This has been a big day of “People get mad at Patrick over the shit he doesn’t find funny” so I figured I might as well get one final one off my chest: Bill Hicks.
He’s not funny. And he’s not particularly insightful. He makes very obvious social commentaries (“They say don’t do drugs, but alcohol is a drug and that’s legal” “People don’t commit suicide from heavy metal” “Christians are often hypocritical” etc) and people pass him off as a genius. He has a good presence onstage, but that doesn’t change the fact that what he says is not particularly daring, groundbreaking and, worst of all, funny. He’s angry, yes. But he always seems very self-satisfied, like he’s so clever for figuring these very obvious things out.
There is one other option. Everything I’ve heard him perform (I just watched one of his specials, the one that ends with him pretending to be shot, and I’ve seen several clips from several others) are things that seem very clear and obvious to me, and have been for some time. So maybe he is a genius, and I just don’t think so because I too am a genius.
He’s not the worst comedian. I’d definitely take him over Mencia or Cook or any number of comedians that have appeared recently on “Comedy Central Presents…”, but why so great?
Ok, there’s my honest, considered, and reasoned opinion. Let the hate begin.
Actually, that second option’s not too far from truth. A lot of stuff goes into the category of “preaching to the choir”. That said, presentation’s everything, and he was damn good at presenting this “obvious” stuff in an entertaining way.
Also, not to make the “you saw the wrong special” argument, but his best stuff’s on CD. Chances are, someone talking about how great Bill Hicks is is basing it on Arizona Bay or Rant in E Minor.
I will check his cd’s out then. And he definitely is entertaining to watch. Despite not finding him funny, the special was very watchable and not too painful.
Okay, Patrick, that’s it…you and me, behind the school, 3:00.
Seriously, though, you don’t dig him, you don’t dig him. Personally, I love the guy, but he’s one of the few comedians who really speaks to my way of thinking. Plus, as Justin said, he really was good at his presentation.
Still…it couldn’t hurt to go and have your funny bone checked.
I wrote a bunch of different things. But, it’s just not worth it. I will say this: There’s more to it, to anything, than just not liking it. Things are bigger than you just not liking it. Why is it that some things have resonated and remained? I’m not saying you’re wrong. But the things that resonate are usually worth looking into a little deeper.
Fuck it. Hicks is one of my favorite artists of all time. He deserves to still be listened to, shared, talked about. Comedians of today look up to his work for a good reason. He hated the right things in the right way. Wish there were more like him.
R.I.P.
R.I.P. Patrick’s taste - who, god help me, likes our podcast.
Originally Posted by Andre DellamorteView Post You don’t find his “advertisers, go kill yourselves. No, seriously, go kill yourselves. This isn’t a joke, go kill yourselves.” funny? At all?
That is the bit that I laughed at! I knew there was one, I was trying to mention it in my original post, couldn’t think of it. Thanks, Dre.
I usually don’t resort to this, but Patrick, you are wrong. Your PERSONAL opinion, it’s wrong. You shouldn’t trust yourself from now on.
This is like old Bruce Wayne, Kevin Spacey, that fail bullshit, all that rolled into one giant internet retort. I just can’t comprehend.
Even mentioning Carlos Mencia and Dane Cook in the same breath as Bill Hicks (I know you weren’t advocating them) deserves some kind of stern talking to, at the very least.
Now I’m thinking you can’t even be trusted to tell us whether or not you like dudes. Everything you think going forward, you have to ask yourself, “Am I sure?”
I’m teasing you. This is one hurty generation gap, though. Can other 20 year old dudes weigh in? Like Albert Popwell, I gots to know.
I’ve got your back to a degree, Patrick. I don’t think Hicks works as well in a one-hour stand-up format. It’s too relentless, repetitive and negative. I think he would have been brilliant doing 5-10 minute rants on something like The Daily Show (like what Lewis Black does now), but I find his stand-up pretty exhausting and only moderately amusing.
Bah. Where do you hear this kind of shit anymore? Yeah, it’s obvious, but no working comedians are talking about it anymore. White guys drive like this…
I don’t know, in one night I’ve read that Patrick finds John Belushi, Gilda Radner, and Bill Hicks not funny. I could only pray it’s an age thing, I know he’s an intelligent, seemingly right minded guy.
I know comedy’s a weird thing- I’ve been known to recommend some awfully shitty movies because they made me laugh- but I thought everybody liked Bill Hicks.
To each his own, I suppose. Don’t misconstrue this as being judgmental, either. All in good fun, but if I respond to every one of your threads “Yeah, but you don’t like Bill Hicks,” don’t hold it against me.
God damn it, Ripoll, you just slammed the door on any chance you had at sleeping with me too.
In all seriousness, I didn’t like Hicks the first time I heard him. Granted, it was a shitty bootleg and not one of his best performances, but I swore that I hated it. A few years later, I decided to check out Rant in E Minor and Arizona Bay on a whim, and fell in love. Maybe it was because everything hit at the right time for me and Hicks echoed a lot of the emotions and frustrations I was feeling at politics and society in general.
I’m a huge defender of Hicks now. Give it some time, you might grow to like him.
Hicks may be losing his bite nowadays because an entire generation of comics has come along that is either heavily influenced by Hicks (David Cross) or is flat out ripping him off (Denis Leary). I discovered Hicks in high school, and it influenced my growth as a human being. Finding him now, I can’t imagine he would have the same effect.