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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2003)
Biting wit, offensive humor made into weapons by Hicks By Carl Sundberg Pulse Columnist "Listen, the next revolution is gonna be a revolution of ideas. A bloodless revolution. And if 1 can take part in it by transforming my own con sciousness, FORGOTTEN some else's, __ happy to do it." These are the words of a brilliant man. His name was Bill Hicks, and he was probably one of the funniest and intelligent comedians of our modem era. Hicks was a comedic force that the world was simply not prepared for. His style was abrasive, his methods were chaotic and he scared the day lights out of the status quo. He shook people's belief structures right to the core. He thought of himself as Shiva the Destroyer, the Buddhist god. Come dy was his weapon. His razor-sharp perception pinpointed and exposed both the worst and dumbest aspects of society. But his true genius was that he made everything hilarious. His myriad of topics included sav age routines on the news, pomogra I ^— ALBUMS ?"e phy, the first Bush administration, Operation Desert Storm, psychedel ic drugs, the Pope, anti-abortion ac tivists, patriotism, Rush Limbaugh and Jay Leno. He spit these topics at the audience like a cobra. Sometimes his venomous comedy made people angry. Hecklers took their chances, but Hicks was well armed with intensely violent come backs that would often send the heckler out of the room, whimpering like a child. Most often though, he left his crowd feeling enlightened. Despite critical praise, raves from his peers (Sam Kinison being one of his friends) and a growing fan base, Hicks never really found widespread popularity during his short lifetime. A likely reason was his avid disgust for mainstream media outlets. However, since his death in 1994 at the ripe young age of 32, his pop ularity has slowly increased. Now more people know of Bill Hicks, but chances are you have never actually heard his comedy. Bill Hicks has six albums out: "Dangerous," "Relentless," "Arizona Bay," "Rant in E-Minor," "Live From Pittsburgh" and "Love Laughter and Truth." Each recording is unbeliev able, but the disc that stands out as being one of the finest examples of his style and humor is "Rant in E Minor." The album is a virtually un known comedic masterpiece. It begins with "Fevered Egos," an eerie track in which Hicks says this will be his last performance. He then tells the audience about his mock tel evision show called "Let's hunt and kill Billy Ray Cyrus." According to Hicks, he was just "trying to rid the world of all these fevered egos that are tainting our collective unconscious." Around the midway point of the album, a piece called "You're Wrong Night" shows Hicks at his most of fensive. What follows is a collage of his various confrontations with hecklers — intense, to say the least. The album continues with vora cious and biting humor all the way through. By the end of the album, you are either a converted Bill 1 licks follower or hate him with a passion. Either way, you owe yourself a listen. If you pride challenging your thought and want some interesting ideas and philosophies to rejuvenate your mind and spirit, or if you just want to sit around and laugh until it hurts, give "Rant in E-Minor" a listen and hear for yourself the genius who is Bill Hicks. Contact the Pulse columnist at catisundberg@dailyemerald.com. 7—7---—I--1 Eric Layton Illustrator mckenzie river GOLF COURSE W# invite you to ploy our beautiful golf court* along the iconic McKenzie River, with immaculate greens and a mature, manicured landscape. Located off Oeerhorn Road Hwy. 126 to Holden Creek, cross bridge to Golf Course. See why we ere the jewel on the river. 41723 Medrone 896-3454 Weekdays Mon-Fri S10 - 9 holes S17 -18 holes with UO ID GIVE ME 5! Run your "for sale” ad (items under $1,000) for 5 days in the ODE Classified Section. If the item(s) doesn't sell, call us at 346-4343 and we'll run it again for another 5 days free! MCDONALD THEATRE www.mcdonaldtheatre.com music Limited’ Seating Reservea Seating 'Reserved1 Seating Limited’ Seating THORSDA! fegS, OCTOBER 23 * eJ WARRE! MILLER’SC JOQRNEY OCTOBERS Limited] Seating! dgjyphics hKU§n'1| ''TUESDAY , NOVEMBER Limited] SeatingI [Limited] I Seating! snanesyeare. The great ones always show up at the Robinson Theatre. THE l&r^ 2003-2004 / *>7 ROBINSON THEATRE * SEASON PRESENTS... one flew over ■THE CUCKOO’S NEST by Dale Wasserman from the novel WILD NIGHTS by Ken Kesey WITH EMILY f ^ Nov. 7-22 by Madeleine Olnek Feb. 27 Mar. 1 3 MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING by William Shakespeare ' May 14-29 The Perfect Time. A Quality Season Order Season Tickets TODAY! For information call 541-346-4190. It 's a good time and a cheap date! -7. 89.7fm OOQ To order Season Tickets call the UO Ticket Office at 541-346-4363 • Fax: 541-346-6071 PO Box 3600 . Eugene, OR 97403 http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/-theatre
