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
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