Bill Hicks

"A statesman for his generation,  a comic, a poet and a revolutionary"

In Bill Hicks' own words comedy is the last bastion of free speech.  When used properly, comedy (specifically stand up comedy) has the ability to challenge ideas and shine a spotlight on the absurdities of the status quo. 

The way Hicks did it, it forcibly wrenched open the eyelids of the audience and injected his no bullshit take on life directly into the frontal lobe. 

Hicks fearlessly smashed through the dogmatic walls of social and cultural taboos like a white hot wrecking ball. As a result many people left his shows with a new perspective on life no matter how revolutionary those ideas may have seemed before sitting down to enjoy the ride.
 

Bill's veins pumped pure integrity, he despised mediocrity and banality and had a loaded shotgun full of hatred and vitriol in each hand for whenever he came across it. 

When he was on stage he was a blowtorch rallying against superficiality and falsehood.  He detested corporate puppets and the culture of selling-out with feverish passion

On the rare occasion that someone was brave enough to heckle him, they quickly discovered the meaning behind the phrase "ripped a new arsehole"

Bill tragically died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 32.  Early in his career he was labelled the most dangerous comedian alive and as a testament to the trail that he blazed many of his ideas that at the time were considered so radical are today part of the mainstream dialogue.

 He achieved something in his short life that most people don't even come close to.  He managed to live a life self-actualised.  He didn't care who he offended or who thought he was full of shit. he had a message and he put it out there regardless in the hope that he could change the way people look at the world

I'll leave you with a quote from Tom Waits and a few links if you have the time and the inclination to get to know Bill a little better.  "Bill Hicks, blowtorch, excavator, truthsayer and brain specialist, like a reverend waving a gun around. Pay attention to Rant in E Minor, it is a major work, as important as Lenny Bruce's. He will correct your vision. His life was cut short by cancer, though he did leave his tools here. Others will drive on the road he built. Long may his records rant even though he can't."

Revelation

Sane Man

Relentless

Rant in E Minor

Last show before death