Butki
What's up with the name changes, guys?
I loved the documentary - I saw it when it was screened at south by southwest and wrote about it.
I'll seed your piece over at newsvine if you don't mind and steer those who read my piece there over here.
7 - Aaron McMullan
Scott, thank you very much, man, I am very grateful for that. And I really enjoyed reading your take on the whole shebang, also.
8 - Steve
This is one of the best things I've ever read!!!
9 - Aaron McMullan
Lord above, Steve, that is a sore lovely thing to be sayin' of an afternoon or an evening or any time at all that might be halfways measurable. Thank you, sir, for your comment and for takin' the time to have a wee nosey in the first place.