For the American football coach, see Bill Hicks (American football). For the Australian rules footballer, see Bill Hicks (footballer).
Bill Hicks
Hicks at the Laff Stop in 1991
Birth name
William Melvin Hicks
Born
(1961-12-16)December 16, 1961 Valdosta, Georgia, U.S.
Died
February 26, 1994(1994-02-26) (aged 32)[1][2] Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Medium
Stand-up
television
music
Years active
1978–1994
Genres
Dark comedy
political satire
observational comedy
Subject(s)
American culture
American politics
current events
recreational drug use
conspiracy theories
Signature
Website
billhicks.com
William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994)[1][2] was an American stand-up comedian and satirist. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—was controversial and often steeped in dark comedy.
At the age of 16, Hicks began performing at the Comedy Workshop in Houston, Texas. During the 1980s, he toured the U.S. extensively and made a number of high-profile television appearances, but he amassed a significant fan base in the UK, filling large venues during his 1991 tour.[3] He also achieved some recognition as a guitarist and songwriter.
Hicks died of pancreatic cancer on February 26, 1994, at the age of 32. In subsequent years, his work gained significant acclaim in creative circles—particularly after a series of posthumous album releases—and he developed a substantial cult following. In 2007, he was number six on Channel 4's list of the "100 Greatest Stand-Up Comics",[4] and rose to No. 4 on the 2010 list.[5] In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 13 on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time.[6]
^ ab"Biography: Bill Hicks - American stand-up comedian". Britannica.com. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
^ ab"Bill Hicks (1961–1994)". EncyclopediaofArkansas.net. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
^"Bill Hicks Personal Life and Career". Bestcomedyonline.net. Archived from the original on April 20, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
^The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups 2007. British Comedy Guide, retrieved February 2, 2016.
^The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups 2010. British Comedy Guide, retrieved February 2, 2016.
^The 50 Best Stand-up Comics of All Time Archived December 11, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. Rollingstone.com, retrieved February 15, 2017.
2009, unpaginated. "Hicks is real funny". McGill Tribune. 1993. Hicks, Bill. "Last Word". BillHicks family official site. BillHicks. Archived from the...
The discography of stand-up comedian BillHicks. Dangerous (1990) Recorded 1990, Caroline's, New York City, New York Relentless (1992) Recorded December...
similarities to Hicks' routines. According to Cynthia True's biography American Scream: The BillHicks Story, after listening to No Cure for Cancer, Hicks was furious...
Times: BillHicks: Frequently Asked Questions". BillHicks.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2006. Retrieved October 28, 2006. Hicks, Bill (1989)...
Totally BillHicks is a video, originally released in 1994, documenting the life and comedy of BillHicks. It consists of two parts: Revelations, a recording...
from the original on 25 December 2021. Tim Lewis, Jamali Maddix: I saw BillHicks and thought, there's someone like me The Observer 27 November 2016 "Ilford...
William Hicks may refer to: Sir William Hicks, 1st Baronet (1596–1680), English Member of Parliament, Royalist officer at the Siege of Colchester William...
himself, a fact which the narrator, Horatio Stubbs, verifies. Comedian BillHicks elaborated an oft-quoted riff on the subject of fellatio, "A woman one...
for the final time on January 13, 2021. Hicks is the daughter of Caye Ann (Cavender) Hicks and Paul Burton Hicks III. She grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut...
Cynthia (2002). American Scream: The BillHicks Story. HarperCollins. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-38080-377-4. "Political Satirist Bill Maher's 'New Rules'". NPR. Archived...
Hicks, also spelled Hickes, is a surname. See also Hix. Aaron Hicks (born 1989), American professional baseball center fielder Adam Hicks (born 1992)...
Estrada, Eddie Izzard, John Leguizamo, Marga Gomez, Anna Deavere Smith, BillHicks, Brother Blue, Lenny Bruce, and Mel Blanc. Several performers have presented...
favors caustic and often obscene observations of life in the style of BillHicks, which he delivers while consuming alcohol. Politically, he has favored...
allusion to a quote by the late American stand-up comedian BillHicks, the album title predates the Hicks quote by several years and was actually thought up by...
most notably of Love, Laughter and Truth, a biopic about US comedian BillHicks, which he developed with Oscar Award-winning actor, Russell Crowe. Mark...
Sorry to Bother You (2018), Cross has said his comedic influences include BillHicks, Andy Kaufman, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Lou Costello, Steven Wright...
for its all-night parties and heavy consumption of cocaine and alcohol. BillHicks moved there in 1980 when he was 18 and running away from his parents to...
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